Physical Barriers Help to Protect Small Plants from Damage

When I visited the Gamble Garden in Palo Alto, CA recently, I saw these neat wire cages for protecting small plants and seedlings. The garden has an education program and produces plants for their borders. The wire cages help to keep rodents and birds from damaging or eating plants and seedlings before they are moved out into the garden beds. The larger box is made to set trays in with 6 paks or 4″ pots. The moveable cage is great to set over pots or plants in the ground. My son-in-law just built a similar cage for his strawberry plants. The chipmunks and mice were getting all the fruit. He also set some traps inside the cage. That was pretty effective!

Use galvanized aviary wire from a roll for the cages and the squares should be big enough for Bees to fly through. This helps with pollination if you are covering producing plants. The wood frames can be from reclaimed wood or redwood planking. For the movable box it help to have the top lift off, so you don’t have to lift the heavy frame.

Cloth is very common for protecting soft, small plants and seedings. Doesn’t keep the rodents out but helps with sunburn and insect damage. The wire hoops help to support the cloth off the plants for easier access and to allow for growth and air movement. Stake and secure the cloth to avoid the wind from blowing the cloth away. This type of cloth and the hoops are available from growing and garden supply outlets. One of the pictures is off the Home Depot Website. Here is an online supply that I use:

Usually these protective barriers are temporary but for some gardens you may need them for longer periods of time.