Tj Jefferson

I did a yard at a time. I would recommend making a big pile of clay/soil at the beginning for a fresh cap each burn. Maybe two...link here

I have 10 acres fenced high tensile to 7' with 9 wires (every 6 inches at the bottom). i have some fluttering stuff on it so they see it. Above 3' it alternates hot and ground. I get a deer inside a couple times a year, mostly because they were scared and ran through it. Any deer that figure it out have to be culled. I never have it off for more than a few minutes. The foxes definitely dont see it as a barrier, I've seen them jump through it. We have bears and had bees, and it suited both deer and bears. It is very very hot, at least 8kV.

This way my tender orchard is not getting obliterated every two weeks. more innovative deer would probably figure it out ours are pretty tame. I could add an attachment on the top with something fluttering as well, but so far so good. They have a hard time seeing it up high, and cant judge the height. I think its almost better not giving them a good look at it. I have seen them bounce off it, it is pretty tight (about 150lbs tension).  

Sounds like chestnut blight to me. Is the bark on the main split? It’s not as obvious in European chestnut.

I am not sure if the new trunk is likely to be affected if it is blight. In the US it’s a death sentence for the tree, but the roots can re-emerge in new trunk attempts for decades.

It’s kencove. Recommend getting the remote turn off if you can afford it- I wish I had done so.

For cheap and decent ground rods I got some 1/2” rebar, drive it in when wet, and use double clamps from the plumbing section to hold the ground on from the charger.  Cost is pretty modest. Make sure you mark them so you don’t mow them!

I have a 24 joule charger. That runs a perimeter fence and I use jumpers to run nets. So yeah grass pressure isn’t a big deal. I would recommend 0.5j per 100’ net for sheep to keep it spicy. They will not respect anything under about 4kv. If it’s dry double that, which most nets are not really designed for. Hot/ground alternate should be effective in dry climates, when it’s dry I dump water around the ground rod, and I drive two rods down with the portable setup (which is still 6j). With my alley setup I also have a couple of 8’ ground rods in permanently in strategic areas. Most of the issues with electric fencing I have seen are lack of grounding.

Wow! I totally forgot about the posting.

Since that time they were in the nets 4 months. Then in triple wire for one month. Just went to two wires last week. So far no escapes.

So encouraging! It really is minimal to do two wires compared to one so will probably just keep it until spring. In spring the grass grows so fast they never get hungry. Summer will tell. Did not eat the one underperforming one yet, my mentor suggested we wait and see if she’s a permanent runt or catches up.

Edible landscaping - I think eta and one other I don’t have my records here.

Monarda (bee balm) is also a rhizome spreader just not as aggressive as mint. Buyer beware.

I have to say kudos on guilds, I’ve never had great success- I assume 50+% mortality and what remains is my guild! I had such a nice little professionally done drawing and it has so many iterations it is nothing like the original! Don’t be afraid of what works was unanticipated.

I’m a fan of comfrey garden borders if you can get a double row it really keeps stuff from growing in. Plus it doubles as a comfrey propagating patch.

I ended up planting 4 names hybrids which were quite expensive two years ago. They have gotten big enough to take cuttings this winter. I am not picky about growth habit and they have not yet produced. So I can’t comment on the success of this idea, but it was in my price range and a test to see if it could be massively expanded. As part of this my propagating technique is, um, rustic. Basically rooting hormone on a fresh cut second year stem, then into a deep bed of composted wood chips. I’m doing about 500 cuttings this winter. Total time outlay was a couple hours. I have other posts on here regarding propagating the lazy way with hardwood cuttings, and I’ll update when they manifest survival or failure. I’m doing several different species this year and have no idea which will perform. I started with goumi and serviceberry and that was great, so now it’s a broader experiment.