Last year i ran into the issue of my plants being eaten, this despite the fact i have fencing all the way around my garden, though there are small gaps here and there i think, along with i think 1" chicken wire at the bottom. There is a chance some of the damage was from burrowing creatures but unsure. All that said i was planning on reducing the size of the planting area inside the existing garden fence to something like a 15 x 15 foot area give or take. In doing this i can put up chicken wire around that area and monitor things. Does anyone know what size mesh opening i should shoot for. Originally I thought 1" but now i'm not sure, maybe 0.5"? Issue is the cost jumps up, but then again i dont want a failed experiment. I'm also thinking that i should bury the fence 2 feet around the perimeter? Meaning i probably need at least 3 foot high fence? Any thoughts/experiences suggestions? Thanks in advance
Im thinking something in the range of 0.5" is a must to stop voles and moles. Most options seem to be galvanized cloth hardware fencing (rather expensive, 100 feet being around $110 or more online). However, i came across some netting like this $19 for 6'x65 feet, so roughly $40 for 100 feet, assuming i can just use posts and bury 2 feet of it along the perimeter
When I raised chickens I used hardware cloth which had .5" holes to prevent 99.9% of unwanted critters from the coop/run. It kept out everything but insects.
Relooking at this, i think it needs to definitely be 1/4" maybe 1/2" at most. The netting i found above could probably be chewed. Sounds like the only options are hardware cloth meshes galvanized steel (still unsure long term if thats safe with zinc leeching into the soil). So that makes this a bit costly, when i think i have to figure for 6-10" in the soil plus under the soiil an L shape outward of about 4" thats 10-14" there plus 12 inches ontop, ideal 30" width. The avg 36" x 50 at 1/4" on amazon is around $58, unless you drop to 24x50x1/4 then its more like $35. Far more expensive at lowes. I did see some type of mesh burlap material for blocking weeds, but i'd imagine thats not the strongest.
@markm75 I would go with the hardware cloth. Have you ever seen a vole? They are tiny. Maybe even smaller than a mouse. They can easily fit through chicken wire. Additionally, if you plan to dig the fencing under the ground, hardware cloth will last longer. The chicken wire rusts out. I belong to a community garden and we are surrounded by deer, rabbits, turkeys, raccoons, ground hogs and voles. We have a 4 foot fence of hardware cloth, bent over at the top to prevent the climbers, bent at 90 degrees at the bottom to form an apron to prevent the diggers, and then a second fence that is just 2 electric wires (an electrified fence) to prevent the deer. Deer could easily jump the 4' fence but they don't like to get caught between 2 fences. I gave that long explanation just in case it is more than voles & moles that are getting at your plants. Do you know? My home perennial garden is plagued by voles, particularly during the winter. They do an incredible amount of damage. I have begun giving up growing certain plants that I love, but of course the voles just switch to something else! I'd appreciate hearing what you decide to do, and particularly would love to hear if it works!!! I just began using Deer Away on my perennials that are vole food. I shall see if it helps.
Yeah i'm going to bite the bullet and do a 10x10 area which translates into something like 40 feet of fence. My whole garden is roughly 40x17 though, so just the inner area for a test this year. Ill have to pull it out next year to rototill the area either way, but if it works i'd have to spring the amount to cover that full 40x17, maybe on the inside of the existing fence, it would be quite a chore. Ill go with 1/4" mesh, concerned 1/2 might be too big. I could possibly get by on 24" vs the 36" fencing, but i'm unsure (would save about $30). 24" might just make it with even 10 in the ground and 12 above ground with the L shape to both. So with your fence do you have it in the ground too? I figure ill rototill outside the perimeter and trench out maybe 8" deep and L shape it outward. Then maybe 1-2 feet of actual fence above ground(since i already have about 40" or so of regular fence around the whole garden itself) and do the outward bend of it for climbers. I think the problems began 2 or 3 years ago when i decided to tarp the whole garden to keep weeds down when not in use (some years i didnt garden). So when i finally started a garden again last year i rolled it up and left it on the side. I think they moles or voles (still unsure which despite a camera too), or something else, hid under the tarp. When i was out there working on it last year i saw the tarp moving underneath. Whatever they were they ate the Tops of the plants (not so much roots), ie: corn chewed off, beans chewed off the top gone to a stem etc. Same deal with pepper plants and broccoli. I even put broccoli inside a tomato cage to minimize the possibility and they still were eaten. (all leaves gone down to stem again). I guess this type of destruction might not be vole, but i dont know what else it could be but i still feel like the tarps are to blame. Granted this year i could just roll them up and get rid of them, but i also have always used (without issue) black plastic to stop weeds in the garden and never had this issue (middle of suburbs too).
Hi @markm75 Voles LOVE tarps. Or thick mulch. Or a blanket of snow. Anything they can hide under to protect themselves from flying predators above. Is it possible that you have 2 different critters? Voles and rabbits maybe? Or maybe it is just voles. I have had the same problem with my beans but that was last summer when our old fence was letting in rabbits so I assumed it was the bunnies. Maybe it was just voles. Voles are really tough to get rid of. I have tried a vole trench around my veggie garden. 8" deep, 12" wide. They don't like to cross it, again because of the birds of prey. It seems to have helped. Only trouble is I need to keep renewing it. There are also those vole applications. I think they are caster beans which the voles hate. I don't know if it would work over winter. I plan to try it this fall as the voles decimated my perennial bed this winter. Grrrr... Good luck with your project. Let us know how it goes.
I'm not positive on exactly how many varieties are getting at things. I'm going to try to keep my camera on it again, especially since a smaller area. I think i'm going to just go with the cheaper 24"x50' material for $35 (1/4" mesh hardware cloth). I figure ill put about 10-12" in ground around 10x10 area as a test and the remainder above ground with a lip L shaped on top. I was going to do the 36" version but i think 24 might be just enough. EDIT: actually found this for $58 (no reviews, same specs but 36"), might just go 36, a tad overkill on width but could be handy. I guess the question is whether i bury the 10-12 in the ground or just leave it open as a trench. If its open it makes it easy to pull out and use the rototiller on that area later (though if this works ill likely go through the pain of doing the full 40x25 garden at some point)
Markm75, I think it really depends on what you are trying to deter. What I understand is that the diggers dig right at the fence line. So you either bury the hardware cloth or you bend it into an 'L' shape, having an apron going outwards on top of the soil. You can tack it down with ground staples & throw some wood chips on top for added insurance. Supposedly the diggers don't know to start digging at the edge of the apron. They dig at the verticle part of the fence & get foiled by the L shaped apron along the ground. If it's voles that are plaguing you, you will probably have to bury the fence. I don't know how far down they dig. I know they like to travel just under the surface...under mulch, snow, leaves etc. I don't know how deep they will dig to make a burrow or get in somewhere.
Markm75, I had another thought. If you have voles in your garden now, you might wind up fencing them in. If so, maybe set traps?
Yeah thats a good point, i've considered that, hence i'm going to do the fence, then stick say 1 broccoli plant in and wait a day or two (rather than doing everything and waiting for disaster).. if it gets chomped i'm going to probably put a camera and try another and see if i can catch what type it is on camera. If not, ill probably keep going. I guess it sounds like too ill probably have to do the dig/bury the fence option just to be safe. (24" x 50' fence inbound is what i went with)
