Puppy proofing the garden

I guess I shouldn't just call it puppy proofing when fencing off the gardens started because of the chickens. Luckily a short fence that I can easily step over and move works to keep both Archie and the chickens out!

And even better, flimsy, wobbly fences seem to work best! If it's nice and solid under his paws, Archie will happily jump and lean on it, but if it flexes or moves he won't touch it in case it falls and makes a scary noise (yep typical big dog, big sook)! For the chickens if it looks like it has a nice sturdy top they will happily land on it and jump in the garden. Like this fence we put around the mango tree - they liked to sit up there and watch the world go by!

These chicken wire and fence paling fence panels were my original chicken fences to keep them off the concrete and out of my pot plants. They have seen better days, and I'm surprised how well they've held up to Archie. A couple of panels have a new use as a rather rustic plant trellis for my snow peas. In front of those are puppy play pen panels which work great to keep the chickens out - and Archie. It's nice as they are cheap, easy to install and easy to see the garden (and mess) they're protecting. I do use garden stakes and zip ties for a little extra support.

Similar to the puppy pen panels I have an assortment of old panels off rat cages and compost cage panels which also work well with garden stakes and zip ties. They normally get used to cover Archie's excavation attempts so the grass gets a chance to grow back!

Since I can't trust Archie with the chickens I did want something a bit stronger between them. So I made some simple fence panels using only fence palings. I then either use screws or zip ties to attach to garden stakes, the chicken cage or the verandah posts. They look so much nicer, unfortunately they do block a lot of the view into my gardens - I think I'll save this type of fence for hiding messy areas! They are nice though as I can make sturdy gates for them with proper latches.

Once I've settled on a layout for our backyard we will do a permanent fence for the gardens, until then I'll stick with my current mix of panels. Who knows, by that time Archie might be too lazy to destroy my gardens and I won't need the fences anymore...