Welded vs woven gabion
Updated: October 2026
You have a stiff square mesh in one photograph and a flexible hex mesh in another, and both are called a gabion. Welded vs woven gabion is the difference between a garden cage that holds a straight face and a civil mesh that is meant to move with the ground. The [Gabions comparison](/hub/fencing-and-wire/gabions) is a set of welded-style garden cages from amazon.co.uk, plus one hexagonal planter. Peter F. used those listings and the UK standards and highways notes that describe the two constructions. None of the kept cages is treated here as compliant with either British Standard. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
You have a stiff square mesh in one photograph and a flexible hex mesh in another, and both are called a gabion.
You have a stiff square mesh in one photograph and a flexible hex mesh in another, and both are called a gabion. Welded vs woven gabion is the difference between a garden cage that holds a straight face and a civil mesh that is meant to move with the ground. The Gabions comparison is a set of welded-style garden cages from amazon.co.uk, plus one hexagonal planter. Peter F. used those listings and the UK standards and highways notes that describe the two constructions. None of the kept cages is treated here as compliant with either British Standard. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Construction on the listing | Wire stated | Mesh stated | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Relaxdays Relaxdays gabion wall | Rectangular welded-style cage | 4 mm | n/a | 5.3 | about £33.90 | View offer |
 Nordswal Nordswal six gabion cages | Rectangular welded-style cage | n/a | n/a | 6.4 | about £169.00 | View offer | |
 Gawany Gawany hexagonal gabion planter | Hexagonal outline; welded joints claimed | n/a | n/a | 4.2 | about £68.60 | View offer |
On this page
Two meshes, two standards
A welded gabion is panels of wires crossed and welded, joined with spirals or helicals. BS EN 10223-8:2013 covers those products. The fill is excluded, which is why a listing can say retaining wall and still sell an empty basket. A woven gabion, in civil work, is hexagonal double-twist mesh. BS EN 10223-3:2013 covers that family. Corden describes about 2.7 mm wire for baskets, about 2.0 mm for mattresses, and an 80 × 100 mm mesh, for ground that moves, rivers and erosion. Those diameters are lighter than the 3 mm to 5 mm welded wire garden suppliers print. A mattress is a scour mat, not a 30 cm garden box. If the listing never shows the standard, you do not claim it.
Straight face or movement
TRL PPR1036 describes welded mesh as the straighter face and the quicker fill, and as more brittle if a weld snaps. Woven double-twist is described as more tolerant of settlement, because the twist stops a cut from unzipping the sheet. That is not a claim that woven is always stronger. For both, the design mass is the stone. Civils notes name BS EN 1997-1:2004 and BS 8002:2015 and put the weight in the fill, not in the wire. Ordinary galvanised mesh in a marine splash zone has been found rotten in that TRL note. Galfan and PVC-coated wire are named only on products that state them.
Garden edge, slope, or water
On flat ground, for a low garden edge where you want a square face, a welded cage is the usual buy. Relaxdays, the Garvee pair, Nordswal and Monster Shop are rectangular welded-style boxes. They still have to state a wire and a hole before they are a specified welded gabion, and most do not. Relaxdays prints 4 mm and not the hole. What to check on a listing is on the gabion baskets buying guide.
If the ground will move, the bank is a slope, or the job is erosion or a watercourse, the civil notes point at woven double-twist, with a mesh like the 80 × 100 mm Corden describes and a design for settlement. That is not an amazon planter. A river or a slope is where this page stops and gabion retaining wall starts. Mesh type does not grant planning permission, and quicker filling still assumes braces and a known hole.
A hexagonal planter is not hex mesh
Hexagonal, on a shop title, can mean the outline of the basket. It does not mean the mesh is the double-twist hex of BS EN 10223-3. Gawany is that case. The outside size is 100 × 90 × 50 cm and the inside is 80 × 70 × 50 cm. The bullets claim that the cross and longitudinal wires are welded. The mesh hole is not stated. Welded joints plus a hexagonal footprint are a planter outline, not a woven river unit. The two UK reviews describe a fiddly, light wire that twisted.
If you need the flexible civil mesh, buy it with the hex size and the wire printed. Do not search hexagonal and accept the first planter. Flat garden, straight face, no soil load: a welded cage whose wire and hole you can read. Moving ground, a river, or erosion: a specified woven double-twist unit.
Common questions
What is the difference between welded and woven mesh?
Welded mesh is panels of wires crossed and welded, joined into a stiff cage. Woven gabion mesh, in civil work, is hexagonal and usually double-twist, so it can flex. Welded mesh is the garden cage that holds a straight face. Woven mesh is the one the highways notes treat as more tolerant of settlement. They are not two names for the same panel.
Which standard applies to each?
BS EN 10223-8:2013 covers welded mesh gabion products, and the fill is outside that standard. BS EN 10223-3:2013 covers hexagonal steel wire mesh for civil engineering. A listing that never mentions either standard has not shown a certificate. None of the amazon cages in this comparison is treated as compliant with either one.
Which one if the ground may move?
Woven double-twist. The same notes treat it as more tolerant of differential settlement, and the twist is there so a snapped wire does not unravel the sheet. Corden’s woven baskets are described at about 2.7 mm wire and an 80 × 100 mm mesh, for movement, rivers and erosion. That is a specified civil product, not a light garden cage.
Is a hexagonal planter a woven gabion?
Not on the Gawany listing. The outline is hexagonal, at 100 × 90 × 50 cm outside, and the bullets claim welded joints. The mesh hole is not stated. Hexagonal there is the footprint. Double-twist hex mesh is a weave with a stated aperture, which this planter does not print.
What happens if one wire or one weld breaks?
On woven double-twist, the twist is meant to contain a broken wire so the sheet does not unzip. On welded mesh, a failed weld is a local brittle break, and the panel does not have that same lock. Neither failure is a reason to call one mesh always stronger. The stone mass still carries a retaining wall, for both types.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources and amazon.co.uk listing lines; retrieved 19 October 2026.
- Planning Portal, Fences, gates and garden walls: planning permission (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Planning Portal, Building regulations for fences and walls (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- BSI, BS EN 10223-8:2013 welded mesh gabion products (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- BSI, BS EN 10223-3:2013 hexagonal steel wire mesh products (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Wire Fence, Galfan welded gabion technical specification (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- TRL, PPR1036 gabion wall information note (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- GOV.UK, The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 explanatory booklet (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- HSE, Manual handling in construction (retrieved 19 October 2026)