Raised beds bordered with chicken wire. Half the width buried as a mole barrier. The half width above ground lined with corregated cardboard box sections to keep the bedding inside. As it deteriorates, mulch it in and replace it the next season. Your thoughts?

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), January 06, 2002

Answers

We have voles and moles...etc. We have to keep ½" mesh under, as well as beside plants. Voles eat everything...entire 6" tomato plants disappear leaving a hole in the ground. A family member, who worked for a grocery chain, was told that a rat could get in through a hole the size of a quarter, and a mouse could get in through a hole the size of a dime. Our garden is hosting many rodents thanks to the Ruth Stout hay method of controlling weeds. Cats help a little, but snakes would be better...unfortunately, chickens harass snakes.

-- Nina (ninasinthegarden@aol.com), January 06, 2002.

ms. nina -adopt more cats! ;) i have 9 patroling my mulched/'stouted' garden & flower beds. but only 4 are mousers of any kind of skill.

& on the size hole a rodent can pass thru, the hole only needs be big enough for the head/skull to pass thru! a pencil sized hole is all a mouse needs, yikes!

mr. blair there was an article in southern living a while back that featured one ladys' homemade wire edging to contain her wandering pinestraw mulch. she clipped 4-6" high sections of hog wire & poked it in the ground. the straw meshed w/ it & made it near invisible.

rolly pollies/potato/pill bugs looove cardboard so hopefully no hosta in that flower bed?

-- bj pepper in C. MS. (pepper.pepper@excite.com), January 06, 2002.

Jay we have raised beds in our vegetable garden and the wifes herb garden. We don't use anything but wheat straw on the beds and what ever we have for the walkways. We pile leaves, shavings, sawdust on top of newspapers in the walkways. I started doing this after haveing about 5 tons of compost to spread on the beds one year. After all that work I just started composting in the walkways and every three or four years tilling up the walks/compost and shoveling it on the top of the beds. We don't use anything to support the sides they pretty well stay in place and when we tried lumber, cement blocks we just had more slugs. If we can answer anymore questions please ask, Not the only way to do raised beds but the one we settled on after years of experimention. David

-- David in North Ala. (bluewaterfarm@mindspring.com), January 07, 2002.