Chain link support?

Can anyone think of a reason that chain link fencing would not be a good support for peas, beans, and maybe some squash and tomatoes? I've been racking my brain for way to accommodate all the seeds that have somehow accumulated. There just isn't enough space.

Looked down the hill, and there, I saw the dog's pen. Two sides get great sun, AFAIK, but I will be paying attention now :). That would give me about 100 feet of support for all my climbing PlantChildren. I actually had peas on chain link last year, and they did fine until the cows found them. I don't think the dogs will bother them, but then again, who knows *g*. It might give them some great shade in the summer, too.

Any ideas welcome :)

Now, if I can just find some bales......:(......

This message was edited Jan 24, 2008 7:23 AM

This message was edited Jan 24, 2008 7:23 AM

Sounds like a great idea to me Catmad. Lucky you that it is ready-made.

Jeanette

catmad: your fence will do just fine, especially for running veggies. Not sure how tall the fence is. Tomatoes can get 8 - 9 ft high easily, but if it's a short fence, you can probably train the tomatoes, or just plan accordingly with some determinate tomatoes if a short fence. Get some of those plastic stretch ties.]

If I had a ready-made fence like yours, I'd definitely take advantage of it somehow.

Kent

Hi Kent,
It's six foot, and I plan on doing what I did with my too short supports last year, adding an upper level *g*. I was thinking I might be able to plant the tomatoes far enough apart that I could run them horizontally if needed, they might be heavier than the beans this worked well for! I could plant shorter plants in between....maybe peppers?

Can't believe how much this will save :)

Depends on what kind of dogs you have. I too have a nice expanse of tempting chain link fence, but there is no way I could use it for support for anything. My doggie loves tomatoes; she also likes to strain anything that gets too close through the fence. I still haven't figured out how she got that potted carnation.

That's funny Woofie. I never thought of that. Yes, my dogs like tomatoes also. Guess you might have to string some of that bird netting along that chain link before you plant Cat.

Jeanette

I would suggest using the 1" mesh chicken wire rather than bird netting. (Wouldn't want the pups pulling that netting through the fence and choking on it.) It has worked for keeping my girl from dragging any more plants through the fence. Anything that GROWS through the fence, tho, is toast. But that's just my one-dog demolition crew.

woofie wrote;"Depends on what kind of dogs you have"

Hmmmm. I "thought I sent a post with my Puppers, but it isn't here. Allow me to introduce Jesse (pit) and Jill (boxer/wrinklie). I don't know what their appetite is for vegetative matter, but I guess I'll find out....:)

Nice dogs Cat. I would think that if you just don't put anything on the fence that is poisonous to them that it would be ok. i.e. tomato leaves I believe are poisonous to us, but to them???? I am just guessing about the tomato leaves, they belong to the nightshade family just like potatoes do. I think.

Jeanette

My destructive little pooch just likes to grab the tomatoes off the vines, but I do wish we had a list somewhere on DG of plants that are poisonous to our pets. One that included which parts and how poisonous and symptoms for at least dogs and cats. Wouldn't that be a nice resource?

I can find one and post it (Cornell has a good one, I know), but where would it go?

Cat, ask Terry in admin.

Jeanette

catmad,

I raise pole beans on my 6' fence all the time. We have our back yard fenced in for our 4 dogs. They like beans but once they get over 3 feet high they no longer bother them. Gourds do well along a chain link also. Any climbing vine/plant will grow in and out of the links without needing any ties but it's a chore to clean off the dead vines after the harvest. Don't know about tomatoes though.

Red

Thanks Red,
Somehow ( who knows how, maybe the web-wandering caused by DG'ers mentioning things like Greasy Beans, Red Noodle Beans) I ended up with about 8 bean varieties, and lack of motivation for building trellises. This seems just perfect, if I can explain to Jesse and Jill that they must limit their consumption :)

Catmad, I think dogs are smarter than most humans and probably won't eat things that aren't good for them unless it is meat.

Jeanette

Sigh. My dogs are, well, experimental, when it comes to food. One of mine ate my ornamental kale plants yesterday. Why? Because they were there, and he was bored, I think. I've been bringing them in on really cold nights, they hadn't gotten put out, his buddy (my SO) is away, and, well, what the hey. I guess he liked them, but only the red ones. The white are untouched. Now, this dog will eat "around" any veggies in his food.

Most of mine like green beans, so we'll see...

One of my precious children just loves potted plants. He also loves the pots. Given half a chance he will grab a pot, dump it out and chew up the pot. Ever had a malamute roll in a potted mint? Sigh.

It's my fault that my dogs like green beans, I made the mistake of feeding them some when I was canning and they liked them! Here's a picture of two of my outlaws, Jesse & Wyatt.

Here's the other two, Ebony & Doc.

Catmad, I'll bet it's a mental thing with your dog. Feeling the missing of your SO. Dogs are very weird when it comes to things like that. Some do things for attention also. I would love psychiatry, but not on dogs. LOL

Jeanette

woofie
Do you have a picture of your malamute? Mine loves the straw bales and pulls them apart to lay on when it rains or snows. She has a large covered
protected area but never uses it. She doesn't bother the garden after the things are planted because there is no air conditioning vent out side and in the summer that is her favorite place. winter outside dog summer inside dog. All our Malamutes have made excellent couch dogs.

Annie

Oh, my babies are definitely couch potatoes (my favorite vegetables). Here they are with our little border collie

Hmmm, can't see them too well in that one. Here's a better one:

Woofie, they look almost like mine only mine are mixes and one is a mini and dthe other has real long legs. They look like mutt & Jeff.

Jeanette

Got any pics of yours (like this has lots to do with strawbale gardening, tee hee)?

No, mine won't stand still like that. Woofie, go over to the new thread I started under "Strawbale gardening". "seedlings & propagation" or something like that.

I wrote you something there.

Jeanette

Jeanette wrote;"Catmad, I'll bet it's a mental thing with your dog. Feeling the missing of your SO."

Oh, I agree, but why eat plants?? I'm now actually planning on adding some kale to his food...he has a number of serious medical issues, and if he'll eat this, I can try a homemade diet again. Of course, once it's in his bowl, it'll be yucky...

woofie wrote;"like this has lots to do with strawbale gardening, tee hee)?"

Of course it does!! These are to be my BGD (Bale Guardian Dogs). Besides, hi-jacked threads are always the most interesting:)

BGD! LOL, yeah my dogs like to guard their food, too!

Yup, hi-jacks-R-us for sure. Must have something to do with attention span. :-)

LOL,

Jeanette

Hi
Getting back to the fence for a minute. I have grown tomatos on mine
but this year am trying icebox type melons in strawbales -will they be too heavy and break off? Melons are the bane of my gardening life. . It is raining here and my Amber just stuck her nose out and immediatly came back in. sometimes she just stands out in the middle of it, gets soaked and loves it. A dogs mind is a mysterious thing.

Anita

Just guessing here, but I think your melons will be too heavy for the vines. I read something, somewhere, on another thread about supporting melons, but I just am not sure where it was. It seems to me it was on the strawbale forum.

My Sugar Babies grew (unintentionally) up my green bean trellis (out of hay bales), and did just fine, but they were very small. If they were larger, I would have supported them with slings made of netting or pantyhose.

That's a good idea, and the chain link would be a really solid support for the slings, too.

Catmad, thank you for your brilliance with the fencing idea here! :)) I have a huge chain link fenced yard for my little dogs and it hadn't even occurred to me to put the bales next to the fence for support & trellising!!

SC, is your chainlink in the sun? I really envy you guys with your ready made trellises. Yes, I did the same thing last year, I put melons about the size of cantaloupes on and even tho it had only one melon, I put bird netting under it and supported it that way. Worked well.

Jeanette

Yep, it's in the sun - 99% of my yard is in full sun. About 80' of the fence in the front (along the front & part of one side) is planted with clematis & jasmine vines, but none of the rest of the fence is planted and it runs about 100'-120' deep. I was going to do the bale gardening in the back, inside the fence anyway, so this was a totally cool idea for me. :))

My mowed yard is 160+' frontage, and almost the same deep. I only fenced about 1/3 in (one side of the yard), and I'm starting a little orchard on the other side. The center part of the yard will be my flower beds and gardens.

SCNewbie wrote;" thank you for your brilliance with the fencing idea here!"

Snort. It practically had to hit me over the head! This is my third year here (like you:) and I spent sooo much time last year worrying about having enough places to plant climbing things. I'm still learning what this land is really like. I still have several fruit trees that are mysteries to me. Last year I was all ready to find out, and they froze. I'm hoping for better this year. At least I know where the wild cherries are, and hopefully I won't miss them this time.

It's all learning, I guess. I sure have enough seeds to experiment with.

and the catalogs keep coming....

and coming, and coming. LOL Catmad, they will do that if you place an order. They used to no matter whether you ordered or not. I think the seed companies got together and decided not to send them out to people just to "window shop". Those things have got to be expensive.

I don't care if I get a lot of them. I really do enjoy them, and when I decide what I want to plant I compare prices and amount of seeds. After all, it is winter. What else is there to do in the snow?

Jeanette