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The distance between fence posts is guided by the terrain you’re installing them on, the purpose of the fence, and the material it’s made of. For the average wooden garden fence, posts should be about 6 to 8 inches apart. But if you’re going with a mesh, wire, lattice, or chain link fence, you could set the fence posts anywhere from 6 to 25 feet apart. 

Green branches are more flexible and easier to work with, but they'll shrink as they dry, which can loosen your fence weave over time—so you'll need to weave them extra tight to account for shrinkage. Some species, particularly willow, may also try to sprout when used green. For these reasons, it’s typically easiest to use branches that have dried for a week or two.

A fence gate can sag for a number of reasons. It often happens if the hinges are damaged or if the hinge screws are loose. Gates can also slump if the supporting fence posts start to lean or come out of place. This means that fixing a sagging gate is often as simple as tightening a few screws or upgrading the hinges.

Posts for a horizontal fence should be no more than 6 feet apart. Wood pickets are not as strong when mounted horizontally as when mounted vertically. As such, the fence panels on a horizontal fence can’t cover the same span between posts as a vertical fence can. If you install the posts further apart on a horizontal fence, the fence will lose stability, making the boards more likely to sag.