Lifespan and Recommended Maintenance

However, if climbers and particularly evergreen ones like Ivy are planted or encouraged to grow over the willow, the fence will last almost indefinitely and becomes a hedge, or 'fedge'! We have seen many fences like this which are 40 years old or more. Over the years, we have experimented using different preservatives and the only one which seems to work is a mixture of Linseed Oil and Turpentine. Untreated willow goes grey after a period of years when the bark has just weathered away. However, treated willow keeps its colour (and bark), in fact it darkens. More importantly, this oily concoction, if applied annually, keeps the willow in prime condition for very many years and as an added bonus, it won't harm plants if it drifts onto them on application. We were particularly worried about how our fencing would withstand the heat, humidity and tropical storms in The Bahamas but after ten years and five Hurricanes, thanks to the Linseed oil and Turpentine, the willow is still in perfect condition, in fact, the willow has become so hard, you can't even press a thumbnail into it!