Fencing

The rabbits are eating my beans...I guess I need to put up a fence. What do you guys use? Any suggestions?

I have had great success keeping rabbits and other critters out of my lettuce 4X4 box with a critter cage the past 3 seasons. How to make the cage is mentioned in the book and includes some good pictures. The height of mine is more than twice what the book shows. I use it nearly all season on one box or another. If it is bush beans you are growing a tall critter cage might suit your needs but bush beans on the side of a box need to be protected when lifting and lowering the cage on. Bush beans in the middle would be ideal.

If it is pole beans you are growing perhaps a using some chicken wire just around the base of your garden would do the trick. Also, there are so many great pictures that have been posted on the forum with fencing and cage ideas. Be sure to search in the google bar above the "latest topics", you may find an idea that works.

Good luck.

The rabbit population exploded here after a mild winter and shockingly they managed to get through the 2x3 galv fence we have that surrounds the entire garden. I suspect the baby rabbits could squeeze through anything. Our early peas, spinach and lettuces were decimated. I finally sprayed the perimeter with bobbex and sprinkled powdered garlic everywhere after reading rabbits absolutely hate strong odors. A couple of weeks have passed and so far so good.... ( the peas managed to rebound as well ! )..btw the bobbex has worked great preventing the deer from devouring our roses as well!

Many bunnies frequent our backyard. I have seen some epic dog vs. bunny runs, but they always seem to come back. This is my 3rd season using the cage pictured above. I have had no issues at all with my crops getting eaten. Definitely worth the time to make this a few years back. I have enjoyed many fresh garden salads since spring.

I plant Marigolds around the perimeter of my garden to deter rabbits. I also have a picket fence now but had no fence for several years and didn't have any rabbit intruders.

Backing up on woods with all kinds of wildlife, building a small fortress around the boxes has worked really well.



Backriver's take on Mel's critter protection cage would work equally as well without the labor involved!

I have u-posts with plastic garden fence (sold on a roll), using velcro ties to secure them to the posts and for openings to access the beds. The fencing is about 4' high, keeping out the deer and rabbits for 2 seasons now. This year, I added more of the rolled fence on top of the strawberry box (far right in picture) for bird prevention.

We can't put up permanent fencing in our neighborhood. This system works for me b/c it is expandable and "non-permanent." (I don't want to remove it, but if the HOA got on my back then the fact that it can come out of the ground is my "but it's not permanent" plea.) This year, I enclosed the bed on the left by adding more posts and fencing.

On the back side of the box with the worm tubes, there is about 14" between the fence and the raised bed. I've added trellises this season and I figured the deer would be able to chomp the veggies if the fencing was right up to the trellis. My veggies have yet to start their climb, so I don't know if I will need to expand the distance between the trellis.

My mother always alternated tomatoes and marigolds along her fence so the rabbits would not eat the tomatoes. They didn't, but she saw them eating the marigolds, so I don't think they were effective.

marcfleming111 wrote:

I LOVE this set-up! If I remember correctly, the side panels all pop out for access if needed.

BackRiver_SFG wrote:

marcfleming111 wrote:

I LOVE this set-up! If I remember correctly, the side panels all pop out for access if needed.

This is awesome and so organized!!!
Renee

BackRiver_SFG wrote:
If I remember correctly, the side panels all pop out for access if needed.

Yes, good memory. The sides are gated and swing out.


Thanks BackRiver and Renee for your kind words!

Love this set-up! Beautiful garden!

GG

marcfleming111 wrote:

BackRiver_SFG wrote:
If I remember correctly, the side panels all pop out for access if needed.

Yes, good memory. The sides are gated and swing out.


Thanks BackRiver and Renee for your kind words!

You are welcome! I showed this to my husband and he just "winced" but he likes it also since we are now considering something similar for next year.

My mother always alternated tomatoes and marigolds along her fence so the rabbits would not eat the tomatoes. They didn't, but she saw them eating the marigolds, so I don't think they were effective.

So perhaps you could plant tomatoes to keep away the dear rabbits from the marigolds....

lol - that is hilarious.

This is my 1st year gardening and I had troubles with rabbits early on. I was going to do something described below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PDlLRmXZAE

However I just ended up wrapping 24" hardware cloth with 1/2" spacing and wrapping it around my raised garden. I attached it using a staple gun. I found 24" is high enough to keep the rabbits out and low enough for me to still bend over and reach into the garden.

Looks like it will keep them out. It is a shame we have some many animals that can ruin a garden/plants overnight.

Good idea

All these look like great ideas! Alas...I was too late, the bunnies ravaged my beans last night. Looks like someone went through them using scissors.