If you want to protect your garden or crops, the best way of doing so is to use some strategic fencing. This will prevent livestock, wild animals and pets from getting into your crops and gardens and causing some potentially devastating, costly damage to your plants.
Here are a few tips for you to consider as you engage in animal fencing installation on your property:
- Go solid: If the animal doesn’t know what’s behind the fence, it will have less incentive to try to break through it. This is why it’s a good idea to consider solid fencing that blocks sight lines to whatever you’re protecting.
- Consider electric: Electric fences will require a larger initial investment than standard fences, but they don’t have the same impact on your view as a solid fence, and will likely be more effective. Put some peanut butter on the fence once it’s been installed to encourage animals to come near it at first, and then get shocked. Once they’re aware they will get shocked by touching the fence, it will remove the incentive to attempt to get through. Just make sure your vegetation stays away from the fence, because plants touching the fence could reduce the charge or even ground the fence.
- Consider your local rules: Check your local ordinances regarding fences and animal fencing installation. There will probably be some rules you must follow regarding fence heights and materials. Make sure you abide by these codes so you aren’t fined by your local municipality.
- Consider the animal: Know what type of animals you’re protecting your garden or crops against, and the best methods you can use to keep them away. A few examples:
- Deer can jump fences, so you need to make sure you create a high fence at an angle to keep them away. It’s common for people in areas with deer to design fences of eight to 10 feet tall that are slanted at a 45-degree angle. Make sure the fence stays tight against the ground to prevent deer from wriggling underneath.
- Rabbits are major pests around vegetable gardens. To keep them out, create a two-foot-tall chicken wire fence with small holes. You can keep them from digging under the fence by curving the bottom of the fence 90 degrees to create a small apron. Bury the bottom of the fence several inches below the ground.
- Cats and dogs are best deterred with a wire mesh fence about three feet high and anchored with good posts. Dogs won’t be able to knock it over and cats will avoid climbing. Bend the fence outward to form an apron along the ground to deter dogs from trying to dig underneath the fence.
- Tunneling animals like gophers, moles and chipmunks may attempt to get beneath your plants. You can line the bottom and sides of your garden beds with a wire mesh about two to three feet deep and plant your garden on top of that soil.
For more tips about how you can keep animals away from your garden or crops, contact our animal fencing installation experts at Guadalupe Mountain Fencing LLC.