Garden Fencing
HERMEQ's metal garden fencing range covers bow top, ball top and estate railings for homes, schools, new build housing and country estates. Each railing is listed as a calculator, so a run can be priced from its length. The railings are steel and give a safe, secure boundary that keeps the outlook open. Alongside the railings, heavy duty trellis adds a planted screen to a garden boundary. For wooden boundaries built from posts, boards and gravel boards, see the timber garden fencing range.
Metal garden railings by top style
Each top profile suits a different setting, so the choice usually follows from who will pass along the boundary and what the property behind it looks like.
Bow top railings
Bow top railings, also sold as hoop top railings, form the infill bars into continuous rounded hoops, leaving no point or finial along the top line. That rounded profile is the usual specification for primary school playgrounds, footpaths, public parks and council-managed land, where children and the public lean on the boundary or brush past it. In a residential garden it gives a softer line than a straight bar, which suits family gardens and driveways where young children play.
Ball top railings
Ball top railings finish every upright bar with a ball, which gives a more decorative line than a hoop and a safer top than a spiked railing. Developers use them on new build frontages, driveways and pathways, and they are also specified around car parks and public access areas where the railing has to look finished from the street. Their long panel spans keep the post count down on larger housing schemes.
Estate railings and traditional estate fencing
Estate railings are horizontal tubular rail fencing, the style long found around country homes and now specified on new build housing schemes that want a rural edge. The bays arrive pre-assembled and fix together with no welding on site, so long runs go in quickly across paddocks, pasture and parkland. For an older estate boundary that needs matching or extending, HERMEQ also lists traditional estate fencing. The full estate fencing range sits under domestic fencing and railings.
Estate railings or vertical bar railings
Estate railings suit long, open boundaries where the job is to mark a line and keep the view across it, while bow top and ball top panels suit gardens and public spaces that have to hold people or animals inside. Horizontal rails leave the outlook across a paddock or parkland almost unbroken, and their pre-assembled bays make the most sense on long rural runs where the speed of installation matters. Vertical bar panels close the boundary up, with uprights running the full height of the panel, so a garden that has to keep in a small dog or a young child, or a school yard that has to be contained, needs bow top or ball top railings.
Across the range, bays run from 2m to 2.75m wide, and the wider vertical bar panels need fewer posts along a long frontage. On a housing scheme the two styles can work together, with estate railings along open green space and vertical bar railings on the plot frontages and gardens.
A security perimeter around commercial or industrial premises is a different job, and palisade fencing is the heavier option for it. Where that perimeter also needs clear sight lines, V mesh perimeter fencing is the product to look at.
Garden railings for homes, schools and estates
Front gardens, driveways and new build housing
A frontage is seen from the street, so the height and top style should run consistently from plot to plot and around any return to the house. Plan the path and driveway openings before ordering, because each opening needs gate posts where a standard post would otherwise stand. A pedestrian gate in the same style suits the path, and a driveway wide enough for a car is better served by vehicle access gates.
Schools, playgrounds, parks and council land
Bow top railings are the usual choice here, and what matters next is continuity: the boundary should run without gaps at posts, corners and gates, since a single opening defeats the rest of the run. Schools and local authorities often work to their own boundary specification for height and gate positions, so the order is best matched to it from the start. On public land, gate openings also have to suit buggies, wheelchairs and maintenance vehicles as well as pedestrians.
Country estates, paddocks and parkland
Estate railings on open land come down to run planning: long straight lengths, changes of direction at field corners and a gate into each paddock. The system includes corner and end posts, so every change of direction and every run end should be counted before ordering. Posts go into the ground along the whole line, and the ground itself, whether soft pasture or a stony track edge, decides how the holes are dug and how much concrete each one takes.
Railing heights, finishes and planning the run
Choosing between 1.0m and 1.2m
Bow top and ball top railings come in both heights, and the right one depends on what the boundary has to do and where it stands. The lower height marks a front garden without closing it in, and permitted development rules generally limit a new boundary next to a road used by vehicles to that height without planning permission. The taller height is the better choice for a rear or side garden, around a play area, or anywhere the boundary has to keep children or dogs in.
Galvanised and powder coated finish
Every railing in the range is galvanised and then powder coated black (RAL 9005). The zinc coating protects the steel underneath, and the powder coat seals the zinc and gives the colour, so the railing carries two layers of corrosion protection. HERMEQ applies the powder coat in-house, which keeps the finish under its own control from the galvanised steel to the final coat.
Measuring a run of railings
Measure the boundary along the line the railing will follow, then count every end, corner and gate opening, because each one adds a post. Allow for the clearance left under the panels and for the length of each post that sits below ground, so the finished height above ground matches the height ordered. The railings are listed as calculators, so the run length prices the panels, and posts, gates and Postcrete can be added where the listing has them as options, as the ball top railings do. On sloping ground, record the fall along the run as well as its length before ordering.
Screening and climbing plants with trellis
Railings keep the view open, and where a boundary also needs privacy, a planted screen behind it closes the view without a solid fence. Heavy duty square trellis is pressure-treated timber made to carry ivy and other climbing plants, and it stands on its own fence posts set in the soil or screws to the top of a timber fence with brackets. Climbers can go in the ground along the trellis, or in garden planters where the boundary stands on hard paving.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Do galvanised and powder coated railings rust?
Rust starts where the coating is broken, so a railing with its galvanising and powder coat intact resists corrosion over the long term. If a panel or post is cut, drilled or chipped during installation, treat the bare steel straight away with a zinc-rich primer and a black touch-up paint. Checking the posts at ground level, where soil and water sit against the steel, is part of normal maintenance.
Can I order railings in a colour other than black?
Black is the standard finish across the range. Estate railings can be supplied in custom colours on request, which suits a scheme that has to match existing ironwork or a developer's colour palette. Ask for the colour at the order stage, since it is applied when the railings are coated.
How are railing posts fixed in the ground?
Railing posts are set into holes and concreted in, with part of each post's length below ground to hold the panels upright. A rapid-setting post mix such as Postcrete is the quickest way to set them on a domestic job. Each hole needs to be wide enough for concrete to surround the post on every side, and the posts should be plumbed and lined up with a string line before the mix sets.
Are matching gates available for garden railings?
Gates are listed as options with the ball top railings, so a path gate can be ordered with the panels and posts in the same style and finish. Decide where each gate goes before the posts are set, because gate posts are positioned as part of the run and cannot easily be moved once concreted.
Are HERMEQ railings made in the UK?
Yes. HERMEQ manufactures its railings in the UK, with in-house steel processing, and every railing in this range is listed with the UK as its country of manufacture.
Can metal railings be used alongside timber fencing?
Yes. A common layout puts metal railings on the front boundary, where the view to the street stays open, with timber fencing at the sides and rear for privacy. Where the two meet, finish the railing run with an end post close to the first timber post so there is no gap, and keep the heights close so the change of material looks planned.