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Black-grey: the backdrop
The fence disappears, the plants come forward, the garden grows. The choice of contemporary gardens and gardens of grasses.
Help with paint Painting outdoors
How to paint a fence
A wooden fence is painted by brush, in dry weather, on dry, brushed-down wood: Multi-Surface Primer on the bare wood and above all on the end grain, then two coats of Multi-Surface Eggshell, on both faces, the posts and the tops of the panels. A new pressure-treated fence waits four to six weeks before being painted. The choice that changes everything is the colour: a dark fence — deep green, grey-black, brown — recedes, brings the plants forward and makes the garden bigger; a light fence closes it in. Allow the coverage of rough timber, 10 m²/L, and both faces.
Page updated September 2026 · by the Mylands France colour team
Understanding
Why a dark fence makes the garden bigger
A fence is the back of the picture: what is in front of it — plants, furniture, lawn — is read by contrast with it. A light fence (new wood, white, pale grey) draws the eye to itself and marks the boundary; a dark fence — deep green, grey-black, brown — merges with the shade, recedes, and the foliage stands out against it as against a stage backdrop. The garden looks bigger because its boundary disappears. It is the same rule as the dark wall at the end of a corridor, in Make a room look larger with paint, but in reverse: here it is the background that has to step back.
Paint protects too: fence timber, thin, set in the ground, exposed on two faces, greys in a year and splits in five. Multi-Surface Eggshell, low-sheen and flexible, formulated for exterior use over primer, protects it for up to ten years with a maintenance coat roughly every three years. What it does not protect: the buried part of the posts, which is a matter of timber treatment and metal post shoes, and the top of a flat panel where water stands, which gets a capping or a sloped rail.
The method
Painting a fence in seven steps
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01
Wait for the wood to be dry
New pressure-treated fence: four to six weeks outdoors, until the damp green has faded and a drop of water soaks in instead of beading. Old fence: two days of dry weather. Wood painted damp blisters at the first warm spell.
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02
Clear and protect
Cut back or tie back plants to 50 cm; dust sheet on the ground on both sides, tape on the gate's hinges and lock, cardboard against the neighbour's wall. Warn the neighbour: the face on their side gets painted too, and that is half the job.
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03
Brush down and treat
Stiff brush over the whole fence to remove dust, dry moss and lifting fibres; fungicidal wash on green areas, left to work, brushed, rinsed; scraper on any old paint that is flaking. No pressure washer on thin boards. Two days' drying if you rinsed.
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04
Repair
Split or rotten boards replaced; proud screws driven in; exterior wood filler in the splits of the posts; a light sanding at 120 on rough boards, along the grain.
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05
Prime the end grain
Multi-Surface Primer on all bare wood, two coats on the tops of boards and posts, the bottoms of boards and every cut: the end grain is where water gets in. Over sound old paint, primer is not needed. A night's drying.
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06
First coat, by brush
Wide brush along the boards, top to bottom; cutting-in brush between the boards and in the corners of the posts. On a smooth panel, a long-pile roller followed by the brush. The brush works the paint into the wood where a sprayer lays it on top. Both faces, the posts, the top.
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07
Second coat, and the gate
The next morning, same method. The gate comes off its hinges and is painted flat on trestles if possible, every face and edge, like a shutter. Tape removed as soon as touch-dry; plants put back after a week.
By fence
Panels, boards, posts, gate, metal: what changes
| The fence | Weak point | Tool | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Closeboard panels, butted boards | Tops of boards, bottom touching the ground | Wide brush, long-pile roller then brush | A capping or sloped rail on top; 5 cm between the bottom of the boards and the soil |
| Open slats, picket, chestnut paling | Edges of every board | 40 mm flat brush | Long but simple: one edge, one face, the other edge, the other face |
| Posts | End grain at the top, base at the ground | Brush | Two coats of primer on the top; a post cap; the buried part cannot be painted |
| Wooden gate | Joints, bottoms of stiles | Brush, flat on trestles | Off its hinges; hardware removed; every face and edge |
| Rigid mesh, iron railings | Rust at the welds | Round brush, painting mitt | De-rust, degrease, Multi-Surface Primer, two coats of Satin — see Best paint for metal surfaces |
| Composite or PVC fence | Adhesion | Foam roller | Degrease, sand very fine, Multi-Surface Primer after a test; light or mid shades only |
A shared boundary fence is painted on both sides with the neighbour's agreement; the colour of their face is as much theirs as yours — a good conversation to have, and often a shared fence in a single colour.
The colours
Six fence colours, and what they do to the garden
Outdoors, a colour looks lighter: these shades are chosen one step deeper. The darks recede and make the backdrop; the mids fade away; the lights close in — keep them for small town gardens you want bright.
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Deep green: the hedge
The fence reads as a dark hedge; the flowers stand out against it. The most natural of the darks.
03
Grey-green: it fades away
The colour of trunks and shade; neither dark nor light, it disappears without darkening. For a country garden.
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Warm brown: wood, but better
A brown-grey that keeps the spirit of the wood without the dirty grey or the orange of stains. With a lighter gate.
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Blue-grey: the seaside garden
A muted blue, almost grey, with grasses and lavender: the dune garden.
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Stone white: the town palisade
For a small town garden you want bright: a warm off-white, never a pure white, with a coloured gate.
To avoid
What makes a fence peel
- Painting a new pressure-treated fence. It is waterlogged; four to six weeks outdoors first.
- One face only. The wood moves on one side and not the other; it warps, and water gets in through the bare face.
- Forgetting the top. The end grain of boards and posts drinks; two coats of primer, and a capping.
- A sprayer without a brush. It lays the paint on the wood instead of working it in, and the neighbour gets the mist; the brush, or the sprayer followed by the brush.
- Leaving soil against the boards. Five centimetres of air at the bottom, or a sacrificial gravel board.
- Pure white on a long fence. It dazzles, closes in and gets dirty; a stone white, and only on a short palisade.
Frequently asked questions
Your questions, our answers
How much paint for a fence?
Length × height × 2 faces, and a coverage of 10 m²/L on rough wood that drinks. A fence 10 m long and 1.8 m high is 36 m²: about 3.5 L per coat, 7 L for two coats — two 5 L tins, or one 5 L and one 2.5 L. The calculator helps you adjust.
Paint, stain or oil for a fence?
Paint (Eggshell over primer) gives an opaque colour and lasts up to ten years with upkeep; stain lets the wood show through and is redone every two to four years; a saturating oil nourishes and greys. For a fence you want dark and acting as a backdrop, paint.
Can a fence be sprayed?
Yes, to save time on a long slatted fence, provided you go over it with a brush afterwards to work the paint into the wood, sheet up generously and pick a windless day — the mist travels. Coverage is poorer and both faces are still needed.
My fence is shared: what about the neighbour?
The face on their side is as much theirs as yours: talk about it first. The simplest, and the best-looking, is a single colour on both sides; otherwise each their own face, and the top in the darker colour.
When to repaint?
A maintenance coat roughly every three years on the most exposed face, after brushing down; a touch-up as soon as a board greys or a flake appears. The tops of the boards and posts are what you watch.
See also
Going further
Dry wood, washing, sanding, primer, two coats — three on the exposed face. Six colours to make a shed vanish i...
Probe, strip what is coming away, sand, prime, two coats — three facing south. Windows, shutters, gates, eaves...
What to paint outdoors and what not to, a three-colour palette tied to the house, one accent. Six weekend proj...
From the radiator to the gate: the finish that holds on steel and cast iron, the preparation, and the colours.
“A dark fence is not a boundary: it is the ground the garden is drawn on.”
