Fences are tricky.

For instance, mine is not a friendly fence. There is no leaning on it and engaging in a neighborly chat. There is an electric wire around the top of it, akin to the concertina wire around courtyards in Mexico. The access gates look capable of guarding Fort Knox. I feel like I am forever justifying this formidable fence.

Until last night.

The two young moose that have been calling this neighborhood home gave some thought to breaching it. They were decidedly discouraged. Which is the whole point. Unless I want to grow nothing but spruce, I need this fence.

This is a relatively small lot, one-third of an acre. To fence most of it is a reasonable proposition. To cage each and every tree and shrub to protect them from the moose is not reasonable.

What that leads me to think: “What if everyone fences their yard?” Seriously ugly. Seriously unfriendly. Because if you want to fence out moose, you need to be talking eight to 10 feet in height. No casual chats over that kind of fence.

But then not everyone needs or wants to fence their entire yard.

So I offer you a thought: Pick your fight. Fence in just the portion of your lot that you feel you want to develop into a garden. Leave the rest of it to cow parsnip, fireweed, elder and alder.

If it is grass you want, there is no need for a fence.

But if you want mountain ash, amur chokecherry, Shubert’s red, mock orange, roses, larch, Scotch pine, red twig dogwoods, spirea, clematis, the list goes on and on, you will need to offer them protection. Serious protection.

When you decide to build that fence do it as “right” as your ability and money will allow. Building a nice solid fence in the first place will eliminate headaches down the road, as well as the unsightliness of fence boards and posts akimbo.

Frost heaves have shifted our fence and the weather has done a nice job of making the whole affair look a bit more homely. I often consider painting a design on the gates but then I think that would draw more attention to them. Ideally, I would have liked the gates (which can accommodate the big cart that I use to wheel in lawn clippings and manure) to have a smaller, human size gate within them, just big enough to duck into, without having to wrestle the whole thing. Keep that in mind when you are building your gates. Strong winds and big gates are an ugly combination.

Then there are the materials to take into consideration. This fence is rough-cut wood and wire. The back and each of the sides is wood. The west side of the lot has a drainage ditch that is about four feet deep. We use that to our advantage, so the fence on that side is only four feet high with four strands of wire above that. The front takes advantage of the view: farmland that has reverted to meadow and a truly lovely natural forest. There are pocket views of the water and mountains. I don’t want to block any of this so the plantings to the south are minimal and the fence is wire. It is stock fence so the squares are smaller at the bottom and larger near the top. This comes in quite handy for keeping our dog on our own property and loose dogs at bay.

Another lovely advantage of this fence is the safety it provides for children. Young visitors can head out to the sandbox and we adults need only keep a casual eye on them.

The east side of the fence is really the problem. It is about 10 feet tall and solid wood. The intention was to create a microclimate for fruit trees. This has not been realized. The drainage throughout that area is not the best. It is somewhat boggy. We dug a French drain but the very successful bed of iris setosa (our native iris) and marsh marigolds says it all.

I am actually glad that the whole fruit tree plan never became reality. I really enjoy the clematis (c. tangutica, the yellow one) that is clambering all over that fence and spilling down the other side.

So if you think you could use a fence keep in mind just how much area you need to protect, the overall design, materials and gates.

Note: The Homer Garden Club presents a program by Sally Arant on Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Cowles Council Chambers. Sally is a landscape architect in Anchorage and her topic will be “Hardy, Unusual Woodland Plants for the Shade.”

Make sure you are not overwatering your seedlings (like I am) that are under the lights and waiting for that wondrous day that you deem the weather stable enough to take them out to a heated greenhouse.

As March continues to roar, there really is light at the end of this very long tunnel.

Rosemary Fitzpatrick has been gardening with gusto in Homer for 27 years.