Simple Solutions For A Shared Garden: A ‘Twine Web’ Wall

April 10th, 2009 - filed under: The Farm » Flora

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I’ve gotta admit: I’m a total tech-head.  My husband is a web designer and Apple specialist (we call him the iDoctor), and he’s quite the technophile.  Here at HQ, computers control the show: multiple synced wireless devices integrate with airport speakers on three floors, a Mac Mini runs the television, and there are hourly, automated backups.  We’ve got the gizmos and the whiz-bangs and the purty matching iphones.  Even our incomes are intimately tied to, and ultimately reliant upon, our laptops.  

And I’m happily high-tech in so many ways, but I’ve got to be honest: when I can successfully implement something like this – the lowest of low-tech solutions – it gets me giddier than geek at Macworld.

 

The Problem:

Enthusiastic pooches, in hot pursuit of city kitties (who in turn are stalking backyard hens) barrel through my raised beds and unwittingly trample my precious veggies.   I need to keep the canine crusaders at bay, without restricting my own access or corrupting my garden’s aesthetic. 

 

The Solution:

Hot pink string.

 

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I love my boy-dogs dearly, but they’re not the brightest little bulbs.  The mere illusion of a barrier is quite enough to stop them dead in their tracks, and protect my delicate seedlings from certain doggy destruction.  See? 

 

 

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I built a sort of ‘web wall’ here, but you could just as easily wrap the string around the corner posts of the planter box itself, containing just the bed.  There’s a ton of applications, and I think this technique could address all sorts of garden mischief.  Ahh, simplicity.  Who needs all them whiz-bang gizmos, anyway?!    (I do!, I do!)

 

 

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sign-off

  • hailey

    cool solution!

  • Alex

    The pictures seem to indicate that it’s effective, haha. I don’t have any dog problems due to being fenced in, but I do use wooden skewers to keep visiting cats out of the new (vulnerable) catnip. This may seem cruel, but cats are smart enough to stay away, and it works fine with the sharp ends buried.

  • http://www.theorganiclife.wordpress.com sarah

    Great idea! My husband and I are putting up a large fence around our garden this week, but not for pets – to keep out the neighborhood critters that seek refuge in our “Nature Preserve.” We’ve already trapped and released two groundhogs (not getting my tomatoes!).

    Good to hear about another Mac enthusiast!! I’m a graphic designer (www.creativeanomalie.com) and work strictly on Macs. Someday I hope to have the setup it sounds like you guys have… (But first, the iPhone ;)

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

    @ hailey – Thanks! I can’t believe how well it works!

    @ Alex – That’s a great idea as well! I think my dogs would tromp right over stakes, but for smaller critters trying to get at the veggies themselves, I bet that works perfectly!

    @ sarah – Where do you live that has groundhogs? That’s so cool! When I lived in SoCal I planted a whole bed of lettuces one spring, and within 2 weeks every single head had been pulled underground by a greedy gopher. I was so mad! =D

  • Lee Hoffman

    Harley doesnot look so sure…

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

    @ Lee – Harley is afraid of new inanimate objects. =D

  • bitt

    your dogs are too cute.

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

    @ bitt – Thank you! And don’t they know it . . . =)

  • http://exoticdonkeymeat.com Kate

    I revisited this because I’m having issues with *something* trampling my garden. It looks like fort knox right now. I’m madder than if some one stepped on my baby’s foot. I’m thinking my predators might be birds….which frustrates me to no end…

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

    @ Kate – I feel your pain! And I’m sorry. The twine wall just may be your solution though. Luck!