Critter fences for vegetable gardens.

I live in Northern Westchester, NY and have a raised vegetable garden with a 40 inch plastic, mesh fence around it to keep various wildlife away from my crops. This seems to have worked quite well over the last two seasons with minor infringements that haven't worried me too much. Like a lot (all) vegetable gardeners I'm thinking about building another raised bed away from the main one to grow more tomatoes next season. Question is, do you think I could get away with not having a fence as I don't think the foliage is attractive to animals. If raccoons and squirrels eat the odd tomato that doesn't bother me and obviously a fence is no obstacle to them anyway. Any comments will be welcome. I've added a view of my garden from early in the summer just for interest.

Kiwiken

Nice looking set up, kiwiken. Unless you have deer problems, I doubt you would have too much problem with a new mater patch. I would protect it while the seedlings are young and tender, but once they get some size, you're major problems will probably be with insects. Try interplanting with some marigolds and nasturtiums, bunnies don't like those, nor do many insects. Good for your plants and a bit of quiet pleasure for you when they're in bloom. :)

I'm considering the same, I want to put in an isolation bed some distance from my main growing beds. Last season Thumper ate (or at least bit off) every last one of my tomatoes and eggplants. I'll have to looke at getting the marigolds and nasturtiums up and running at the same time I transplant the others. Bambi hasn't really bothered my tomatoes, but he does get into just about everything else.

You can also sprinkle cayenne pepper on a lot of your plants.....bunnies don't like hot..also garlic sprays provide some temporary relief from the munchers. Bambi does look real good in your freezer.......grin

Yes he does, makes good summer sausage too. Hoowever for the main garden, and orchard I'm collecting telephone poles to set up an eight foot fence. The isolation garden will have to depend on sprays and human hair from the barber.

Doccat5, do you have any feel for how ground squirrels (close kin to chipmunks) would feel about the nasturtiums and marigolds? Seems like those would be much easier (not to mention aesthetically pleasing) than the powdered coyote urine I eventually resorted to last year to save my tomatoes!

Hmm, not sure about that one. I mainly use the flowers to repel insect pests. The cat takes care of most of the other livestock, although I use cayenne pepper to keep the bunnies off my cole crops.

Well, on the theory of "it can't hurt to try", I'll go for it! If nothing else, it'll keep down the bugs and look pretty too, so what's to lose? :)

Not a thing, the veggies are for your body, but the flowers are for your soul! :)

And nasturtiums do it all! :)

Amen

I've been trying to interplant both the nasturtiums and marigolds in all of the beds. It seems to help some, but not a lot. Someone dropped off a kitten this last spring. I've seen him doing the mice, hopefully this year he will be big enough to help fend off the rabbits too.

Your kitty should help put the kibosh on the bunnies. What was the problem with your marigold and nasturtiums? I find I do have to watch and buy the marigolds that have a strong fragrance. It does make a difference.

No problem, but I haven't noticed a whole lot of difference between the beds that have had them, and beds that haven't. I am going to plant a larger bed of gourds and melons this year, and my understanding is that I need to make sure I have plenty of the nasturtiums in those beds.

Do the nasturtiums help bring in pollinators? I'm planning on some beebalm next to my cukes for the same reason, but would love an "excuse" to do the nasturtiums too.

The nasturtiums are suppose to help keep away the squash bugs. They are also suppose to trap aphids. Marigolds are suppose to help with nematodes and mexican bean beatles. Calendula (pot marigolds) are suppose to help keep the dogs out. They also because of root hormones help to suppress some weeds.

Okay, I'm on a quest for calendula--last fall the dratted dog at all my almost-red peppers! Thanks for clarifying, mscheinost!

You also need to plant radishes around your squash and cukes. They draw flea beetles. Just destroy the infected plants. I know from personal experience that marigolds and nasturtiums do work as a inter planting organic method for pest suppression. I don't use pesticides nor herbicides at all.

Unfortunately, in the summer here, all radishes would do is shrivel. They're a winter crop for us, in their prime right now.

Our funky growing seasons make a lot of things sort of odd--having a traditional "garden fresh" salad is pretty much impossible--the greens and the tomatoes just won't ever happen at the same time!

Thanks for the tip, though, doccat5--I need all the help I can get :), will just have to figure out how to adapt it to our hot/dry climate.

docatt5...not sure what you meant by the radish planting around cukes and squash. I plant radishes between these two crops in the early stages because they are compatable according to the charts, and it conserves space. If I understand you correctly, the radishes also prevent flea beatles, or draw them away from the cukes and squash???

tusconjill, are you planting in raised beds? Using compost? And there are ways to help tip the odds in your favor to get salad greens and tomatoes at the same time. I'm sure you can figure out a way to make that happen. You might check with your local extension agent for suggestions or she if they have Master Gardeners who could give you some ideas and advice. Your temps are any hotter than mine here in VA and I have the humidity to go with it. You plan, you adapt. You can also check in the regional area on DG for others in your area that are making it happen. :) Daikon radishes will grow anywhere, but they get hot if they don't get enough water. I use them stir fry and actually mix them in horseradish. I can eat the hot peppers, but these do get some "warmth". Plus they have the added advantage of being very long and thick. They open up the ground and help improve the soil.

Radishes will grow in hot weather, but they won't form edible bulbs. They are still useful as pest traps, though, if that's your only goal.

Nobody does greens or root crops out here in the summer. They just fry past about May when the temps start to hit 100 on a regular basis. I do garden in raised beds with compost (and lots and lots of mulch), and one of my beds gets some shade which helps, but the heat and the dry shut a lot of stuff down from May to about October/November, when you can start the cooler-season crops up again. My best shot at summer greens would actually be to do them inside, but Sophie the Salad Snacker (my plant-eating cat) would get a lot more of them than I would! :)

I might try the radishes just as a pest trap as you suggested, though. I don't know if they'll grow at all, but hey, seeds are cheap and I could always plant them again for eating in the winter!

Radishes act as a trap crop for flea beetles, mraider3 I plant them in a circle around my squash hill and on both sides next to my cukes. The beetles go for the radish tops, as they become infected, I pull them and destroy the infected radishes. Turn around and plant some more. It doesn't stop the beetles completely, but it makes a big difference in the quality and production of the squash and cukes.

Maybe get you one of those fancy baby salad greenhouse aerosomething they've been advertising on TV. They come with grow lights and the whole shebang. Spraying the cat with water and a loud NO does stop a lot of that.

Yeah, don't those aerowhatsits' sound cool? Maybe Santa will come through for me next year! :)

How many radishes do you plant for each hill of squash? And do you think they'd help with watermelons as well? That's another one of my new experiments for the summer...

I just sow the radish seeds around the hill. I've never bothered to count, I always have radishes of various kinds on hand, both for trap crops, row markers and eating. LOL Doubt they would work with watermelon, since flea beetles don't bother those. If your new to planting watermelon make sure you leave them plenty of space they are sprawlers! I found out the hardway one year, herding watermelon out of the middle of your tomato patch is a pain in the tushie....LOL

Tusconjill, a simple frame of 1x2s wrapped in thickish plastic or bubblewrap with a cheap shop light with an infrared bulb will keep a tomato plant all winter out here. My next tomato experiment will be with a bush variety just for this hotframe setting.

doccat...you may have solved a big mystery. Neighbor half a block away had some type of beetle devistate his cuke plants. He asked if I was having a similar problem. Told him I had not seen a single beetle on my five plants, or in the garden. The only indication of a possible beetle problem was on the adjacent radish leaves, which had some holes. But, as I mentioned, I never saw what was doing it. The only answer I could come up with was I was using a high dollar hybrid cucumber seed (Socrates F1) from Johhnies, and I thought possibly my plants were resistant to his beetles. Go Figure!

Tarheel2az, I've got some Oregon Spring bush heirloom seeds I was going to try this fall--maybe I'll do one somewhere where I can wrap it and give it a shot. Thanks for the tip!

I've found it a sure fire way of thinning out my beetle problems. Radish seed is cheap. I also have found the better you make your soil, the stronger your plants. They can withstand a lot more whether it be pests or disease. We are 100 percent organic and have been for over 25 years. If I have a plant that is that susceptible all the time, it's time to replace that plant with something that is more resistant. The only exception are my HT roses. They were Mother's Day gifts from when my sons were little. When my guys buy me flowers they bring me the whole bush.........LOL Black spot is a major problem here, because of the humidity and those dam aphids. I've inter planted with garlic this year, it's suppose to help repel aphids. I did an experimental lasagna bed in those rose beds this year. Started in June and I'm going to have to go out and add more "stuff" again. That is good ground those beds are in, but I'm anxious to see what it will do for those bushes. They are established and over 20 years old, so the bases are are a good 8-10" across. I did notice after I started the lasagna bed they seem to "perk" up a bit. Blooms got a little larger. We'll see.
You have to keep in mind when you are using these "organic" methods, not everything works the same for everybody.