Wooden fencing
Wood is still the default choice for garden boundaries because it looks right, it can be cut and adapted on site, and it can be repaired one board at a time.
Making timber last
Timber fails where it stays wet. Keep it out of the soil with a gravel board, keep water off the end grain with post caps and a capping rail, and use pressure-treated (tanalised) timber rather than dip-treated wherever you can.
After that, maintenance is simple: keep soil and compost heaps away from the base, cut back climbers that trap moisture, and re-treat every few years if you want to hold the colour.
Timber fence styles
From most solid to most open: close board, closeboard-effect panels, overlap panels, hit-and-miss, slatted, picket, then post and rail.