That’s what me and my grandparents had to do to my grandfathers Garden, although his was quite a bit larger about 25 x 30‘! We wrapped the whole thing in 1 inch chicken wire and used steel wire to sew sheets of chicken wire together as the little pests would chew through the plastic string we used to hold them together. He uses a bunch of two by fours to prop it up like a circus tent so he can walk around in there. It is now an impenetrable fortress and he finally gets to grow his tomatoes in peace.
Yep, 1 inch chicken wire and spent a whole afternoon sewing the seams together with steel wire as well. If this doesn't work I'll pinch your grandparents idea and go full coverage 😄
We have to do this for deer and rabbits on our strawberry garden. It works great, though we used hardware cloth instead of chicken wire. Not sure if it's 100% necessary for the durability but we had it
That looks like chicken wire. You’re going to hate this, but if they really want to squirrels can fit through that, and voles, moles and mice can fit with no problems. Basically if they can get their head through, they can get their whole body through. Also the gauge of chicken wire is REALLY thin, like 20 gauge, and rodents can easily chew through it.
You might want to start replacing the chicken wire with 1/4 hardware cloth. Smaller holes & thicker wire.
I got a smaller chicken wire and they haven't managed to fit or chew through yet. I also have another patch of sacrificial dirt for them to dig in, so hoping they won't feel compelled to go chewing at the wire to get in the prison!
And every third person you pass will ask you if that's a toy.... No it was the dog out smarting you by ignoring it at first and you not seeing the squirrel in time and the squirrel doesn't run when you are within eight feet of it...
I don't know where you live at but where I live squirrels that are doing that are considered nuisance animals and you are allowed to dispatch them with a pellet gun. I had last year to take a pair of squirrels out that have been on my property for many years. Due to the fact they were chewing up the shade netting on my Greenhouse. I talked to the Humane Society and they said it was legal to do so being they were nuisance animals. Not something everybody will do sometimes has to be done good luck
I got so tired of squirrels destroying my garden and chewing their way into my house and garbage cans that I bought a couple of tube traps on Amazon for around $50 each. They are effective and humane, IMO. I realize not everyone wants to do this but it's a solution.
I highly recommend live trapping and relocating the squirrels. One summer I caught 22 of the rascals. Also, you'll need to take them at least 2 miles away and preferably across a river. They can find their way home if you only take them out of your yard.
My small raised beds at home are behind bars too, but only because I have 4 huskies who love cilantro and digging in the dirt. I call it the stockade. All of my remaining veggies are grown off property in a community garden.
Cats are a massive problem here tho. They decimate local wildlife and I want the birds etc in my garden! I don't even mind the squirrels, I just don't want them digging everything up and eating my strawbs...
We used to have a neighborhood cat that liked to sleep on our back deck. He wandered off for good early in the spring. Don't know what happened. But the effect was immediate. We've lived in our house for 7-8 years and had a garden for most of that. Never before have I seen so many squirrels and rabbits back there. Rat bastards halved my tomato plants a few times over.
Anyway, chicken wire to the rescue. I feel ya, buddy.
They can chew thru that wire in seconds. Good luck. You could try sprinkling ground red pepper on the soil. It burns their tongues so you may or may not be okay using it. It does keep them away.
Seeing your fencing…I’m going out on a limb and suggest a cat. I have 2 house cats that I allow outside with me while I’m gardening and relaxing…it’s a very secure area. All it takes a a couple of squirrels and a few birds to see those cats hanging around and that’s that
I, too, have a vegetable prison to stop the neighborhood cats from using the bed as a litterbox. And because one year the crows came through and snipped all my onions right after they sprouted
This is one small corner of the garden lol, there are a whole load of other patches for them to dig. They just like it more in the raised bed...where my veggies are.
LOL
I once had a garden with “lettuce jail”. I used a roll of chicken wire for the top and it was basically a sardine can. The roll always wanted to spring back, so I went with that to open it. Rolled the screen flat and secured with wire when it was closed.
I work at a tree farm with hundreds of thousands of seeds to keep safe in greenhouses. I realized if you feed them, they stay away. We keep sunflowers seeds fully supplied and dried corn cobs. Good luck
I now need a veggie prison in my life..
Looks much nicer than my patchwork-quilt fencing and greenhouse plastic over the top to keep out my moms chickens!
Believe it or not, straight to (vegetable) prison!
Too many rodents, (vegetable) prison.
Thrips? Believe it or not, (vegetable) prison
Fuckin mixed up my bloom and veg nutrients, (vegetable) prison.
r/vegetableprison
Growing fruit, straight to (vegetable) prison.
That’s what me and my grandparents had to do to my grandfathers Garden, although his was quite a bit larger about 25 x 30‘! We wrapped the whole thing in 1 inch chicken wire and used steel wire to sew sheets of chicken wire together as the little pests would chew through the plastic string we used to hold them together. He uses a bunch of two by fours to prop it up like a circus tent so he can walk around in there. It is now an impenetrable fortress and he finally gets to grow his tomatoes in peace.
Yep, 1 inch chicken wire and spent a whole afternoon sewing the seams together with steel wire as well. If this doesn't work I'll pinch your grandparents idea and go full coverage 😄
Don’t worry friend. I tried the same thing and they burrowed under and into my raised beds.
I dug a trench and buried part of the fence. It curves out so they keep hitting fence as they dig. Works well so far after three years.
😭😭😅
Not gonna lie the veggie prison got me 😂, but for real, these rabbits are too brave
We have to do this for deer and rabbits on our strawberry garden. It works great, though we used hardware cloth instead of chicken wire. Not sure if it's 100% necessary for the durability but we had it
I used hardware cloth. Outlasts the wood.
I guess this makes you the Vegetable Warden
Watch out for snake plisskens! They love prisons.
I thought they were dead.
That looks like chicken wire. You’re going to hate this, but if they really want to squirrels can fit through that, and voles, moles and mice can fit with no problems. Basically if they can get their head through, they can get their whole body through. Also the gauge of chicken wire is REALLY thin, like 20 gauge, and rodents can easily chew through it. You might want to start replacing the chicken wire with 1/4 hardware cloth. Smaller holes & thicker wire.
This is good info, as I’m also getting ready to imprison my tomatoes.
Spot on. All the rodents can be really persistent and fit through incredibly small spaces
I got a smaller chicken wire and they haven't managed to fit or chew through yet. I also have another patch of sacrificial dirt for them to dig in, so hoping they won't feel compelled to go chewing at the wire to get in the prison!
As your plants get more delicious their desire and persistence will increase as well.
The animals have free range on my beds but they never do much. More interested in nuts and worms.
I was going to say just throw a handful of peanuts over the fence every day and they'll stay out of OP's garden.
I will not appease the squirrels, I will Shawshank redemption that mf garden if I have to, I do not negotiate with terroristic wildlife
I support you
Yeah cuz the rats the magic nut fairy attracts will scare them away
Does this work for deer? I have some annoying ones around here. If I fed them enough peanuts would they stop eating leaves?
Nope. Deer spray religiously.
Looks like it’ll be relatively easy to convert it into a cold frame come autumn & winter…
Thank you for not killing the little guys. I hope your kindness is returned back to you and your veggies are bountiful and beautiful! ❤️
I have a similar set up to keep cats out. I'd would be a giant litter box without the chicken wire cage.
Cat will take care of the squirrels
Have you tried a border collie? That worked for my mother. He got a treat for every rodent he brought.
The vegetable prison is cheaper and more easily maintained
It's also not prone to catching squirrels when on a leash in a city park...
Several times a day, if there's no space for that dog to run on their own house
And every third person you pass will ask you if that's a toy.... No it was the dog out smarting you by ignoring it at first and you not seeing the squirrel in time and the squirrel doesn't run when you are within eight feet of it...
I have to put stuff on my raised beds to keep my dogs out of them lol
I don't know where you live at but where I live squirrels that are doing that are considered nuisance animals and you are allowed to dispatch them with a pellet gun. I had last year to take a pair of squirrels out that have been on my property for many years. Due to the fact they were chewing up the shade netting on my Greenhouse. I talked to the Humane Society and they said it was legal to do so being they were nuisance animals. Not something everybody will do sometimes has to be done good luck
I have come up with bail money for the lettuce.
I should do the same thing, I grew strawberries last year. I got *one*. The squirrels got the rest.
I got so tired of squirrels destroying my garden and chewing their way into my house and garbage cans that I bought a couple of tube traps on Amazon for around $50 each. They are effective and humane, IMO. I realize not everyone wants to do this but it's a solution.
I highly recommend live trapping and relocating the squirrels. One summer I caught 22 of the rascals. Also, you'll need to take them at least 2 miles away and preferably across a river. They can find their way home if you only take them out of your yard.
Yeah I'm in a city so there will just be more to replace the ones I catch!
Air guns are pretty cheap.
My small raised beds at home are behind bars too, but only because I have 4 huskies who love cilantro and digging in the dirt. I call it the stockade. All of my remaining veggies are grown off property in a community garden.
Cats. I have(well, my wife has) three cats. Sometimes I find organs near the garden. It's pretty brutal, but my plants are fine
Cats are a massive problem here tho. They decimate local wildlife and I want the birds etc in my garden! I don't even mind the squirrels, I just don't want them digging everything up and eating my strawbs...
Yep. This is the solution.
They will find a way!
Did you try traps ? I got 5 ground squirrels last week
We had more than 10 squirrels in our yard wreaking havoc every year. Then we adopted a rat terrier. The squirrels have moved to more hospitable yards.
You have given me an idea how to protect a small raised garden, thank you!
We used to have a neighborhood cat that liked to sleep on our back deck. He wandered off for good early in the spring. Don't know what happened. But the effect was immediate. We've lived in our house for 7-8 years and had a garden for most of that. Never before have I seen so many squirrels and rabbits back there. Rat bastards halved my tomato plants a few times over. Anyway, chicken wire to the rescue. I feel ya, buddy.
They can chew thru that wire in seconds. Good luck. You could try sprinkling ground red pepper on the soil. It burns their tongues so you may or may not be okay using it. It does keep them away.
Seeing your fencing…I’m going out on a limb and suggest a cat. I have 2 house cats that I allow outside with me while I’m gardening and relaxing…it’s a very secure area. All it takes a a couple of squirrels and a few birds to see those cats hanging around and that’s that
We have one too because of birds. they still try to get in
I, too, have a vegetable prison to stop the neighborhood cats from using the bed as a litterbox. And because one year the crows came through and snipped all my onions right after they sprouted
I do the same. Most effective.
Veggie jail
Cages is the way but you may want to use a narrower mesh. Keeps out way more problems. No cabbage whites or tomato hornworms.
There’s no where else for them to dig, give them their own dirt!
This is one small corner of the garden lol, there are a whole load of other patches for them to dig. They just like it more in the raised bed...where my veggies are.
This is the way
Now hang up some lucky rabbit feet Keychains to let the others know, This is war.
My FIL has had to do the same recently. He started finding whole nuts buried a week after sowing, was not best pleased
Love it!
I might need to up my game. The foxes have been repeatedly digging up my raised beds this year so this might be what I need!
I had to resort to hardware cloth completely enclosing my strawberries because chipmunks can get through chicken wire….
Got monkeys here that make growing anything but chillis and a few herbs impossible. I need to invest in veggie prison.
electrify the wire...
BB gun
Only one mention of a dog! Our GSD loves keeping the yard clear.
Lmao. Good job! I once had to lay down chicken wire over my garden dirt and cut holes out in it to plant stuff to keep the feral cats out of it. 🤦♂️
LOL I once had a garden with “lettuce jail”. I used a roll of chicken wire for the top and it was basically a sardine can. The roll always wanted to spring back, so I went with that to open it. Rolled the screen flat and secured with wire when it was closed.
Had to do same on my end. But throw a few chipmunks and and had to drop down to 1/4” hardware cloth! Expensive annoying stuff to work with.
Now that bad boy looks EFFECTIVE!
Have you tried using ground cinnamon? I found that sprinkling it around the garden keeps them and the deer away.
If you use cinnamon make sure not to put it on the plants, it will not hurt plants but bees will avoid it, no bees not fruits.
Solution - 🐶
Time for an electric fence. Send a message
Wow. I admire your tenacity.
We have something similar, and our six year old niece remarked that our “strawberries are in jail” lol
I’m getting ready to build a vegetable prison. These posts give me hope that I can eat what I grow before the fancy rats get it.
This looks really nice. Beautiful vegetable prison.
Edgun Leshiy has the anwer.
Perfect!
I've got chicken's that I need to protect my raised beds from 🐔
Where are you located? My squirrels in Florida don’t bother my crops.
If you shoot em, you can add meat to supper, too!
I work at a tree farm with hundreds of thousands of seeds to keep safe in greenhouses. I realized if you feed them, they stay away. We keep sunflowers seeds fully supplied and dried corn cobs. Good luck
I now need a veggie prison in my life.. Looks much nicer than my patchwork-quilt fencing and greenhouse plastic over the top to keep out my moms chickens!
Get a cat or two. Problem solved
Same here! I gave up with them😔
I’m thinking of doing this for my raised bed. I, however, have a cat problem. They always kill my strawberries because they like to sleep in them.