Neighbours talking over the garden gate has long been a tradition. They share gardening tips, complain about the weather and pests yet are ever eager to discuss their gardens. That is what I had in mind when creating this blog. So stop by my garden gate to find out the latest happenings in my garden.

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
"All my life through, the new sights of Nature made me rejoice like a child." ~ Madame Marie Curie"

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Plant Cage

The last couple of days have been on the mild side very much welcomed from the previous week of cold temperatures and blizzard conditions.  My husband was at Home Hardware to pick up more salt for the driveway.  He brought home the spring edition of Home at Home, an idea magazine put out by Home Hardware.  There's always great ideas in the magazine as well as instructions on how to complete the projects. 

One of the projects is a plant cage meant to keep rabbits, groundhogs, deer and cats out of the garden or at least away from susceptible plants.  The box is constructed like my square foot beds but has supports and a top rail that rises about a foot making the overall height about 18 - inches tall.  Carpenter's cloth is stapled securely around the base, supports and rails.  Then a hinged top is added that consists of 2 x 2 with carpenter's cloth fastened underneath.  The end result when closed the plants are well protected from common garden pests. 

This is an excellent way to turn a raised bed into a protected bed.  As they did it a 4' x 4' bed could easily be protected from rabbits, squirrels and sometimes the nuisance birds.  I'm thinking a refined version would help prevent squash borer in my zucchini plants as well.  There are so many ways this design could be customized to deal with a few common garden pests.

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome


4 comments:

  1. We had just made a cage to protect my pineapple plant. It just started to bear fruits, it's first, so I wouldn't want to find it missing the next day. There are lots of squirrels around my place eying on the fruit

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  2. Interesting idea! Let us know how it turns out. :)

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  3. Hi Aries, that is a good idea. Squirrels can be rather pesky sometimes.

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