orchard development- protect from animals??

Hi, Mark,

I am adding orchard plants to our 6 corrals, to add the stacking element. How can I keep the plants safe from dogs, goats and llamas while the plants are growing?
I have fenced off a section of 1 corral as a test model. Our dogs occupy another corral (most of the time) and have practically destroyed some trees(stripped bark) trying to get to a squirrel(s). I have created an 8' vertical collar (vinyl siding) to protect the trees. That is still not high enough for llamas, though.

Any thoughts?

Thanks for the input. We appreciate your leadership!

..........Nad

the llamas reach will be a problem if you don't plan for that..measure the reach of your llamas, and put the protection out far enough to prevent them from reaching over it..maybe use some metal or fiberglass posts and chicken wire or something like that..put it out say 2 or 3 feet from the trunk all the way around to prevent the llama from getting to it?? once they are tall enoug (provided they are standard rather than dwarfs) they should be fine.

In the book Restoration Agricutlure http://www.forestag.com/book.html we discuss this at length... in an earlier post about "Deer pressure" I also talk about some other strategies... Basically portable electric fencing is the way to go... OH... and don't plant an orchard.. plant a perennial food ecology!

M!

I agree with Mark about not just planting an "orchard"..you might also read Gaia's Garden by Toby Hemenway or some other good food forest books. Planting a food forest is much healthier than planting just an orchard and you'll get a lot more food for yourself, your wildlife and your animals..but the property will be much healthier for it.

The elec fencing is a good idea for the Llamas as Mark mentioned..however deer will hop over that with a smile and dinner...so prepare for deer also if you have them

Losing crops to critters, especially deer, is discouraging! There are a couple of good Permies threads that address some ideas, though. Maybe one of them will help:

Wavy Deer Fence
junkpole fence: freaky cheap chicken/deer fence made from wood typically thrown away
Permie solutions to deer fence issues?