Published on Wednesday, May 28, 2025

By Victoria Torley

Fences. Large or small, metal or stone, wood or concrete, barbed wire or decorative, we have a lot of fences in Costa Rica.


A lot of our fences in towns and cities are protective. They keep the neighborhood kids from cutting through gardens and trampling plants. And, yes, some are meant to keep out the rougher element found in every society.


I enjoy looking at fences, especially the highly decorative ones in places like Escazú and Liberia.


I saw one that was painted a shockingly bright pink. Metric Man would have shuddered to see it. He doesn’t like pink.


But it was so nicely worked in wrought iron that I wondered about the paint job. Since I lived for a long time in the New England area, I have a special fondness for stone fences and used to build small ones around my garden areas.


My neighbor has a lovely tall stone wall at the front of the house with a wooden gate so solid that it could protect a castle. I love it! But let’s talk about real fences, the ones we have in the countryside.

We don’t worry about kids cutting through the yard or trampling plants, no, we have bigger worries. Much bigger. In fact, about the size of a large cow! A delicate tracery of leaves on the wrought iron is not for us. We can’t afford that much iron let alone the workmanship. No, for us there is only one solution and that is barbed wire.


No one I know likes to work with barbed wire. First, it’s well, it’s barbed! It catches on clothes and skin and makes tears in both. Second, it comes in coils. Ever tried to uncoil the wire? With barbs? Finally, it is heavy, ungainly, and has to be tacked to each post separately (a lot of finally). Too much slack and the cows get in (or out) anyway.


And what about the posts you tack the wire to? Wood posts are cheap and can be cut from downed trees, but wood posts, which may last for years in nice dry places like Arizona or the Atacama, don’t stand a chance in Costa Rica. Not against the rains and the termites. And not against determined cows either. They just push on them until they fall over.


For years we have had wooden fence posts but now a friend is tearing out her old fencing and putting in a nice privacy fence. And what is she taking out? Concrete posts, that’s what. And where are they going? I bet you can guess. Thirty-five concrete fence posts. It’s a start.

Plant for the week. If you have been looking for a unique and appealing solution to your landscaping and privacy issues, then you may have heard that using bamboo plants for privacy is a great choice.

Bamboo plants have many unique qualities that make them an excellent choice for privacy fences and landscaping. Bamboo is one of the fastest-growing plants in the world, which is why it is the #1 choice for creating a natural green screen or privacy fence.

While you can buy bamboo that is already 10, 20 or even 30 feet tall, that can get expensive quickly. However, when you purchase bamboo starter plants, you can grow your own privacy fence within 3-5 years.

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Find more interesting stories about gardening in Costa Rica on the AM Costa Rica Garden page. Questions on this article, Ms. Victoria Torley, gardener columnist, can be reached by emailing victoriatorley1@gmail.com
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