Garden Security

In the early 1970's I was active in a community gardening project in Columbia, MD. We leased vacant land on the edge of a developing town and subdivided it into 20 x 25 ft garden plots which we subleased to gardeners. We supplied water in tanks located in the center of the garden area,we kept the paths mowed and we published a monthly newsletter. Otherwise, the gardeners were on their own.

The major security problem then was people getting into the wrong plot in the spring. Usually someone would come to their garden to find it already rototilled and planted by someone else. In those cases I switched plots or tried to do something to satisfy everyone. I gave highest priority to protect the hard labor of the planter. We had NO reported cases of anyone stealing ripe vegetables.

In a more densely populated city, I would anticipate a more acute pilferage problem. We may want to enclose our Parking Space Gardens. Now, we also need to provide support for climbing -type vegetables, so a surrounding fence makes some sense.

I suggest that we construct mobile panels of woven fence wire and fir 2 x 4's. We could make a 4 x 8 ft panel for about $15 each (perhaps less). We could surround a 8 x 16 ft garden to a height of 8 ft for $180 or to a height of 4 ft for half that, or any combination in between.