Table of Contents
Big pests
In my humble opinion, it's enough to work through preparing soil, planting, weeding, watering, tending and harvesting. But there are things who incessantly chomp, damage, disfigure and sometimes kill plants.
In my gardens I'm talking about slugs, snails, beetles, powdery mildew, blight and so on. But around my property, with lots of native plants and some fruit trees, serious measures are necessary.
Tall fences
More elaborate strategies are necessary, such as a tall, sturdy chainlink fence for the orchard and garden to turn away big pests, such as elk, deer, cattle, rabbits and raccoons.
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Individual cages
For native plants that have grown past knee-high I make cages out of wire fence material up to six feet tall that will discourage deer. Even though deer can chomp off branches that stick out, they still can't reach the taller stems, allowing the shrubs to grow tall. Elk may not be as easily deterred.
Small fences
Particularly for plants that make thickets, such as Re Ozier dogwood. Tall enough to discourage deer, but not so much elk.