A fence mainly made of wood. Gärdsgård may be used for all wooden fences, including paling, roundpole, slatted, and split rail fences, but the more specific values, such as post_and_rail, slatted, and roundpole, should be preferred.

The Gardsgard is a traditional Swedish fence that was the norm at all farms and has been in use for around 1000 years. Today, there are 1,5 kilometers of this wooden fence surrounding the old village at Tyresta national park in Haninge.

What Is a Swedish Roundpole Fence? A Rustic Classic Explained

These fences were built to keep out wild animals and neighbors. They also provided privacy. This kind of fence was especially popular in western central Sweden, where the farm buildings were situated close together in a closed farmyard with a gateway into the field. This meant that it was easy to shut out both domestic and wild animals from the dwelling house, cowshed and barns. A special fence was also built to shut out the yard from the pasture and meadows.

A pole fence consists of upright stakes put together in pairs with horizontal stakes laid either horizontally or diagonally between them. The horizontal stakes are fastened with binding cord usually made from young saplings – the best material is juniper. The binding cord is twisted in the form of a ring around the pair of stakes, and willow branches or twigs are woven in a pattern.

Pole fences have been part of the Finnish rural landscape for centuries, and they were important elements in the organisation of open-field farming. During the early modern period, fences were particularly significant in physically closing the landscape and preventing animals and neighbors from accessing cultivation and residential areas. This article investigates different fence-organisations using detailed large-scale maps of a part of western Sweden from the mid-seventeenth century.…