Homestead mailing list

[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

On Jun 25, 2008, at 2:46 PM, Lisa K.V. Perry wrote:

> Someone previously mentioned putting chicken wire (or similar) on  
> the ground
> surrounding the fence. Just move to mow then put it back. Here's my  
> thought.
> Our fence is lined half-way with fruit trees that extend 2-4' above  
> the
> fence. The rest of the fence is not lined with trees. There are two  
> areas
> that we suspect may be their entrance/exit and it's in the plain  
> fence part.
> What if we took some kind of wire and put it on the ground  
> approximately one
> to two feet away from the fence so that the wire extends 4-5' away  
> from the
> fence?

Something to consider is that deer will not jump over something if  
they can't see where they will land. So, possibly, some heavy vine on  
a strong fence. If hops didn't grow so high they might work.

I don't care for them aesthetically, but those chain link fences with  
strips of plastic or whatever threaded vertically might work. Perhaps  
there is a stock fence that would have openings that would fit  
something common. What?

Because of the armadillos, I am back to my idea of years ago of  
building a "wall" of T-posts holding several layers of poultry mesh  
with mortar embedded to make it solid. My ideal is two such walls a  
foot apart, then place rocks, bad dirt, upside-down beer bottles, more  
dirt and rocks, etc., until it is a solid wall, then cap it. Build  
raised beds on the south side; it would hold daytime heat and release  
at night, to extend the season. Would want horizontal ties from one  
wall to the other. And in the case, like mine, of dealing with moles,  
armadillos and woodchucks, there needs to be at least a thin masonry  
barrier down into the ground a foot or so. Might as well embed the T- 
posts into it.

Let's face it, what we want to do is imprison ourselves in our gardens.

Razor wire on top.