Make Garden Fencing for Raised Beds Even If You're Not Handy
For those of us passionate about gardening, protecting our thriving patches bursting with vegetables, herbs, and flowers from hungry wildlife invaders is a never-ending battle. Deer munching on newly sprouted seedlings, rabbits nibbling our carefully tended kale to the ground, groundhogs burrowing under root vegetables, seemingly overnight destruction by these furry foes can leave the most dedicated gardener distraught. But take heart, you can defend your garden oasis through strategic installation of protective perimeter fencing, keeping vegetable pillagers at bay even if you don't consider yourself particularly handy.
While elaborate fences may seem intimidating for the novice DIYer, small garden fences are actually quite simple weekend projects, easily accomplished without advanced carpentry skills. The right materials combined with proper construction techniques make building your own raised bed barriers quite achievable. Beyond just safeguarding your produce, encircling garden plots lends a polished, professional look.
Choosing Fencing Materials
Numerous aesthetically pleasing fencing options exist for discerning gardeners wanting both form and function. Determine the look you're going for along with specific animal issues to address when selecting defensive materials for raised bed surrounds.
Wood
No fencing material imparts classic charm quite like wood. Both practical and handsome, it blends into natural garden environments seamlessly. For a timeless look choose cedar pickets, with closely spaced vertical slats presenting a formidable barrier for pests. Or get creative with wooden pallets for a funky, repurposed vibe. Landscape timbers offer casual rustic ambience aligned with permaculture principles.
Metal
While wood excels at deterrence and good looks, metal rules for pure protective potency. Sturdy welded wire resists all efforts by persistent pests to penetrate your vegetable patch perimeter with tenacious determination. Welded wire secured to strong corner posts presents an impenetrable fortress encircling tender crops. For an ornamental accent, decorative iron inserts visual interest while preventing access.
Other
Don't overlook other fencing options that could excel in your unique garden environment. Vinyl offers the positive attributes of wood without costly upkeep demands. For an au natural look, bamboo blends into the habitat with graceful fluid lines. Whatever your material preferences for optimal mixing and matching, small protective fences keep veggie thieves away.
Measuring the Perimeter
Meticulous measurement provides the foundation for properly enclosing your raised beds with fortress-like fencing. After identifying the exact positioning of your planned protective perimeter, carefully calculate the total linear footage required for fencing by tallying all sides. Generously add extra length, at least 1 foot beyond total measurements, to permit overlapping ends for stability and seamlessness. Account for any decorative gates or access points during planning to procure sufficient materials.
Setting Sturdy Fence Posts
While admittedly the most labor-intensive phase, correctly installing sturdy posts creates the supportive skeleton upholding your protective fence barrier for years. The oft repeated adage "measure twice, cut once" definitely applies for precise spacing suited to your fencing material size. Dig holes deeper than frost line in your region, backfilling with concrete for maximum fortification against inevitable jostling from winter winds or boisterous pets.
Brace Your Battlements
Border fences require additional reinforcements against forces conspiring to askew their orientation over time. Firmly brace end posts with angled assists buried in concrete pointing to corners. For fences approaching or exceeding 6 feet in height, consider placing intermediary pillars every 8 to 10 feet.
Attaching Fence Panels
Wood or metal fencing comes in standardized widths making aligning panels between posts a straightforward endeavor. For solid wood fences, securely nail panels to supports with galvanized nails to deter rusting. Welded wire mesh offers greater flexibility, easily bending to landscape contours when attached to posts with sturdy cable ties.
Overlapping Critical
When abutting panels, take care to substantially overlap the end of one section over the next for maximum structural integrity. Failure to provide adequate overhang risks creating gaps along the perimeter that compromising protective effectiveness. Carefully check for even slight separations and immediately remedy for fortification.
Digging an Apron Around the Base
The most common failure point for excluding tunneling varmints comes at soil level. Rabbits easily infiltrate under gates with insufficient clearance while woodchucks relentlessly excavate under fences. Counteract their tireless tactics by burying galvanized wire mesh around the entire perimeter, creating an impassable horizontal barrier at least 12 inches below ground.
Displacing Plants
Installing protective base wire mesh may necessitate transplanting plants located along planned fence lines. Carefully dig up perennials, bulbs or small shrubs during dormancy and reestablish them in alternative beds where they can continue flourishing.
Gates for Access
Incorporating gates facilitates practical passage into your vegetable stronghold, although additional forethought ensures their integrity. Select gates matching fencing for visual continuity along with durable, heavyweight hinges that self-close. For added security against four-legged fugitives, choose widths allowing comfortable human access while hindering wider animals. Dual gates with a securely fixable middle section satisfy both goals.
Dig Deep for Posts
Gate posts must embed as profoundly as perimeter posts to prevent sagging often exacerbated by continual opening/closing pressure. Additionally, connect gates to corner posts with galvanized cable or chain to distribute weight for enhanced longevity.
Ongoing Fence Care
Regular inspection and maintenance preserves optimal function for garden protective barriers. After extreme weather, carefully check for plant debris accumulating on fences or vegetation intruding inward that could enable pests toeholds. Immediately remedy any compromised areas whether from storm damage, material failure or pest destruction before protection falters.
Be Vigilant
Don't permit even minor erosion of defense safeguards for your garden. Making timely repairs prevents larger future issues necessitating more substantial fence section replacement. With prompt attention, your vegetable patch barricades will withstand assaults for many planting seasons.
Improving Barrier Effectiveness
For particularly problematic raiders threatening precious produce, consider augmenting fences with additional deterrents. Unpleasant ultrasonic noisemakers triggered by motion detectors irritate sensitive animal hearing while harmless to humans. Strategically placed scent repellents along the base release odors pests find unpleasant and alarming.
Add Height
Elevating fence height with decorative lattice transforms ordinary barriers into formidable fortresses. Use rigid plastic or rot-resistant cedar slats attached securely to fence posts then laced together with weatherproof gardening twine.
Don't resign yourself to helplessly watching woodland thieves pillage your garden bounty after long months carefully nurturing your plants. Armed with motivation and a few key materials, protective fences well within reach of the average gardener will defend crops against consumption. Through step-by-step assembly of sturdy perimeter barriers, both green thumbs and novice growers can foil four-legged bandits' insatiable appetites for fruits of garden labor.