Do not select any stain color that has red in the formula. The stain will fade in the sun and the stain appearance will have an undertone of pink.

I should add, the trim on our white house is a rich espresso color. I want the backyard fence to harmonize with that. There is no grey on the exterior of our house.

Not opposed to brown, but, for a farmhouse look, it seems to rodeo. My choice would be white...an extension of the house. I googled this: "how does white stain hold up on a wood slat fence?" Answers were clear about what stain to use and how to apply it. Worth a read.

Love the dog...our yard is fenced in as well for our pup. I don't know where you live, but the fence will keep her inside, but it won't keep a coyote out. Using their front claws, one can easily get over an 8' fence.

We have a new member in the neighborhood:

It depends on the look you are going for. Semi transparent will show the wood grain and knots. While semi solid hides more of the grain and knots. What was used on your posts on the porch?

Here is railing at my house. First one is semi transparent. Second is semi solid. The semi solid is applied over the semi transparent we originally had. They are not the same color.

Wow, different color indeed! Thank you, that's very helpful.

I believe the stain used on our porch posts was semi-solid. My goal with the fence is to harmonize with the posts, not match it, per se.

The reason I'm considering semi-transparent is that the fence wood is newer (i.e., we're not trying to cover imperfections or anything), and I love the character of it. But this is our first time staining a farmhouse fence like this, so I want to understand as much as I can.

@rebeccadenise do you know if they have half pint sample sizes of the stain? Maybe you could buy a small thing of semi transparent and a small thing of semi solid and test it out. I did this to actually choose a color when we restained. Also I believe the semi solid will last longer.

That’s a great idea. I will check.