Gardens are blooming throughout region
It is a great time of the year to check out our region’s gardens.
One of the most essential components of a successful vegetable garden has nothing to do with the richness and consistency of the soil, the amount of sunlight the plot gets, or even the kinds of seeds or plants you choose. At least in this part of the vegetable-growing world, a good fence is perhaps the most important factor if you plan on actually having some veggies left to eat after the deer, rabbits, and woodchucks have had their fill. (Actually, they never seem to get full!)
Like the garden itself, there are plenty of factors to take into consideration when planning a fence — most specifically: how high the fence needs to be and what is the best material to use. For this, you need to know what animals are in your area and what their feeding habits and capabilities are. For instance, deer can jump a six-foot fence, but they can’t get past netting or floating row covers. With added protection within the garden, a short fence around the perimeter might be enough. A rabbit is unlikely to leap over a two-foot-high barrier, but can wriggle through small spaces, so mesh dimensions are important. Woodchucks can climb, but seem unwilling to try scaling flexible, saggy plastic.
Obviously, the goal is to create a fence that will keep hungry herbivores out of your garden. Obviously, it is counter-productive to construct a fence that keeps critters in. Just consider the following story from reader Chris Hyson, who grows vegetables at his West Bradford, Chester County, home. His plan was to enclose the garden and then cut out a spot for a gate. Hyson wrote:
“There are lots of furry varmints that try to sneak into my vegetable garden, but none so bad as the groundhog, which can destroy an entire crop — even in a large garden — in the span of a few short hours. They’re aggressive enough to climb short fences and burrow under the more substantial ones. To stop the groundhogs from getting into the garden, I bought two large rolls of heavy-duty, six-foot high, wire mesh fence. I spent 8 hours digging a two-foot-deep trench around the 190-foot garden perimeter. I then put the fence in the trench and began filling all the dirt back in.
“After another hour, I had all the dirt filled in and I was completely exhausted. But the fence looked great. There was no way any animal larger than a mouse could get into this garden ... or out. That’s right, as I completed the fence I trapped myself! The wire cutters were tantalizingly on the ground outside the garden. I’d like to say that I escaped by pole-vaulting out of the garden on my hoe, but the truth is that (once I gathered my wits), I was able to just barely reach the wire cutters with the hoe and snip my way out.”
Last week I shared a silly gardening experience and invited readers to share their own. Hyson’s story is even more than I expected, and I just had to share it with you. The point in revealing our gardening foibles is that while gardening — especially growing food — is a serious undertaking, it should also be fun. And there’s nothing I can think of, when it comes to gardening, that can’t be undone.
Well, there is one thing: if animals get into your garden and eat your plants, you can’t just get your plants back, and often it’s too late in the season to start a new crop. Or you might just not have the time and energy for a do-over.
So, the moral of the story is, plan ahead, build a good fence, and remember to keep yourself on the outside of it! At least until you make the gate.
Pam Baxter is an avid organic vegetable gardener who lives in Kimberton. Direct e-mail to pamelacbaxter@gmail.com, or send mail to P.O. Box 80, Kimberton, PA 19442. Share your gardening stories on Facebook at “Chester County Roots.” Pam’s book for children and families, Big Life Lessons from Nature’s Little Secrets, is available on Amazon, along with her companion field journal, Explore Outdoors, at Amazon.com/author/ pamelabaxter.