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RE: raised beds

Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

On 02:32 PM 12/5/99 -0800, Katherine Wendt wrote:
 >Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html
 >
 >>One other idea - it's a good idea to put a layer of something like hardware
 >>cloth on the ground under the raised beds.  Keeps gophers out.  Of course I
 >>didn't figure that out until after they invaded from below!
 >
 >Yeah, my husband is on the way to the hardware store right now to buy some
 >chicken wire for the bottom of the beds.

hardware cloth != chicken wire  ("!=" means "does not equal" :-)

Hardware cloth is much stronger and will last a lot longer in the soil 
before rusting through to where it can be easily broken.  When new it will 
also resist breaking and chewing far more than chicken wire.  Considering 
the costs of choosing wrong (veggies damaged/plants killed by rooting 
marauders) and the labor costs for redoing it later (digging up all your 
beds to replace the bad material with good), the potential cost savings of 
using chicken wire can end up being very penny wise and pound foolish.  My 
strong recommendation is to spring for the 1/2" or 1/4" hardware cloth and 
have the satisfaction of knowing you won't regret it later.

Save chicken wire for above ground uses where if it doesn't work you A) can 
see damage right away and then immediately change to stronger material, and 
B) you can replace with stronger material with far less total crop damage 
and far less labor costs to redo the project.

jc


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