Hello, I'm new to this forum. And thankful to have found it. Looks like some really good information sharing going on.
My wife and I are currently trying to design a critter
fence to go around our garden which is starting to become interesting to our small
deer, black bears and racoons. Right now, we have mostly corn and other vegetables with some raspberries strawberries as well as
apple, plum and pear
trees. Eventually, I'd like to have a pit
greenhouse (more on that later) and bee hives.
I don't think our deer can jump as high as others but we know the
fence has to be high, maybe 7 feet above ground. And we clearly have to discourage the black bears. So I'm thinking a fence charger as well as a fence. The Zareba 30 mile
Solar Low Impedance Charger looks like a good one:
http://www.zarebasystems.com/store/electric-fence-chargers/esp30m-rs (Any thoughts/advice on that?)
We don't want our garden & fence to look like a stockade so I've been exploring several ideas regarding creative fence designs involving only
wood and some wood with plastic and/or metal fencing.
My main question right now is regarding the fence posts: Living where we do there is a possibility of salvaging some cedar tree tops (4" up) that have been bucked and piled in logging slash. Some of it is very fresh, green wood which I know will shrink in diameter as it dries.
Seems like if I set these green cedar posts in
concrete they will shrink and become loose. Or if I put them directly into the ground they may be eventually rotted off due to moisture and/or bio activity. Perhaps sooner than we want to have to go back and replace …
The other option is treated poles and/or dimensioned lumber that we can buy from the
local building supply. But I'm not sure about putting treated wood into the ground so close to our garden,
fruit trees, etc.
The money is a factor but not so much as it is the aesthetics, the organics and the desire to have something that works well and lasts a long time.
Sure would appreciate any thoughts, ideas, suggestions, wisdom anyone has time and interest to share?
Oh and any thoughts on protecting gardens from racoons would be especially appreciated. We've got some ideas but racoons are pretty inventive and capable as well! Maybe the electric fence will help?
Regards,
KennyKopter
South of Town
Powell River, BC