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How to Perfectly Pest-Proof a Raised Bed

Epic Gardening

618,361 views

If you're dealing with digging pests like moles, voles, gophers, or rummaging pests like skunks and raccoons, or even birds and insects, we've got you covered. Join @jacquesinthegarden and I as we show you how to perfectly pest-proof the bottom of your bed, and build a frame to hold any time of top cover to your bed, like shade cloth, bird or insect netting, or frost cloth.

00:00 - Intro
00:55 - Leveling Soil
01:36 - Landscape Fabric
02:50 - Hardware Cloth
03:21 - Cardboard
04:44 - Top Frame
08:54 - Filling Bed With Soil

IN THIS VIDEO

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20 Comments

@BensMusicDojo 4 years ago

As a hillbilly who built his raised beds for free with large stones gathered from my property, I absolutely love Kevin’s methods for gardening with no expense spared!

@rajillustration 4 years ago

I had like 4 tomatoes eaten by voles a year back before we staple gunned metal mesh to the bottom of our raised bed--it was the only thing that worked. It's amazing how much food those little tiny voles will eat! XD

@juliemclaren2981 4 years ago

The main (above ground) pests in my garden beds are deer, raccoons, rabbits, opossums, rats and mice. A more in-depth video on how to construct something to exclude these from the beds but still allow easy access would be very much appreciated. I don’t have the Birdies beds yet but ones constructed from wood planks and the concrete block corners sold at HD that you slide the planks into, which means there aren’t true “corners” to the beds (difficult to describe but if you know these blocks, you’ll understand). Many thanks for your great videos, I’m always learning something new from them.

@joemacias2360 4 years ago

Fabric will prevent earthworms and may hinder drainage. Hardware cloth is all you need to keep out gophers and moles.

@09echols 4 years ago

For digging pests I put garden stakes every couple of inches through the weed cloth.

@RobbieAndGaryGardeningEasy 4 years ago

Personally this is too hard of labor and work for me. Totes are cheap and stop all kinds of critters, AND Here I started using Tulle, many years ago I found it at the fabric store analyzed it and knew it would work. Bird netting can kill birds, I found tulle the very very best, and SO CHEAP, and works great, cost next to nothing. Nice Video. 🙂

@amybyte 4 years ago

Hardware cloth does contain lead in it, when I found this out I took it out of my raised bed over concrete and opted for a wood base to hold the soil in.

@Brookeloun 4 years ago

Asparagus has 10 ft plus roots. Don't use landscape fabric. Use cardboard

@willsolarski8550 4 years ago

Stapling hardware cloth to the bottom of my raised beds is literally what I did and it worked like a charm against the voles we have up here.

@andreaworld4408 4 years ago

I’m feeling very thankful I don’t need to worry about the ground digging pests you mentioned here in Queensland Australia. My garden pests are a few grubs, bugs, birds, and an occasional possum or rat, but mostly just ensuring my cat doesn’t treat the raised bed like a litter box. Looking forward to building a frame for some shade cloth.

@Savage3OO6 4 years ago

You need 1/4" hardware cloth for voles, the 1/2" will just make them chuckle manically as they gorge themselves on your sweet potatoes.

@keeponmoving6789 1 year ago

I have deer, raccoons, squirrel, and rabbits that I wanted to keep out of my new square foot garden plot in suburban Maryland. This season I tried putting a Solar electric fence around my 16x16 garden plot, in addition to the wire underneath the beds. Put 4 wires every 4" and 1 wire at the top of the 30" stakes. A motion camera with night vision captured all the local wildlife avoiding the wires. Total investment was just about $300. Installing was easy and its minimalist appearance is preferable to big wire fencing.

@SowGrowandSustain 4 years ago

Great information, love the idea! I installed the half inch mesh in the bottom of my asparagus bed and I’m regretting it. The roots didn’t grow down as far as I would have liked because of the mesh. I think it would be great for other kinds of vegetables but I prefer not to do it with my asparagus bed. Hopefully you have better luck!

@missu939 4 years ago

OMG you literally did this video days after I put up my raised birdie beds. I searched all over your site and even reached out via email on your shopepicgardening site for instruction. I know it's probably just a coincidence, but seeing this up only days after I inquired makes me feel like you and your staff are really listening to the needs of your followers. Thank you so much for this video! Although I didn't get a chance to view it before my attempt, at least now I know I did it correctly (for the most part). I just didn't install the weed barrier, and probably should have tried to level a bit better. But hey I'm a beginner and you learn from your mistakes (LOL). I'm just thankful to see a step-by-step to keep those nasty gophers out of my beds, as they've taken over my entire back yard :(

@grammaellen4984 4 years ago (edited)

I use 2 layers of chicken wire on the bottom, a layer of weed fabric & 4 or 5 layers of cardboard. I do use Hugelkultur (sp) so my beds all start with logs & limbs then dead plants, weeds etc. grass clippings, then old potting soil etc. My problem is that although I can protect the bottom & put shade cloth or fabric over the top it seems that my major problem is wind. Many of my plants don't make it through the winds that we have in the Southeast panhandle of WV. I have tried a variety of things but many of the plants are not strong enough although they have been grown in my greenhouse with a fan on them from the beginning. If they make it initially they usually acclimate but its hard to get them strong enough to withstand the winds.

@virginiavictorygarden5342 4 years ago

I was going to use chicken wire on the bottom of my raised beds. Going to see how much that hardware cloth costs. Great ideas!

@des8265 4 years ago

I follow you on ig and i came here to ask. please make more indoor plant content, my grandma passed away from cancer recently and she was a very proud plant mom. She’s had a golden pothos for 30 years! It’s older than me haha! I want to continue to take care of her plants and the replace the ones that died off during her sickness. She has an amaryllis, an aloe vera, and some bamboo that managed to stay alive. Your videos are very informative and joyful to watch. I want my own garden one day and it’s inspiring to watch you create and build, but one step at a time ❤️