Let me start by saying, I am not chemical-phobic and am an enthusiast on the subject, but my lifelong interest in chemistry has morphed into the curse of concern about plastics, metals, and all kinds of wacky additives (such as PFAS) we add to the built environment. I don't want long-term harm to myself, family, or habitat if I can avoid it.
This question is about safety of fencing materials around the garden.
Here's the current situation:
When I moved to my current home there was an old dog fenced area in the backyard right off the house, and we went ahead and started
gardening there. A few years in, our garden is intensifying in that area really nicely, we now have an infant, the
fence is decaying, and
deer are hopping over it decimating the garden. We decided we need a deer
fence, ideally 8ft tall, and will make it "3D" over time too (plants on either side for rougher landing, plants or woven material on the fence to reduce visibility).
In an ideal world, I'd replace the old fence with a nice new one made with
local cedar or
black locust or osage posts, and I'd weave dried bamboo or willows or hazels or inert metal through the posts to get 8ft of deer fence, and/or the whole thing turn into a living hedge over time. The problem is, I've looked around a lot and cannot even find 8ft cedar or locust posts in my area, nonetheless 10-12ft needed for 8ft high fence. Plus time is tight! And it's expensive to ship from afar or hire pros.
As growing season approaches, we decided the best option is to get T-posts (10ft if possible, or settle for 8ft and add sticks or bamboo for more height). The most economical option (in time and $) seems like running fence wire along that, maybe every 2ft high, and adding flagging to deter deer.
Now for my concern about safety in the garden. The current situation is not great to start. The current fence posts are clearly pressure treated. Some are looser or more decayed than others but overall they're doing okay and would be a (doable) pain to remove. Many have a green tinge, some strongly, whether that's moss or PT. Some were painted and the paint is flaking off. From satellite photos these appear installed between 2005-2012, probably between 2010-2012, so the PT posts are probably benign. The metal fence was coated in something, I guess vinyl, which is now decaying and flaking off. The metal itself is rusting. My concern is mainly the plastics (throughout fence) and paint (near gates) peeling off and whatever those flakes and dust risk for our garden soils, food grown right under that fence (within what distance?), and my soon-to-be toddling child exploring it.
And there's the question of what materials/contaminants we'll add. For good and bad, I feel a lot of responsibility when bringing in new materials to the site ~ what will be their long term fate? If we go with T-posts, the ones I'm shopping are made in USA with rolled steel and oven-baked water-based enamel. I am certain the enamel will chip off into the garden over time, just pounding T-posts releases minuscule amounts of that. For wire, options are either galvanized steel or aluminum. Galvanized metal has been noted for releasing lead - small amounts and some folks are fine with it in contact with food for sieves etc., while others avoid it as even
chicken fencing. We already have lots of galvanized fencing around our
chickens and
yard, including the plastic-coated dog fence in question. Aluminum seems benign but others think it's not if acid rain is an issue, releasing aluminum which may be a health hazard. We do get acid rain here, worse in the past but that may come back if American steel makes a come back.
At this point I'm pretty sure these T-posts and galvanized wire is a reasonable option, and the existing fence may as well be left up as long as it'll stand and cover the first 4ft of fencing. I figure the old fence has done whatever harm to soil (and thus plants and us) as it will, and removing it will hasten the release of whatever is left to flake off. The new fence probably introduces some contaminants - water-based enamel, lead and whatever else from galvanized wire - but in minuscule amounts. Maybe we just skip eating from adjacent to the fence the first X years, or only grow A,B,C plants that don't uptake that stuff as readily (e.g., fruiting vines vs. eating groundnuts).
Do you have a way of looking at this or similar situations that could help me out? Any specific tips here, about materials or how we relate to the fence and garden to minimize harm? Like what could we plant there to avoid uptaking toxins, or what to plant to uptake toxins and then what do we do with that plant material? The built environment is fraught with these types of issues if you let it concern you. I'm trying to balance reasonable minimizing harm with the reality that 1) one can only do so much and 2) stress is probably much more harmful than microplastics or a little lead in one's gardens. Harder not to stress it now that I've got a little monkey finding their bearings!
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