From Lawn to Vegetable Garden
by
Shannon Leigh
(IC: homeowner)
5 Materials
$52
2 Days
Medium
We decided to go with a much bigger vegetable garden this year and after all of the hungry critters last year we knew we needed a fence. We picked a flat, sunny, well-drained 20x20 ft square and staked it out. Fortunately we have been able to use Will's parents' tiller since it works with our little 1980s John Deere, which never ceases to amaze me with how capable and industrious it is! Best Craigslist purchase ever... except maybe my car, but that's another story.
Last year we had a tiny kitchen garden that we made out of an old fish pond. This year I will turn that into my herb garden. For the new garden, Will tilled the grassy square twice (once in each direction) then again the following day.
Then we set 5 posts with concrete, one for each corner and another for the other side of the gate. This was the most exhausting part! In between posts we places smaller metal poles about every 6 feet for more support of the wire fence.
We unrolled the 5-foot-tall wire fence, stretched it tight and hammered some staples into each post. This is a two person job for sure! Then I attached the wire fence to each metal pole with a wire twist (usually used for rebar), but zip ties would do nicely.
We were lucky to have almost all of the material we needed lying around, but it would not have been an expensive project anyways (unless you don't have a tiller). My favorite part is the gate we saved from the old fence in our yard.
Overall it took two days because we felt the need to till twice and so the concrete could set. We will see if this keeps the critters out :). You can see more details at the blog link at the end of this project.
Enjoyed the project?
Suggested materials:
- 5 ft tall wire fence (84 ft) (Home Depot)
- 7x metal posts (had them already)
- 5x 7 ft fence posts (had them already)
- 5x 80 lb bags of concrete (had them already)
- Wire ties (had them already)
Published April 18th, 2017 6:59 PM
Comments
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3 of 41 comments
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Jac20226520 on May 23, 2017
I keep finding larvae in bottom of plant pots wen I go to re pot thought butterfly would b done by now n how do I stop it
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Shannon Leigh on May 25, 2017I'm afraid I don't know the answer to that. I have been finding larvae in my garden as well when I dig to plant things.
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Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
In my area we have critters that will burrow under the wire. How would you address that issue? The biggest problem is rabbits, they wiped out my lettuce patch and most of my carrots and radishes.
I use metal post and stretch bird netting around post to keep chickens out!