Design for fenced off veg patch

Discussion in 'Landscaping and Outdoors' started by My Home Farm, Mar 10, 2020.

  1. My Home Farm

    My Home Farm Member

    We want to build a vegetable patch that would be fenced off. The field we'd like to use has a gradient.

    I was hoping someone could point us in the direction of instructions/plans on how to build a fenced off vegetable patch that will keep wildlife out.

    Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. 6C2A823F-0168-43CB-919E-7A22D73E276B.jpeg 88753293-8D90-443A-9C46-AC2DCEE55F2B.jpeg
     
  2. ramseyman

    ramseyman Screwfix Select

    Depends what wildlife you're wanting to keep out. If it's rabbits, say, 1m high 20mm mesh buried at least 150mm in the ground and turned outwards beneath the ground for at least 300mm. If it's deer then a real problem as you're into at least a 1.8m high deer fence and even little muntjack will in desperation jump that.
     
  3. My Home Farm

    My Home Farm Member

    Thankfully, it’s not deer. Smaller creatures like rabbits will be our issue.
     
  4. My Home Farm

    My Home Farm Member

    Any advice on which tool to use to remove the grass - it’s a thick carpet, and our patch will be 9x9m?
     
  5. FlyByNight

    FlyByNight Screwfix Select

    Cut the grass as low as possible with a strimmer then mow.

    Then buy or hire a "Sod Cutter" which will make very light work of it. Use it to go 1 metre extra all round so you can put fence posts in and have an easier job getting the buried mesh dug in.

    Save the cut sods or turf to tidy up around it and then with the remainder, stack updside down in a heap to rot down and produce decent soil/compst to eventually go back
     
  6. ramseyman

    ramseyman Screwfix Select

    -You're probably not going to like this but I would cut the vegetation off as low as possible and dig the rest in. If you do it properly with a spade all the remaining vegetation will be buried,. get your plants in and keep a hoe going. Forget covering with plastic etc. 9m by 9m is not a large area compared to an allotment. As the area looks as if its been pasture for some years you're bound to get some wireworm damage for the first couple of years especially on potatoes.
     
  7. My Home Farm

    My Home Farm Member

    What’s wireworm?
     
  8. ramseyman

    ramseyman Screwfix Select

    he larvae of the click beetle which are very prevalent in grassland. They are about 15-20mm long, 1 or 2 mm in diameter and can badly damage crops, potatoes in particular, in the first couple of years after changing from pasture to arable or in your case veg. The damage is caused by the wireworm boring into the roots and leaving holes/tunnels. Not easy to control as no chemicals available to amateur gardeners but used to be able to use HCH, formerly BHC but that tainted the crop in any event, now withdrawn.
     
  9. FlyByNight

    FlyByNight Screwfix Select

    Surely rotavation of the soil to bring them out and allow birds to feed will start to reduce the numbers, repeat several times - maybe one a week on a plot that size and there will be fat black birds!
     
  10. WillyEckerslike

    WillyEckerslike Screwfix Select

    Some things to consider in addition to the advice above - some will be more relevant depending on the answers to others...

    • Will there be livestock in the field as you will need a stock fence and the gate will need to be self closing/latching if so?
    • What provision are you making for water supply/storage?
    • Make the internal paths wider than a wheel barrow or you will be walking on your crop(s) to get past it
    • Try to make the cropping areas as level as possible to make water use efficient - cut and fill the beds and use the paths to create changes in level.
    • I would give it all a dose of a glyphosate product prior to any cultivation and then again prior to any planting (to catch the weeds that germinate/develop after cultivation).
    Good luck with it.
     
    My Home Farm and ramseyman like this.
  11. FlyByNight

    FlyByNight Screwfix Select

    Glyphosate will only catch those plants that have germinated and have some form of leaf - remember, soon after it touches the soil, it breaks down and becomes ineffective.

    I would suggest, take the top grass off, rotavate, leave for a week or two, then sparay any green that is appearing and check one a week.
     
  12. WillyEckerslike

    WillyEckerslike Screwfix Select

    Correct thanks. I should have said to leave a period in between the two operations. There is a technique called 'stale seed bed' but no-one seems to be able to wait that long nowadays.
     
  13. ramseyman

    ramseyman Screwfix Select

    Glyphosate prior to stripping the vegetation is a good idea, not keen on rotovating if it can be avoided as it chops weed roots such as couch grass up and can help to spread them, also destroys the soil structure so when it's rained on it becomes a load of thick custard. The thing is as others have said this will take time and it's best not to rush things.
     
  14. My Home Farm

    My Home Farm Member

    I need some advice about the paling fence please. I’m going to put 75x75 posts in, with a premade paling fence. Do I need to run wood supports top and bottom, from post to post, and then attach the fence to those?
     
  15. My Home Farm

    My Home Farm Member

    There won’t be any livestock.

    Water is an excellent point. I will be activating our Victorian well to assist with watering. That will be a new thread in days to come.

    The leveling suggestion is a good one as I’m working on a gradient.

    Thanks for your invaluable insights and suggestions.
     
  16. My Home Farm

    My Home Farm Member

    I’m also working with a gradient... how do I deal with that?
     
  17. My Home Farm

    My Home Farm Member

    Progress is steady on the fence. Can we talk about rabbits?

    I have a galvanized wire mesh. Do you guys recommend digging a 30mm trench and burying it, or do we bend it and run it under the fence at ground level for 40cm?
     
  18. ramseyman

    ramseyman Screwfix Select

    Did a trench about 100mm deep and bend it out 400mm. Any less depth won't hold it down unless you peg it. Usually you strip a sod (turf) off and bury it under that.
     
    My Home Farm likes this.
  19. My Home Farm

    My Home Farm Member

    I was thinking of raising the turf and doing that.
     
  20. FlyByNight

    FlyByNight Screwfix Select

    Stewed or roast?
     
    PaulBlackpool likes this.

Share This Page

  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
    Dismiss Notice