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Beekissed
Mountain Sage
Dog....full-time, outside dog. 
Garden deer protection
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hqueen13
<Insert Snazzy Title Here
LOL
For my mom that isn't an option (if it doesn't earn money it doesn't live in their house right now, they are both out of work
For us, we've got dogs, but they were raised indoor dogs, despite being a lab and a shepard/spaniel mix. They can't make the transition to being outdoor farm dogs... If I left them out all the time, I'd have no plants left so the critters wouldn't matter! Haha!!
I assume that the deer hot fence is set a small distance away from the garden with a bit of a buffer between the wire and the plants, right? Any magic formula for that?
I guess you could work on a small critter fence if the deer fence was a bit of a space away from the actual garden.
I think I'm gonna have to do this to protect my rhodies and azaleas in the front too.... (yup, the deer EAT my azaleas too.)
For my mom that isn't an option (if it doesn't earn money it doesn't live in their house right now, they are both out of work
For us, we've got dogs, but they were raised indoor dogs, despite being a lab and a shepard/spaniel mix. They can't make the transition to being outdoor farm dogs... If I left them out all the time, I'd have no plants left so the critters wouldn't matter! Haha!!
I assume that the deer hot fence is set a small distance away from the garden with a bit of a buffer between the wire and the plants, right? Any magic formula for that?
I guess you could work on a small critter fence if the deer fence was a bit of a space away from the actual garden.
I think I'm gonna have to do this to protect my rhodies and azaleas in the front too.... (yup, the deer EAT my azaleas too.)
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- #23
Beekissed
Mountain Sage
This is the exact reason I encourage people to put their existing dogs to good use, instead of just feeding furry couch cushions. ANY dog can make the transition to an outdoors life, given time and effective training. A dog that pulls its weight by guarding the family food supply is a dog that is earning its food and upkeep. An outside dog that is allowed some freedom of movement is usually not a bored or restless dog, so the health benefits are many as they get fresh air, exercise, mental health boosts from performing a job(most dog breeds are happiest when working).
I fence off my garden to keep chickens and dogs out and let the dogs roam the rest of the acre...they guard the chickens from predators and the garden from four-legged pests. They actually develop a more intricate social structure in their pack because they can wrestle, chase and communicate without someone stopping them from wrecking the house. Their senses are not dulled by the odors of the house living and so they become more of what they were first designed to be....more like wolves than people.
Every time I watch one of those nature shows on wolves, I can spot the exact same moves in their play and dominance rituals that I can see in my own dogs out my living room window...it's fascinating to see them being dogs without my interference.
I encourage everyone~if you're trying to live frugally and you have existing pet dogs, use them as a dual purpose to get the most bang for your buck.
hqueen13
<Insert Snazzy Title Here
Good thoughts, Bee. Our next dogs will be very different for sure. My parents don't own a dog, and probably won't. If we lived closer, I might be able to encourage them to get a dog to help protect the garden, but they're 8 hours away.
Just means you've got to get more creative to keep out the other critters.
Just means you've got to get more creative to keep out the other critters.
Well you will find people that suggest a low hot wire to deter the walkers and diggers. I tried but it was a bad trip some weed would spring up in 4-5 days and short out the hot. just for the record runing a weed wacker around a low hot wire can teach you a lot, like never try that again!hqueen13 said:Heh, yup. Stupid people are the job security of firefighters and paramedics everywhere!~gd said:
I'll give her the pointer about the fencing, but her garden is so small that I don't think it would make much of a difference, nobody would probably ever notice
I still am curious to know how to keep the smaller critters out. She has a LOT of rabbits, and so do we, plus groundhogs, possums, and coons. One wire won't be enough to deter those critters, the bunnies will just walk right under, haha!
me&thegals
A Major Squash & Pumpkin Lover
We have too much garden, so we use nylons with Irish Spring soap hanging from them on the perimeter. It works! And rain reactivates it
hqueen13
<Insert Snazzy Title Here
me& I had heard that before, though I've never really tried it to any great extent.
Ok, so I am electrically ignorant. But I am REALLY interested in trying this. I've got deer that are EATING my azaleas through winter. Yeah, you know, the shrubs they aren't supposed to like. And I really want my azaleas to get bigger, they're so pewney right now, it is sad!
So I know I need some wire, some kind of stakes, and something to make the wire hot. I also need to be able to run this wire past our front porch steps, which are wooden, so I suspect I can run it underneath without touching anything and be just fine.
Can anyone please help me figure out what materials I need? I think I'll "fence" off the front bed of the house through the winter as a test run and then work on fencing off the back area for a garden come spring once I've got the kinks worked out of the plan. Our trailer is about 80 feet long, and 16 feet wide, and I think I'll need to go down the entire length, about 10' away from the front of the trailer, which is the edge of the bed, all the way around the front and ends (they're eating my Rhodies and my Arborvitae too!). Would it be best to set up a battery/electrical source at the porch and run the wire in one direction, and then have another source to run the wire in the other direction? (My head tells me probably so...) Or can one source run the wire for the whole front of the house? I suspect it would be somewhere between 100 and 120' total.
Do I need to be concerned at all about snow touching the wire? We have had huge snows in the past (2 years ago we got hit by 2 storms back to back dumped more than 40' on us - but that has never happened before!)
I need to spend a little time putting some energy into the beds, they could be beautiful, but I have a lot of challenges, so it takes a little more work than usual. I'll have to post about one of my other challenges in another post.
Thanks!! (Now if only I could set up a hidden camera to watch what happens when they TOUCH it!!!!!!)
Ok, so I am electrically ignorant. But I am REALLY interested in trying this. I've got deer that are EATING my azaleas through winter. Yeah, you know, the shrubs they aren't supposed to like. And I really want my azaleas to get bigger, they're so pewney right now, it is sad!
So I know I need some wire, some kind of stakes, and something to make the wire hot. I also need to be able to run this wire past our front porch steps, which are wooden, so I suspect I can run it underneath without touching anything and be just fine.
Can anyone please help me figure out what materials I need? I think I'll "fence" off the front bed of the house through the winter as a test run and then work on fencing off the back area for a garden come spring once I've got the kinks worked out of the plan. Our trailer is about 80 feet long, and 16 feet wide, and I think I'll need to go down the entire length, about 10' away from the front of the trailer, which is the edge of the bed, all the way around the front and ends (they're eating my Rhodies and my Arborvitae too!). Would it be best to set up a battery/electrical source at the porch and run the wire in one direction, and then have another source to run the wire in the other direction? (My head tells me probably so...) Or can one source run the wire for the whole front of the house? I suspect it would be somewhere between 100 and 120' total.
Do I need to be concerned at all about snow touching the wire? We have had huge snows in the past (2 years ago we got hit by 2 storms back to back dumped more than 40' on us - but that has never happened before!)
I need to spend a little time putting some energy into the beds, they could be beautiful, but I have a lot of challenges, so it takes a little more work than usual. I'll have to post about one of my other challenges in another post.
Thanks!!
(Now if only I could set up a hidden camera to watch what happens when they TOUCH it!!!!!!)
the funny farm6
Super Self-Sufficient
My horse fence is 1 solid length of wire, run 3 ft high and at the end we put an insulater on the same post @ 18 inch high and ran it back around to the begining spot (pasture is 3 sided). If you don't have to cut the wire don't. You may also need to get a gate handle so you can walk threw a gate area.
