How To Rid Groundhogs From Gardens
Posted on January 21 2020
Groundhogs, gophers and woodchucks are pesky critters that get on gardeners nerves. It seems that they are unstoppable; and no type of fence is good enough to block their attempts to reach crops from home gardens. While fencing will help reduce the amount of critters in-sight, it will not completely stop their bad habits. Here are tips for fencing out these types of large rodents:
- Plastic fence will not do. Instead, choose a metal fence with PVC-coating. The PVC acts as a secondary layer of protection protecting the steel core. These animals will chew through plastic and will easily reach growing sites.
- Height for rodent control isn't as important as a deer fence. The height will only need to be 2-3 feet high; however, the ground protection is most important for blocking critter damage in gardens.
- Trench fence into the ground at least 12-24 inches to prevent burrowing attempts. Groundhogs will develop alternative tunnels to reach crops; but the barrier may deter them from trying. Alternatively, gardeners can skirt the bottom of the fence at ground level and then use ground stakes to hold down the fence. This is not as good of an option for groundhogs; but will block nosy deer and larger wild animals.
- Best fence types: Steel Hex Web or Welded Wire.
