New Garden for next year

**Billy13426** · 08-31-2014, 09:47 PM

I recently received some free chain link fence from a neighbor for doing a job and decided I was going to turn it into a fence to keep the deer and raccoons out of my garden. I am going to try to take strong thick trees to make the posts and then tie-wrap it on. But I was also wondering if anybody has any cheap ideas of securing the fencing that is stronger than tie wraps and is still cost effective.

In my garden I am planning to have
-Jalapenos
-Pumpkins
-Gourds
-Strawberries
-Carrots
-Potatoes
-Etc. depending on what you guys think I should plant. Please consider the climate and conditions in Michigan before naming any plants. I appreciate all replies thank you very much for your time.

**crashdive123** · 08-31-2014, 09:52 PM

How big an area are we talking? Posts for chain link fences aren't cost prohibitive. Are you installing a gate? Wire tie-ins that you twist are probably better than cable ties. Remember to stretch that fence as you install it.

**1stimestar** · 08-31-2014, 10:07 PM

You can plant peas and use the fence as a trellis.

**tundrabadger** · 08-31-2014, 11:19 PM

You could try planting some onions....they are good in zone 6, and really satisfying to grow.

**NVRDONE** · 08-31-2014, 11:24 PM

Originally Posted by 1stimestar

You can plant peas and use the fence as a trellis.

Same goes with pole beans and cukes.

I'm personally switching from bush beans to pole, specifically Kentucky Wonders, next year. And I'm using the 4' high section of fence with some tomato stakes and nylon netting as the trellis. Going for a 6' total height.

**JohnnyBe** · 09-01-2014, 05:26 AM

I would go for green beans, radishes, and zucchini

**Rick** · 09-01-2014, 08:46 AM

Tie Wraps are sensitive to UV light and will degrade pretty quickly. Two, maybe three years, is about all you'll get out of them.

**kyratshooter** · 09-01-2014, 11:37 AM

Just a thought, but unless that chain link is 12' tall it is not going to keep deer out, and raccoons will just climb in and eat what they want. About the best thing a fence will do for you is keep the rabbits out and it does not take much to stop rabbits.

Corn is a special favorite of these critters and unless you have a big block of garden spot to plant in corn it is not worth the effort.

You can look in the Farmer's Almanac and see a list of the crops that will do well in your area based on the past 150 years of farming history in your area. Most of the bigger seed companies off a chart with the same information.

I deal with many of the same issues and have found that the best thing to do is place the garden in easy shooting range from the back door so you can stick the muzzle of the gun out the door and shoot the critters without leaving the house.

**hunter63** · 09-01-2014, 11:45 AM

Is this fence going to be temporary?....or permanent?
Reason I am asking is the some time your temporary become permanent, and you end up fighting with it for ever.....then have to redo it anyway.

I would use wood corner post.....side steel posts and the clip or ties made of wire....stretch it out to start with.....add a gate.

Little work up front will prevent a lot of crop loss and work later.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/webapp/...earchType=1000

As far as crops....plant what you like to eat...early root crops, then greens, peas onions, potatoes...later, beans, tomatoes, peppers, corn etc.

Tall plants in the back...... short in front......facing the sun
Remember when stuff starts to ripen you... will get it all at once....be ready to preserve, dry, can, freeze.

**LowKey** · 09-01-2014, 12:00 PM

For chain link, I'd get something that isn't going to stretch and break in a year or two. Actual fence ties are not expensive. Are you tying this into sturdy LIVING trees? Not going to get much of a garden over the roots of most living trees. Unless you are using Cedar or some other type of rot-resistant wood for the sunken posts, it doesn't matter how sturdy your wooden posts are. They will last about as long as cable ties. 3 or 4 years before rotting off below ground.

My pumpkins grow through the fence and out into the lawn. Otherwise they take up too much space. Nothing really bothers them once they get to the rampant stage (spiny stems and leaves). Just have to watch the vine leaders that they go out through a lower hole in the fencing or they will bend over and break, limiting the vine capacity. If your deer are savvy enough to know what they are, you may have to put wire mesh cages over them once they start turning orange.
Cucumbers grow up trellises. I don't think I would plant them on the outer fence though.
Peas or pole beans either. Rabbits can chew their way up a fence quite a ways.

I don't think Michigan is Zone 6. I'm in Zone 5 in MA.

When I plant onions, I have to either start them in January and fight them damping off until end of March when they can go out in the cold frame, or I plant a seed bed of them to grow as sets then hold over and plant out as soon as I can dig 3" down into the mud in the following spring. Going to try leaving a row or two of sets out this year to see if they will make it overwinter.

If you are going to grow peppers or tomatoes, you may want to reconsider strawberries. Strawberries are perennials and have to stay in the same bed year after year. They also harbor many diseases and pests that will decimate peppers and tomatoes. I grow my strawberries clear over on the other side of the house from the vegetable garden. Also, it takes a hellaciously large number of strawberry plants to grow enough to put up. If you just plan on a handful for your pancakes when in season, a small 5x10 bed may do you, but if you plan on any quantity, think bigger. They also like a sandy well-drained soil. Generally not what is in vegetable gardens.

Michigan is good for blueberries though. A couple high-bush blueberries tucked in a corner that are kept happy with an acid soil and food at the proper times, will have more than enough berries to put up quite a few quarts while taking up less space than strawberries.

Potatoes are another one you have to think about for space. The plant tops are toxic to just about any other plant within a 3' radius. You need a lot of space for them. Tomatoes, peppers and potatoes all share the same diseases. You are going to need a really good rotation system to grow them all every year. None of them should go into the same bed every year. With my tomatoes and peppers I usually put fresh manure in the bed after they die down, then the next year let the bed grow squash one year, onions the next, then back to either peppers or tomatoes. Potatoes I grow in trenches outside the garden. Nothing touches them unfenced. Not even the rabbits.

Carrots aren't a beginner's crop. You need a fine tilth bed for them, screened for rocks down to about 6 or 8" deep. Plant them too early and the seed will rot. Plant them too late and they may not get to size. You need to practice a bit to get them planted right for your area. They take forever to germinate too. Just when you think you've failed, little strap leaves appear everywhere. It takes another week or two for carrot like leaves to show up. Talk with other people with gardens to see what they suggest.

If you make gardening fun and don't fret too much over your failures it can be rewarding. If you lose one crop early, plant a shorter crop right away. If something is going south in a big way, decide quickly if it is worth trying to save or if a new crop of maybe beans or peas (both short growing times) is more worth your while. When the cool season plants are done, plant beans to grow on while you start up the fall plants (if you go that intense.) You can usually harvest out some of your bean plants to make room for the young broccoli/kale without having to harvest the whole plot.

**tundrabadger** · 09-01-2014, 01:51 PM

Suppose it would depend on what part of Michigan, wouldn't it? Detroit and environs are zone 6, anyhow.

I've managed to get some onions growing in my garden, and Ottawa is theoretically zone 4. Not, I admit, very *big* onions, but onions nonetheless. And at least part of the problem is that some animal or other thought the tops were absolutely delicious, which can't help matters.

**LowKey** · 09-01-2014, 07:33 PM

I just looked at a zone map. Michigan is a weird one. Really depends on where in Michigan you're at and if Zone 6 is really Zone 6 or a wet Zone 5.

**tundrabadger** · 09-01-2014, 07:57 PM

Yeah, I can see how that would be a problem...I'm sorry, I was going off of Windsor, which is where my dad lives, and the stuff he can grow there, Windsor being directly south of Detroit. I may have had a brain fart with regard to other parts of the state.

**Billy13426** · 09-01-2014, 08:02 PM

Ok I am in midland not sure what zone and the fence will be temporary 2-3 years max

**tundrabadger** · 09-01-2014, 08:18 PM

a bit of google fu suggests that puts you in zone 5b.

**Billy13426** · 09-01-2014, 10:33 PM

ok thank you I will have to do some more research

**Rick** · 09-02-2014, 07:59 AM

Rabbits love beans as well. This is the first year I've been hit by them and they killed me. Looks like I'll have to put up some chicken wire for next year. The only thing they didn't bother were maters and okra. They used my garden as a smorgasbord.