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Post by karolinakitty on Nov 7, 2008 16:35:35 GMT -6
Ok gang i need some advice...
The veggie gardens in my past been in my yard which was fenced in. I had no wildlife to speak of. A few coons, an occassional rat and a stray cat now and then.
Down here, we have deer, fox, coon, squirrel a passing wolf and every now and then a gator.
The plans for my garden in the spring will be a box garden, i'm going to use 2 x 12's, 2 high, so it will be 24" deep.
So here's my dilema....to fence or not to fence...
Our yard is not fenced in, open on all 4 corners.
We do have dogs that run the neighborhood, not my dumb and dumber, but neighbors dogs who have roamed the neighborhood for years.
So am i gonna have ta fence or do ya'll think i can chance it.....
Any advice will be well received........
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Post by olhillbilly on Nov 7, 2008 18:08:18 GMT -6
I bet a gator would wreck havoc inna garden just wanderin thru.  Pharmerphil is a good resident homestead gardener. Tho I bet even he, never tangled with a gator. lol I aint forgot you either Frank. Just doubt you deal with garden gators. My personal experince is if ya got apple trees, plant yer stuff opposite of where the deer come from on the otherside fo the apples. They prefer apples to gardens. Otherwise, they taste everything. Kinda like wild goats. lol Coons will get yer corn. Meybe the gator will get the coons? Reckon it depends on how big a raised bed ya gonna have? Meybe a one strand lectric fence or some chicken wire dont cost much an is easy to string up. The two inch mesh would keep out the bigger stuff and its cheaper yet. I bet some of the others will have better ideas. I bet a gator gettin stung by a lectric wire wud just piss em off. hahaha Meybe scratch that idea. Be a good question for the master gardeners.  |
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Post by olhillbilly on Nov 7, 2008 18:41:45 GMT -6
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Post by chefjim on Nov 7, 2008 19:20:02 GMT -6
'course......we could give the flatheads that hang around on the back lawn some small caliber popguns too.........  |
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Post by famfish on Nov 7, 2008 21:57:11 GMT -6
First of all that is pretty deep and will shadow some of the plants.I woud go with treated lumber and use two two by 8 or even 2by 6 and only go a foot foot high. I would cover the bottom two to three inches with leaves or compost with a inch of sand mixed with dirt or top soil. Some fresh manure of mushroom soil about two inches above the leaves and sand. I would top the mix with about 4 to 6 inches of strained top soil ! You can grow anything in this mixture. I would put two by 4 's 4 feet heigh connected to the base every 2 feet witha top rail holding the 2 by 4's.I would then add a a green plastic coated fence with a gate. The fence would also be great for climbing beans and and vine crops even tomatoes! Make it at least 4 o 9 feet wide depending hw big you want it.I would put a 50 gallon compost barrel on the high end with holes in the bottom! In the late fall put a 100 gallon of water iside the garden and cover with a double laer of plastic and have a garden two month after the frost or even longer. The water will mantain a temperatue in the garden and many harty crops like lettuce and broccoli spinich will survive sometimes all winter I have lots of flowers in mine now and will kee them all winter with just the water for solar heat. you must have a double layer of plastic.You can run a 2 by 10 length across the middle and the plastic will be on a angle like a real green house. You can even start your garden two months earlier or grow seedling plants in the spring. The compost barrel will also add heat to the greenhouse in the winter! I had a nice bed of lettuce ready to eat and it was gone the next day so I covered the rest with just a wire. Close it in you will be better off one ground hog will destroy it in two nights other wise!
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Post by karolinakitty on Nov 8, 2008 7:52:28 GMT -6
Thanx Frank,
Don't think I need to worry too much about the frost we only get a few days a year below 30......
There's a good reason for the depth I need...the soil I currently have holds water, I'm puttin down the heavy sheeting on top of the soil I currently have then the farmer down the road is bringin me about 30yds of his soil which will have all the nutrients I need to get started. Soil down here is tough and accordin to him this will get me started and I only have to keep it up. 24" will give me an 18" base and room to mound if I choose and do other things.
If I were still in the 'burgh i would definetly use all your advice..thanx again.......
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Post by gonecatfishing on Nov 8, 2008 16:37:01 GMT -6
To fence the deer out you would have to have a 8 ft.fence or also enclose the top with fencing. Maybe a better way for you would be to use some anti-critter chemicals to keep them away.. Here where we live in town some folks have put up tall fences and the deer has no problem jumping over anyways. After all the complaining thru the years the city is now permitting bow hunting within the Corp limits where the lots are 1 acre or more. All city parks are closed to hunting....
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Post by pharmerphil on Nov 9, 2008 7:32:49 GMT -6
Sorry I have to add famfish, not all treated lumber is safe to use.
treated lumber was at first was called ..CCA
the chemical used was Chromated Copper Arsenate.
Nowadays, this is not available most places due to it's toxicity...
However, the newest pressure treated: MCQ, is touted as being safe for this project, it contains Micronized Copper Quaternary which is a suspended copper with a antibacterial agent akin to soap.
Now, certain fasteners can't be used with this MCQ wood because small amounts of copper do leach out, making the fasteners corrode.
Copper is good to a point in your soil, then...not so good, and has been blamed for a bunch of different health concerns
I don't know if long term testing has been done on this, but I would still go with something else, cedar possibly if I can't sell you on the comment below.
...I have a friend who used rough oak planks from the sawmill...
They lasted about 8 years, then, when he thought they needed changed....We removed one side at a time, BEFORE the soil from the previous year was disturbed...and it all stayed in place making the board replacement easy.
a side note here:
Even After 8 years, only one of the two 2x8 planks was in need of replacement.
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Post by WVsnowflake on Nov 9, 2008 16:17:20 GMT -6
Round here ya gotta fence in an account of the deer.... mum in law actually fences in an runs a radio, and has lil flaggies on her fence.... Sometimes it works an sometimes it dont!! LOL
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Post by pharmerphil on Nov 10, 2008 10:03:35 GMT -6
put a radio out once in Mo. when I had a coon problem...they must have liked it, found lots of missing corn and some empty Coon Beer bottles...
maybe next time I oughta tune in a talk radio station huh... ;D
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Post by WVsnowflake on Nov 10, 2008 10:22:37 GMT -6
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Post by naturelovr on Nov 10, 2008 22:08:14 GMT -6
mz. kitty....
been my experience in life that if i'm investin' a lot of time, energy and $$$ into somethin' and run into this kinda' dilemma, it's always best to err on the side of caution.........saves a lotta' grief that way......better to have it an' not need it than to wake up one mornin' findin' ya needed it but didn't have it.....
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Post by famfish on Nov 11, 2008 9:24:28 GMT -6
They are coming out with a new cell phone that rings every 30 seconds strictly for keeping garden pest away! There are 10 different ring sounds. One ring sounds like a cat the other rings are 9 different types of dogs! this phone keeps every type of animal from distroying your garden!
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Post by Sinker on Nov 25, 2008 8:15:36 GMT -6
Keepin a deer in th freezer will stop him from messin around in th garden!
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