Gabion is tough and can be designed to be an attractive material and design for fences, walls, retaining walls, benches and other structures. Check out all of these gabion wall and fence ideas.
If someone suggested creating a wall or fence from a wire cage filled with crushed rock, you might assume it would be ugly and is only an idea used to save money.
While gabion fences or walls can be inexpensive, the point of this article is to show you that gabion walls, fences, benches and other structures can look truly fantastic. There are so many different designs you can incorporate into your gabion wall or fence, as this is a very flexible type of structure material and concept to use.
Learn all about gabion here.
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About Gabion
What is gabion?
Gabion is wire cage or mesh filled with rocks and/or gravel to create a wall of some sort. This wall can, in turn, be used to create a fence, retaining wall, bench and other structures.
Benefits of gabion
- Looks cool: As you’ll see in our collection below, you can create some awesome looking gabion designs using ideas such as layers of different colored rocks, or by mixing the gabion with other fence or wall materials like wood or metal.
- Is unique: Not a lot of landscaping designs use gabion fences or walls so if done well, can be striking and unique.
- Strong and durable: Because gabion is made from solid rock encased in strong wire, it’s heavy and very durable. Over time, silt and vegetation fills into the gaps in the material, which further strengthens the structure [source: Founterior.com].
- Inexpensive: If you have low-cost access to rocks or gravel, the resulting cost to create a gabion fence or wall can be low relative to using wood, vinyl or other materials.
- Permeable: Because it’s loosely packed rock, water can run through a gabion fence. This helps prevent any displacement in the event of a flood. That said, if forceful enough, water can ruin a gabion structure as well.
- Modular: You can add to a gabion structure very easily by adding more gabion sections in the future.
- Can do it yourself: We’ve placed a DIY gabion wall video below which shows that it’s not difficult to build quality gabion walls yourself (and save money).
- Accommodating: You can place gabion fence on pretty much any landscape,whether that is a slope, gravel, or any other. In other words, you don’t necessarily have to move a lot of earth to prepare for a gabion fence.
How much does gabion cost?
This is impossible to assess because it depends on the quality of wire, cage or mesh you use and the type of rock/gravel you use.
Types of rock used in gabion baskets
You can fill a gabion cage or mesh with any kind of rock. Here are a few ideas:
- Crushed concrete (less expensive)
- Slate (expensive)
- Pebbles
- Gravel
- Large rocks
- White rocks (very nice effect – see examples below)
- Crushed Granite
- Colorful rocks
- Limestone
- Bricks
- Etc.
The sky is the limit when it comes to building your gabion fence or wall!
IMPORTANT: You need to make sure that if you plan on using a small rock that your cage should be tighter (less space between wire) than the rock is wide.
How to build a DIY gabion wall
Gabion Wall and Fence Ideas (Photos)
Gabion is used to create walls and fences of all types. This includes privacy fences, regular fences, and garden fences. It’s also used in retaining walls. Here’s a huge collection of gabion wall and fence examples.
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Gabion Bench Ideas
You can also use the gabion fence concept for creating the foundation of outdoor benches. Check these out!
Other Gabion Structures
Gabion can also be used as a foundation and/or filler for various outdoor structures. Check out the pictures we’ve provided below!
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