I just had a book from the library that was entirely on building picket fences. Great book. If it's the same one you're seeing on Amazon, don't buy it. LOL There will be wayyyyy too many ideas to chose from!!!
Joyce :o)

A couple of years ago, I found myself in the same situation. What I did was drive around town, the older section, and looked pickets. When I found one I liked I would ask the owners if I could trace the pattern. I was never turned down. My husband was not too happy with the final design, it was time consuming to cut each picket but he did it and I'm happy with it.

I had a picket fence years ago, and for the design, I wanted something that meant something to me and went with our "house in the woods"...so my ex used a band saw and cut half of an acorn on each outside edge of the picket...you saw the pattern when two pickets were put together. This design was about half way down the picket...and he the cut the tops of each post like the acorn cap...I never heard the end of that one...and happy for me, the fence was a short length!!
Woodsy

Here is a picture of the pickets I made on my front porch railings. They form a heart pattern when they meet.
http://robinweeks.fotopic.net/p627204.html

If you want to make a lot of pickets faster use a router and a straight carbide bit with a bearing on the end. make a pattern and it stays below each picket as you follow it to cut the shape. much faster than sawing. Will require a heavy duty router.

Link to nice pickets in this post. Mary_Lu has custom pickets around her fabulous Garden.
Come by the cottage garden and set a spell...

Here is a link that might be useful: See Mary_Lu's website, Summer 2005

A suggestion for sparing the husbands out there. Grin. How about using precut pickets and then personalizing them with a special do-dad or cut out? It would save alot of time to just have to "improve" on what is previously there rather than start from scratch.

Youthman,

Your garden is beautiful!! Unfortunately, the heart fence picture is too small to be appreciated as it should be. Is there anyway you can post it in a larger scale?

Homemaker,
Thanks for sharing Mary Lu's garden. It is indeed beautiful!

Almendra

When i make a picket fence, I find the design I want and make a form to cut them out on my router table. You can cut about 1 picket per minute or so. You need to make a master pattern with a jigsaw and sand it. I then use a router bit with a bearing that is the same size as the bit. This bearing will ride along the pattern and the bit will cut the wood to match the pattern. If anyone is interested I could send pictures of a jig and the bit.

Lee

Hello madspinner, We wanted something different than the usual that can be commercially bought. I had seen a very wonderful fence on the drive to the hospital my mother was in after her stroke and heart attack. I got out of the car, knocked on his door and asked him about. DH and I wnet to see it a couple of times together, then we both talked to the owner. It was a design from Family Handyman magazine. Its a spindle type of picket fence. The man told us up front that it was alot of work. He even let us borrow his mortising chisel for a couple of months and the magazine article. DH also borrowed a miter saw from a woodworking friend. The spindles are mortised into the horizontal pieces, and the the horizontal sections are dadoed into the posts. Yes, its been alot of work but we are very pleased with it. No one (except this other gentleman) out here has anything like it! Here are a couple of pictures.

{{gwi:679}}
For more pics of our yards and roses, check out my Picture Trail:

careytearose

Here is a link that might be useful: look at the Landscaping Projects 2007 and Favorite ROSES we grow albums

wowwwwwwwwww careytearrose that is an awesome yard.......very very nice...Al

I was just doing a search on this & found this website. If it doesn't come up, do a search on Gothic picket fence on yahoo.

Here is a link that might be useful: Picket fence styles