How to Install an Electric Fence

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Electric fencing is a handy tool to have in the garden. It’s non-lethal, yet will keep out little critters and deer that have a tendency to jump or push through just about anything.

The rudimentary parts of an electric fence include the charger, power source, ground source, wire, fence posts, and possibly insulators. While it’s simple to erect, I wanted to offer a brief primer on how to string a basic electric fence around the garden, because if you don’t do it correctly, it’s not going to work.

Electric Fence Charger

The type of charger depends on your power source, as well as the area you need to cover. For most gardens, the smaller units you can find online or in many nurseries do a fine job of providing an ample shock for intruders, so you really don’t need to invest much. For a power source, there are kinds to plug in, battery operated units, and solar chargers. Any of them work fine.

I use the Gallagher charger I had for a 5-acre horse pasture that runs off of a car battery, which I charge with the solar panels. It’s way more than I need for the garden, but at least I didn’t have to invest in a new one. I also have a small charger that plugs into the outdoor outlet for a different garden.

Polywire and Posts

For the wire, I like the polywire the best since it’s easy to use and is very visible. Regular t-posts are absolutely fine, although for the garden where I’m keeping out smaller animals, I opted for plastic push-in posts. They are super simple to install (no post pounder!) and you don’t need insulators. If you use the metal t-posts, you need to attach the insulators before running the wire. When you’re placing your posts, keep in mind you want a continuous circuit and you don’t want the wire to touch anything. Trim away any plants or shrubs before running the wire to make the process easier.

When I ran the wire around the garden this winter, all I did was tie an end of the polywire at the bottom level on the post nearest the charger. That was my starting point. Then I ran it through each of the clips at the bottom level (which was probably 10 inches from the ground) along the posts that were placed along the perimeter of the garden.

When I came to the last post, I brought the wire up to the next level (roughly 10 inches above the bottom wire) and continued in reverse. At the end, I simply tied it off after looping around the last hook. To make sure both lines are hot, I tied a short piece of wire between the sections. That’s what I like about the polywire, it’s easy to tie where you need it. Snip off any excess so it’s not touching something you don’t want it to.

Hooking It Up

To hook up the wire to the charger, all it takes is a wire from the charger tied to one of the fence wires. Then you need a wire from the charger to your power source. And, equally important, a wire from the charger to the ground system. The ground is critical, although not complicated. For a small garden, you probably won’t need anything more than a rod that you can push into the ground a couple of feet. If you have very dry or sandy ground, you might need a more substantial grounding system, and sometimes you’ll want to add a negative wire in your system to provide an adequate ground. If your fence doesn’t work, and you don’t notice it shorting out somewhere, it’s probably because you need to beef up your ground source.

Once you have everything run, walk around the fence to ensure there is no vegetation or anything else touching it. Then click it on and be sure not to touch it!

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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