Covered Wagon Inspired Garden Cover
Okay, so how cute are covered wagons? Am I the only one that absolutely loves them? Well, we have a couple garden beds planted this spring, one of which is strawberries. The plants were flowering like crazy, but we would never see berries form! Then we caught the culprit, sparrows! They swoop in and steal all our baby berries! Then, I got this idea to cover it with bird mesh, not cute, or practical just to toss it over top and the have to take it off and on every time berries need to be picked...enter the design, a covered wagon inspired garden cover! I get my covered wagon look with bird protection as an added bonus! Stay with me, it sounds crazy but I assure you, it’s cute, functional, and fairly easy to build!
So for this project I used:
- 2x2x8pressure treated pine
- 48” lattice strips
- drill
- screws
- miter saw
- bird mesh
- staples
- staple gun
If you want to to be even more durable you could even use wire mesh, which I am already thinking about swapping over to, we had something chew a hole in our mesh... likely a squirrel...
Sooo, I had to get a little creative here, our tarp is well used and had holes in it, so I used the kiddos slip and slide to make a long pool to soak my lattice strips in! I soaked them for an hour or so, but really the longer you soak them the easier they will be to use! Had this not been a spur of the moment, I just had a great idea and need to do it right now, kind of project I probably would have soaked them over night. Be patient with this step, I broke 2 testing them too soon!
While your lattice strips are soaking build your frame! I measured the length, cut it, then measured the length for the short boards, because, well, me and math with dimensional lumber involved... well, it’s never right. Why call it a 2x2 if that’s not what it is? Is it only me that this bothers? Ha. Moving on. Build a frame around the top of the garden bed, I also added a center support to make it sturdier.
Slowly bend up your lattice strips to see how much flex they have, you want them to be as pliable as possible to avoid breakage!
Okay, so the project started shaping up and I got excited and didn’t get as many pictures as I wish I would have, I added an upright support to each of the short boards, then attached the lattice strips to the long sides with screws, bend over the top, I attached each strip to the upright support with a single screw then ran around to the other side and attached the other end of the strip to the long side... I hope this makes since! Comment below if I lost you!
I plan to add henges to one side and kick stands, so to speak, so I can prop it open, kind of like the box trap you build as a kid to catch the family cat? I hope I’m not the only one that tried this! Ha! You could also instal shade cloth or greenhouse sheeting to this! I’m so excited!
Thats all for today! That’s for stopping by! I’ll see y’all soon!
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It’s cute- but not sure how it’ll work to get the berries - but I noticed you said make a door.
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Yes, I have the same idea with a rectangle cage built initially for protecting small tree seedlings. It is 8'L x 3' W x3'H. It has 2 doors with hinges on the bottom and a wooden latch on top. Works wonderfully for strawberry plants. Certainly deters birds, rabbits, squirrels and chipmunks.
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great idea, but what did you use for the bottom of your box?
I am inspired and this is the closest idea to what I need. How heavy is the finished frame? Could you have used PVC pipe like I have seen in some projects? Can you show pictures of the hinges and how you propped it up to open it? Is bird mesh the same as chicken wire? Could there be a way to roll up the mesh and Velcro it down to the frame? Sorry for so many questions. Love what you created!