Using an Electric Fence in the Garden

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It’s time to bring out the big guns. Over the last couple of years I’ve shared my concern about keeping our dog out of the garden. At first, it wasn’t a big deal. Last year it got worse. She used my raspberries as her personal potty so I had to fence it off with a plastic 2-foot fence. Once again, all was well for a while. Then the fence sagged. The final straw was when I went to dig horseradish for Christmas dinner, and there was no way I would eat anything that came out of that garden. Let’s just say it was nasty. Our solution: an electric fence.

Setting Up an Electric Fence

During this beautiful mid-winter thaw I decided to clean up her mess and prevent it for good. We went the Jurassic Park route. I set up the electric fence.

If you’ve never put up electric fence, it’s a very simple and effective way to go. It’s not always cheap, although I had much of the equipment from keeping my horses in various pastures. I did have to buy plastic posts with a metal base because I didn’t want to pound in t-posts, but that was it.

The boys and I pushed in the posts roughly every 8 to 10 feet. It can be farther apart than that, but it just worked out that way for this particular garden. I used polywire since I had it and it’s easy to see. To start I tied it to one of the lower brackets on the posts, and then started stringing it from one to another. Without cutting the line, I made a second row roughly 2-ft. high. (If Luna decided to try to jump it, I would go another level.) I used my Gallagher charger powered by a car battery to keep it simple.

Trimming and Grounding

When we set up the fence the boys had to do a fair amount of trimming to make sure there were no weeds or plants touching the line. I had to give one of the wild rose bushes a serious pruning, but thankfully by the time it leafs out it’ll be hard to tell.

The other thing I had to include to make the system work is to add a ground. If ever your electric fence doesn’t work, the chances are good it’s because it’s not properly grounded. Now that’s the part I dislike the most. Theoretically, you should be able to pound in the relatively narrow 6-ft. rod with a sledgehammer. Every time I’ve done it, I run into rocks and the rod bends or just doesn’t move. You can put in a series of shorter rods. Just make sure the soil is damp to have it work the best. Well, this time I totally cheated. I hooked up the ground to the galvanized post on the chain link fence. It worked!

I decided to hook up my solar panels to keep the battery charged instead of pulling it off to fully charge it when it needed it. The four panels are overkill, but I figured I might as well haul them all out of the shed if I’m pulling out one. Now the battery will remain charged, and Luna will have a constant reminder.

I’m pleased to report that the fence works. Maybe too well. After touching her nose to it twice, she doesn’t want to go outside! She pooped in the boys’ room this morning because she was afraid to go out there. Thankfully, having her outside with us all day allowed her to be more comfortable around it so hopefully she’ll be fine about being out, but will respect the boundaries. I don’t think it’ll be long before I can unhook the charger. I’ll leave the wire up for a few weeks (or months) but I’m confident this will do the trick to retrain her habits.

Meet Amy Grisak

Amy is a freelance author and photographer in Great Falls, MT who specializes in gardening, foods, and sustainable agriculture. She provides information on every kind…

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