Question: How do I keep squirrels by day and rodents by night from eating seedlings and/or immature “fruits of the vine”? – Diane M., Acton, CA

Answer: Hi Diane, Oh, I’m so sorry you’re experiencing squirrels and other rodents… they can do sooooo much damage!

Here’s the thing: to keep small animals out of your garden, you have to have a barrier. Some deterrents work a bit, but a physical barrier is the only sure way to keep them out. And for squirrels, rats, and other similar rodents, that means enclosing the whole garden– roof and all!

For smaller, more burrowing rodents like voles and mice, you’ll need barriers below and above ground where the holes in the fence are no bigger than dime size. Anything bigger than that and they can squeeze through.

There are many different strategies for this type of fencing. The one that seems to work the best is to get quarter-inch hardware cloth. You want the hardware cloth 2 feet down and 1 foot horizontally. So, if you make an L shape where the bottom of the L heads into the garden, that’s ideal. Then, build the enclosure high enough where you can comfortably walk underneath and reach all the way up with your arm (that will usually provide enough height for vining crops like indeterminate tomatoes, cucumbers, etc. growing on a trellis). Then lay hardware cloth horizontally as a roof.

If you get copious amounts of snow, you’ll need a very sturdy structure and perhaps a slope to the roof. You might even need to use a greenhouse covering instead of hardware cloth (something like double poly carb).

Now, this kind of infrastructure is an investment. So if you’re renting and/or planning to move, creating a structure that’s maybe hinged together is ideal, so you can move it to a new location. And if you’re not sure if you want to garden long-term, this might not be the best investment. But if you know you want fresh food year-round and you’re a committed fresh food advocate, then this kind of investment can save your future self a TON of time, money, harvest, and also a lot of frustration! That’s just an option to think about, Diane! 🙂