Landscaping - Bank Edging Replacement

[BOSullivan]

Hi All

 

Your advice would be appreciated.

 

My garden has a bank which has been edged with fencing posts, probably when the house was built 26 years ago or soon after.

Some have rotted and I am looking to replace the edging in it's entirety or with something similar. The bank is not a straight edge, there are several curves, which is presumably one of the reasons why fence posts were used.

Fence posts have also been used to edge the borders and 'lawn' (green expanse of moss). At their highest they are I guess 18" to 24" high, but they vary in height as the bank slopes to the lawn. At the lawn they protrude a couple of inches.

 

I want to retain the curves so my idea is to replace the posts with something similar. I suspect it is not easy to extract the existing posts, and I also expect most will break under the soil - there are quite a lot of them.

 

Any thoughts on how to extract them and what to replace them with?

[JohnMo]

Replace with exactly the same thing. Last lot lasted 26 years.

 

Mini digger will make light work of it. Dig trench place posts back fill with an almost dry concrete mix. Add an open membrane to the back of the posts, to filter the water as it makes it's way out the raised area.

[Russell griffiths]

If you use the new tanalised post’s you will be lucky to get 7 years out of them. 
the old treatment was far superior. We are replacing fence posts by the thousands at the moment and some I remember putting in myself and I’ve only lived here 12 years. 
we are replacing everything with creosote posts. 
i would do some serious research before just buying a standard treated round post. 
there’s better out there but they come at a premium. 
 

how long are you going to live there ?

[Oz07]

What about reclaimed sleepers. The proper old ones. They look better and last longer. Still get a gentle curve with them

[BOSullivan]

4 hours ago, JohnMo said:

Replace with exactly the same thing. Last lot lasted 26 years.

 

Mini digger will make light work of it. Dig trench place posts back fill with an almost dry concrete mix. Add an open membrane to the back of the posts, to filter the water as it makes it's way out the raised area.

Unfortunately I cannot get a mini digger into the back garden 

[BOSullivan]

52 minutes ago, Russell griffiths said:

If you use the new tanalised post’s you will be lucky to get 7 years out of them. 
the old treatment was far superior. We are replacing fence posts by the thousands at the moment and some I remember putting in myself and I’ve only lived here 12 years. 
we are replacing everything with creosote posts. 
i would do some serious research before just buying a standard treated round post. 
there’s better out there but they come at a premium. 
 

how long are you going to live there ?

I suspect quite a few years. Happy to replace with posts, and I don't mind spending, it's the removal of the existing posts that's my biggest issue. It's a back garden and I can't get a mini digger in there

[BOSullivan]

51 minutes ago, Oz07 said:

What about reclaimed sleepers. The proper old ones. They look better and last longer. Still get a gentle curve with them

It would be quite angular. Also the curves are not symmetrical across the garden. I think sleepers would look a bit strange.

[Nestor]

If no access for Machinary, I would fix a strong block of wood low down on a complete post and lever out with some timber or a high lift jack.

 

Once a couple are out, the others should be easier to remove with a decent rabbiting spade / 5ft crowbar.

 

Then a heavy duty post rammer for new posts and chainsaw level once complete.

 

https://bulldoghandtools.co.uk/bulldog-premier-rabbiting-spade-72-tubular-steel-long-handle-5391006580?h_campaign_id=414850337&bng_id=1317216323187476&h_ad_id=82326239667285&msclkid=ed1794e0b23d17655843fd20e27216d0

Edited Sunday at 20:36 by Nestor

[DownSouth]

Do you need to remove them? Could you put a sleeper wall in front, cut the top third of the rotten wood off, stick it in the gap you’ve made and cover it with soil and just top it up after the wood eventually rots down. If you plant in front of it you won’t see the sleeper angles.

[jack]

14 hours ago, BOSullivan said:

It's a back garden and I can't get a mini digger in there

Some mini-diggers have retractable tracks that let them get through doorways as narrow as ~700 mm.

 

15 hours ago, Russell griffiths said:

If you use the new tanalised post’s you will be lucky to get 7 years out of them. 

 

One of our neighbours had new fences put in about 5 years ago and two of them have already failed at the base. This is in a very damp area that gets no sun. I see similar all the time around me.

 

I wish I'd known when getting the fences done how long ordinary treated posts tend to last. Our fences are 10 years old and no obvious issues yet (we're much higher up than the neighbour and on sandy ground), but looking at all the failing (and not that old) fences in my area, I know it's only a matter of time.

 

As for longevity, perhaps not ideal for OP if they plan to sink a load of vertical posts, but for fenceposts in general, postsaver sleeves have a good reputation.

[BOSullivan]

14 hours ago, DownSouth said:

Do you need to remove them? Could you put a sleeper wall in front, cut the top third of the rotten wood off, stick it in the gap you’ve made and cover it with soil and just top it up after the wood eventually rots down. If you plant in front of it you won’t see the sleeper angles.

The bank has several curves, so sleepers in front wouldn't work.

[BOSullivan]

2 hours ago, jack said:

Some mini-diggers have retractable tracks that let them get through doorways as narrow as ~700 mm.

 

 

One of our neighbours had new fences put in about 5 years ago and two of them have already failed at the base. This is in a very damp area that gets no sun. I see similar all the time around me.

 

I wish I'd known when getting the fences done how long ordinary treated posts tend to last. Our fences are 10 years old and no obvious issues yet (we're much higher up than the neighbour and on sandy ground), but looking at all the failing (and not that old) fences in my area, I know it's only a matter of time.

 

As for longevity, perhaps not ideal for OP if they plan to sink a load of vertical posts, but for fenceposts in general, postsaver sleeves have a good reputation.

Thanks

[carlos21]

On 22/03/2026 at 19:18, BOSullivan said:

It would be quite angular. Also the curves are not symmetrical across the garden. I think sleepers would look a bit strange.

you can stand them on end, much like the posts you have.

they look smart like this, but  would require a bit of digging and the proper old ones arnt very nice to cut.