Garden fences~keeping chickens out

[Beekissed]

I always have to fence my garden as my flock free ranges all year round. I've been using deer netting with good effect and just taking it down each season. This next season I want to try the Back to Eden gardening and establish more permanent fencing that will not be removed any longer.

I'm also very frugal. I like to do things cheap or free if I can. Down the road from me about 7 mi. is a place that has a huge, old bamboo stand right next to the highway. I'm going to inquire as if those folks would let me harvest some of that very tall bamboo for them so that I can make a bamboo wattle fence around my garden.

Now, my garden is pretty large for such an endeavor, so I may just be biting off more than I can chew, but it sure would wear well and be prettier than just a standard fence....not to mention, free, except a little hard work. It wouldn't have to be too tightly woven, as my chickens are large and I don't mind if the tiny chicks get in there...and I'd like to have gaps so that I can see the plants through the fencing.

If I can't get the bamboo I may have to scrap the whole idea, but it sure doesn't hurt to ask and then create a fence that has whimsy, strength, durability and beauty. I'd have to string three strands of tight fishing line at the top to keep the chickens from hopping up and then down into the garden but that's no bother.

Anyone out there build a wattle fence around their garden can tell me about the degree of difficulty, what to be prepared for, how to make it easier?

 

[thistlebloom]

I'm watchin' too.

I love wattle fencing, but the small attempt I made showed me it wasn't going to be something I could do in a weekend. I was using willow whips, and had high expectations and a rushed time budget. Those two things don't go too well with a new endeavor.

 

[Beekissed]

I agree. And I'm afraid I'll get it started and then run out of bamboo...then it will look funny and not pretty as I had wanted. I could always cut some slender poles out of the woods here to finish it off but that would take some doin'.

This is sort of what I'm going for, though mine won't have to be so high, but it can be loosely woven like this....

This would be much prettier but I know I don't have the skill to do that...

This isn't bamboo but just stick wattle...attractive and sturdy all the same...

I like the rustic look of it all...it blends in with our place, which has two real log structures on the place.

This is beautiful....but would take me years upon years to complete...

I like these too, though they aren't fencing...

 

[thistlebloom]

Those are beautiful examples. I think #5 might be a little easier to accomplish, although it would take a mountain of material. Of course looking at a picture and getting it done is where my projects come unraveled. I still have a dry creek bed project to finish. It's been a multi-year endeavor and I hope to get it finished before old age incapacitates me completely!

 

[Beekissed]

I find I get things done quicker and can maintain focus better if I have a deadline ahead. Sad as that is to say, I must be pushed into getting some things finished before I can maintain attention to it. Right now I have a quilt I've been working on off and on...mostly off... and I have a month to finish it now and there's so much work to do that I'll be scrambling....but I'm betting I get it done because I HAVE to now.

This fence will have to be done one way or another before that garden goes in and that's the only way I know for certain that I'll get it done....though, if I don't get to scrounge up that bamboo, I'll just have to go back to deer netting and try to make it look better than it normally does in some way. That will be a challenge in and of itself!

 

[buckabucka]

I think those fences are very beautiful. If I were younger, or retired, I could see doing something like that.

Years ago when I worked half-time, I cleared a huge amount of young poplar trees with a machete. I hauled them to a flat area in the woods and pushed them into the ground very close together, lashing them to each other for support. I build a large circular maze this way. Once you made it to the center, there was a ladder up a larger central tree, with a tiny space to sit.

DH built "stumphenge" up in our field, with some lintels as well. Now our projects are more practical, but I'd like to go back to building things out of natural materials after I retire. I did make a teepee-style nest box a couple years ago.

Good luck with your fence! I hope your neighbor lets you clear the bamboo.

 

[lesa]

Love the idea! Very pretty indeed. One thing I will mention-you don't want to have a nice edge at the top of the fence. Like the first pic. My chickens would leap/fly right up there, sit on the top bar of the fence and hop right into the delicious garden... You either need to make it very high- or not smooth- or you will be spending a lot of your time, rounding up chickens! Ask me how I know!!! Would love to see pics of whatever you decide! Good luck!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Good point, Lesa, but Bee mentioned putting fishing line on top to prevent that. On a different type of fence I just used still 2x4 welded wire and let it stick up a foot or so to stop them flying up to perch on top.

Bee, I can appreciate having a deadline to get things done. You have to work on priorities any way but there is something like having a deadline that can get you to focus. When it is time to plant a garden it is time to plant a garden. I'd be tempted too put up the netting and work on that fence in my spare time, but what spare time? With me it may never get done if I do that.

 

[Beekissed]

LOVE that nest box!!! That's just darling. Doesn't the natural materials just LOOK better? And they are there for the using, free, but just requiring imagination, time and effort. Those things are in short supply nowadays but there are some still out there creating just for the sake of creating.

Here lately in my life I have been blessed with the ability to simplify,slow down, and work on projects if I want, so this is why a fence like this comes to mind...though pain often prevents my ability to do what I would want to do. Chances are I'll never get that material...I don't know those folks, but if I don't there are other things to create similarly. I can always make stick trellising or gates to add some homespun flavor and those wouldn't take too much time, just effort and imagination.

 

[seedcorn]

Thanks for pix. Can't wait to see what u do.

My goal when freezing weather is gone, finish rocks around garden and small dry rock bed. Now I am going to take the time to do it.