Thursday, November 29, 2007

November Chores

November weather can be deceiving. When there is a bright sun and there are chores to do, it can feel warm even when it is 45 degrees. The first chore was to turn the composter that houses kitchen scraps. This is my last chance for aeration before winter sets in. Normally this time of year I still have plenty of grass clippings in my yard waste bin to add to this one, but the extremely dry summer (and my extended stay I suppose) have left me searching for cover material. I ended up taking the lawn mower to a patch of oak leaves on the lawn and in no time I had a clean lawn AND two bags mulched oak leaves for the composter.The next task was to build a fence to keep the apple trees safe from deer over the winter. First you gather bamboo from a friendly neighbor who is MORE than happy to unload bamboo.Next I dug post holes for where the poles would goThen I found the 8 foot netting in the shed and used plastic ties to surround the trees.
And voila ... a deer fence.

4 comments:

Marc said...

That is a great fence! Is it just temporary for the winter, or will you leave it up year round? Does it surround your trees or is it just in one area where the deer come from? If it is on all sides, do you have a gate?

Sorry for so many questions. I am very interested because I am still trying to figure out what kind of fence to use to surround my vegetable garden and fruit trees. I certainly like the way your fence is somewhat invisible.

Thanks for sharing.

Leslie said...

Marc, It is meant for the winter only. I seal it shut with a plastic tie when I leave for the winter, but until then there is a flap I can go in and out through. It goes all the way around and is 7+ feet high. I use 8 inch plastic ties to attach the netting to the bamboo. There is no gate. I, too, am wondering about how to protect the vegetable garden. The deer and I have a gentlemen's agreement about the vegetable garden so far, but I cannot count on their goodwill forever.

Marc said...

Thanks for the clarification Leslie. I think you have a great solution there.

It is amazing how transparent it is. Do you think the deer will even see it? You might want to consider tying strips of cloth every so often about four feet up so they don't try to run right through the fence. :)

Rose said...

Your fence looks great! And you made putting it up look completely effortless. I use electric fencing around my vegetable garden. Just one strand, one foot off the ground, keeps out deer, dogs, goats, hogs and cattle. I've been using it for four years now without incident. Well except for the time DH unplugged it and forgot to plug it back in. Sigh.