How To Install An Electric Fence To Protect Your Garden From Wildlife
Posted on: 25 January 2015
Hibernating wildlife will soon be awakening from their winter slumber and will be looking for something good to eat throughout the New Year. A good way to keep foraging wildlife out of your garden is by erecting an electric fence to protect the vegetables, berries, and fruits you are hoping to grow. Here is how you can build an electric fence to keep deer, raccoon, rabbits and other wildlife out of your garden.
You Will Need:
- 4' Wood Posts
- Post Hole Digger
- Electric Energizer
- ½ Chicken Wire
- Sledge Hammer
- Post Hammer
- Hammer
- Nails
- U-Nails
- Hinges (2)
- Angle Brackets
Install Posts
You will want to set four posts at the corners of your garden – make sure you leave enough space to walk between the sides of the fence and the edge of your garden once you have installed the chicken wire. You should also fill in the spaces between the corner posts with other posts spaced about three feet apart. You can either pound the posts into the ground using a post hammer or with a sledge hammer. Pound the posts 8-10 inches into the ground so they can't easily tip over, or get pulled out of the ground.
Wrap Posts with Chicken Wire
Attach chicken wire to all the posts – except for area where you will be installing a gate to get in and out of garden. Make sure the wire is firmly planted in the ground to prevent animals from squeezing under the fence to get in the garden. Stretch the wire from post to post to make it taut. Use U-Nails to nail the wire into place with a hammer.
Put on Gate
You can build a gate frame by using wooden 2x4s. Cut the 2x4s to length and attach them together by using angle brackets. Place the angle brackets at the ends of connecting 2x4s and nail them into place. Cover the gate with chicken wire. Affix the gate to the frame of the fence with a pair of door hinges.
Connect Electric Energizer
Connect the chicken wire to an electric energizer. The energizer will send an electrically current to the wire that will shock the animals trying to enter into your garden without harming them.
You will want to build an electric fence before the growing season begins. This will deter wildlife at the beginning of the growing season and stop them from thinking of your garden as a feeding area. Contact a company like Tri-County Corporation for more information.
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