There is nothing more discouraging than cultivating crops for months, only to discover them eaten or destroyed at harvest time. Try these effective deterrents to keep critters out of your vegetable garden.
To keep rabbits, wood chucks, moles, voles, squirrels, and chipmunks from entering the garden, cut chicken wire (or one square inch grid fencing) into two foot strips. Dig a one foot trench around the garden perimeter; place the fencing down one foot; and refill the trench.
If digging one foot down is not possible, dig a wider six inch deep trench; bend the bottom six inches out; and bury the chicken wire six inches down and six inches out from the garden. In both cases, the chicken wire should continue up one foot above the ground.
To discourage deer from browsing, attach 2” x 4” or 4” x 4” fencing to the chicken wire, bringing it up to a height of seven or eight feet. (This fence also effectively protects the garden from rambunctious puppies.)
If you (or a generous neighbor) have a cedar stand, it is an excellent source of lumber to give structure to this fencing. Cedars often lean over in heavy snow or grow too close together, requiring thinning. These thinned out trees make terrific posts because they are naturally decay resistant.
When I first constructed my garden fence I thought it was protected from all garden intruders, only to discover a flock of turkeys feasting on my young squash seedlings. To give the garden an upper visual barrier without having to install overhead fencing, I hung copper wire across the garden as high as I could reach and attached recycled pieces of foil along the wire. With wires spaced every ten feet, the turkeys, who roost in the nearby trees, haven't nibbled in the garden since.
The initial effort to construct a fence was significant, yet the security of knowing my crops are protected for years to come, makes it time well spent.
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