# any one use cat proof fencing?



## ukphd (Mar 29, 2008)

Hello

I just heard that one of my brother's cats was run over and died at the vet's this morning  He lives in a quiet area away from big roads etc and his cats rarely went out the front near the road as he has acres of fields at the back of his house.

It's prompted me to start thinking more about my own 2 cats. I've been undecided since before I got them about whether to let them out or not. I keep changing my mind to be honest.
My 3 concerns are:
1. they may get run over
2. they may get stolen 
3. they will annoy the neighbours by pooping in their gardens and scaring away birds etc

However I do feel that cats benefit from being able to go outside (I know cats can live perfectly well indoors too - this is just my opinion :blush so I would like them to get some fresh air and experience the garden. Also our house isn't that big so it would do them good to be able to get out I think.

Our garden is also small and building a run is not an option. So I thought a compromise might be to cat proof it. I've been looking at various products and the secur-a-cat fencing looks like the best option in terms of it not being too "obvious" and it looks quite effective. The only thing is we have lots of small trees and a shed next to the back wall which could complicate things. 

So I'm just wondering if anyone else uses cat-proof fencing and what you use and what your thoughts are on it. If you have photos of your gardens that would be great too as I'd like to see what it looks like (and I need to convince the OH that it's a good idea!)

thanks
Nancy


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

My garden is catproofed with wire netting as is Feorags. You may have to trim the trees back a bit and sheds can be a pain
Here are some photos


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## rach666 (Dec 12, 2006)

Shell195 said:


> My garden is catproofed with wire netting as is Feorags. You may have to trim the trees back a bit and sheds can be a pain
> Here are some photos
> 
> image
> ...


 

shell your garden looks beautiful,kitty paradise:flrt:


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## MissCat (Mar 9, 2009)

hmm i'd be quite interested in something like that....


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

The cats do love it and on the right hand side we have cat walkways through the bushes and an outdoor cat scratcher.They spend hours sunbathing on the back porch roof and when its warm we leave the landing window open all the time which they access to by the trellis
Round the outside of this bit is the dog yard and the dogs arent allowed into the garden as they jump in the pond:lol2:


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## ukphd (Mar 29, 2008)

Shell195 said:


> The cats do love it and on the right hand side we have cat walkways through the bushes and an outdoor cat scratcher.They spend hours sunbathing on the back porch roof and when its warm we leave the landing window open all the time which they access to by the trellis
> Round the outside of this bit is the dog yard and the dogs arent allowed into the garden as they jump in the pond:lol2:


Wow I bet the cats do love that - amazing!
How big is your cat garden? (if you don't mind me asking)?

It's great to see photos of a garden that still looks like a garden with the cat-proof fencing - I can see my OH going for something like that. I think he's worried it will be an eye-sore. We already have a tortoise run which takes up the end of the garden so he's not best pleased with the idea of the cats taking control of the rest :lol2:


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

ukphd said:


> Wow I bet the cats do love that - amazing!
> How big is your cat garden? (if you don't mind me asking)?
> 
> It's great to see photos of a garden that still looks like a garden with the cat-proof fencing - I can see my OH going for something like that. I think he's worried it will be an eye-sore. We already have a tortoise run which takes up the end of the garden so he's not best pleased with the idea of the cats taking control of the rest :lol2:


That was the idea I wanted the cats to be safe yet not bored and I didnt want it to look like colditz:lol2: There is a small patio joining the house and next year I want french windows put in

Its not very big but Im not measuring it in the dark:lol2: I will let you know tomorrow:2thumb:


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

We cat proofed ours 20 years ago and it's still standing and none of our cats have ever escaped. In fact for the last few years the only cats I have have been born here and they've never even attempted to get out of the garden.

I sold a kitten many years ago to a couple who lived in a tiny village at the end of the cul-de-sac and one of their cats had come home having been shot! So they came to see the kitten and look at how we had catproofed our garden. Now my house is a semi detached, with a fairly simple straightforward garden, apart from the complication of a slope, which we had split-levelled, creating a vulnerable area, so mine was very easy to do. Theirs was a detached bungalow in a huge garden on a slope, with a concrete path all around, which had a couple of steps down because of the slope.

So what they did was make a large enclosure at the back of the house, but it couldn't join onto the house because the coalman had to walk around the concrete path at the back of the house to deliver the coal. So what they did was knock a hole in the outside wall out of their son's bedroom just beside a step and put in a catflap. They then put a large ventilator hose from the catflap along front of the step and then dug it into the ground so it came out within the enclosure, then they put a metal sheet to extend the step to protect the hose. So the cats could access the enclosure via the cat flap and the coalman could step onto the step without crushing the cats :lol:. 

They used rustic poles and green plastic mesh and you could barely see it. They had a 'person' entrance with a double door safety section so they could go into the enclosure and sit with the cats. Inside this enclosure there were large mature conifers, so they just put a band of wire mesh half way up the trees, just the same as around the enclosure. 

Anyway, here are close-ups taken in spring before the garden takes over of how we did ours, which I used to illustrate an article I wrote for a cat magazine on how to do it, showing how we dealt with corners and gates.


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## ukphd (Mar 29, 2008)

Shell195 said:


> Its not very big but Im not measuring it in the dark:lol2: I will let you know tomorrow:2thumb:


:lol2: can't believe you don't want to go measuring your garden in the cold and dark  

Thanks - would be good to know how it compares to ours to see what might be possible 



feorag said:


> Anyway, here are close-ups taken in spring before the garden takes over of how we did ours, which I used to illustrate an article I wrote for a cat magazine on how to do it, showing how we dealt with corners and gates.


Brilliant - thanks. Good to see how to manage corners and gates as I was wondering about that. I love the idea of a cat tunnel - bless! 

Where did you guys get your fencing from?


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

ukphd said:


> :lol2: can't believe you don't want to go measuring your garden in the cold and dark
> 
> Thanks - would be good to know how it compares to ours to see what might be possible
> 
> ...


 
I got my angle irons(struts) from a local diy type of shop and the chicken wire etc from B&Q


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

I went to a local wrought iron works near me and asked how much he would charge to make me the 21 brackets we would need and the price was very high, can't remember now how much it was but too much. So then I went to a little ironworks/blacksmiths down on the quayside in Blyth and asked how much he would charge me for 1" by ¼" iron bars and it was much cheaper. It came in 20' lengths, so I asked him to cut each bar into 4 x 5' lengths so I could get them in the car. My husband then cut each length in half, bent it in his vice and drilled a hole in each end and another one 12" from the short end. It was a fraction of the cost I was quoted originally.

Our original fencing was ranch style fencing, 6" widths of wood with a 4" gap between, so we bought more of the same and built up the outside 2 fences of solid planks to a heigh of about 6' 6". Our dividing fence was only waist height, so we just bought lap fencing and asked the guy who made the panels for us to make us the triangular piece you can see to go at our weak point which (was the 2'+ wall where we split levelled the garden), as at that point the fence was only about 4' high, so the cats could have negotiated the overhang there quite easily.


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## ukphd (Mar 29, 2008)

ah ok - so both of you basically made the fencing yourselves rather than buying the "kits" I've seen available.

My OH is pretty good at DIY so I think he could probably make it himself too. I really hope it will work in our garden. I've been out there this morning having a look and I'm just not sure. We have a lot of shrubs and trees, even in such a small garden, and the shed and tortoise run.... but it's worth a try. I couldn't bear to lose my cats the way my brother just has - I don't think I'd forgive myself.


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## vetdebbie (Jan 4, 2008)

I want to do mine but it is going to cost a fortune and be a nightmare. Firstly I need to completely re-fence 2/3 of it. Then we have 2 sheds in the garden and 2 blooming great oak trees. However, I am determined to acheive it somehow when I have the money!


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

I have asked my OH how big the cat garden is and he says the whole garden is about 30ft x 30ft and the cat garden which is within this area is about 20ft x 20ft


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

ukphd said:


> We have a lot of shrubs and trees, even in such a small garden, and the shed and tortoise run.... but it's worth a try. I couldn't bear to lose my cats the way my brother just has - I don't think I'd forgive myself.


You would need to 'collar' the trees with wire mesh so that they can't climb past that point and that should work.

We were discussing doing it to our garden while we were waiting for our first breeding queen to be old enough to come live with us. She was born at the end of March and we went and chose her in May, but at the end of April that year, my Aby went missing for 10 days and that put the lid on the decision. I never wanted to go through 10 days like that ever again! 

As far as how long it took - it was indeed a marathon for us!! It took over a week of my husband out there every day with my son labouring, just to erect the fence! We live less than 4 mile as the crow flies from the North Sea and there's nothing higher between us and it, so when the wind blows (and it does!) from the east it's very strong indeed, which is why the fence had been erected with gaps, otherwise it would just blow down. 

So, to ensure that a solid fence wouldn't blow down when the first gale arrived, he decided that he was going to cement 2' of fence post into the ground! What he didn't know until he started was that our house was the original 'builders yard and cement mixing area' for the whole housing estate we live on and once he'd dug down about a foot of topsoil he hit great lumps of concrete and broken bricks, so he spent about the first 4 days head and shoulders down these holes breaking the bricks and concrete with a hammer and chisel to get them out. I tell you by the time he'd finished doing that he had the best known backside in the street! :lol2:

So you can see that it took forever to dig the holes, mix the cement, fill the great big holes and fix the posts into it, before he could even begin to attach the overhang.

We've never, ever regretted it and it was the best thing we could have done for the Aby because he never went out into the garden during daylight unless we were out there with him, because he could see people through the fence and he was scared of people. If he was in the garden and we came in and left him, he panicked and rushed for the door. Once the fence was solid he spent hours out there watching the world go by through the tiny 'safe' gaps in the fence! My husband also built a climbing frame using a piece of 7' 3" x 3" post and made 'shelves' like table tennis bats which go round in a circle so the cats can walk up the shelves to the top and they love to sit on the top shelf and watch the world from their high point.

And by the way our garden is 30 feet by 31 feet.


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## ukphd (Mar 29, 2008)

Thank you both - I think our total garden size is only about 10 feet by 20 feet (maybe - not measured it yet - it may be less!). I'm really keen to try to do it though. I don't want to keep the cats inside forever if I can help it, but I don't want them to get hurt or stolen either, and I also don't want to annoy the neighbours if the cats go and poop in their gardens!


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

feorag said:


> You would need to 'collar' the trees with wire mesh so that they can't climb past that point and that should work.
> 
> We were discussing doing it to our garden while we were waiting for our first breeding queen to be old enough to come live with us. She was born at the end of March and we went and chose her in May, but at the end of April that year, my Aby went missing for 10 days and that put the lid on the decision. I never wanted to go through 10 days like that ever again!
> 
> ...


 

God Eileen our gardens are about the same size too:gasp:


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

:lol2: I thought that too when I just asked Barry what the size was and he told me ! :gasp: Very spooky indeed! :crazy:

ETA: I've just told Barry what you said and reminded him that you are the person who I told him is living an identical life to me on the other side of the country and he said "do you know when you showed me the photograph of her garden, with the catproofing and the pond and the cat, I thought f*cking h*ll she's just like you!!!"


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

feorag said:


> :lol2: I thought that too when I just asked Barry what the size was and he told me ! :gasp: Very spooky indeed! :crazy:
> 
> ETA: I've just told Barry what you said and reminded him that you are the person who I told him is living an identical life to me on the other side of the country and he said "do you know when you showed me the photograph of her garden, with the catproofing and the pond and the cat, I thought f*cking h*ll she's just like you!!!"


 


PMSL:roll2:


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

ukphd said:


> Thank you both - I think our total garden size is only about 10 feet by 20 feet (maybe - not measured it yet - it may be less!). I'm really keen to try to do it though. I don't want to keep the cats inside forever if I can help it, but I don't want them to get hurt or stolen either, and I also don't want to annoy the neighbours if the cats go and poop in their gardens!


 
At that suze it should be quite easy to do. I think you are making a very wise decision:2thumb:


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## ukphd (Mar 29, 2008)

Shell195 said:


> At that suze it should be quite easy to do. I think you are making a very wise decision:2thumb:



Thanks - and thanks again for the photos and advice. I just need to convince the OH but he's as worried about something happening to the cats as I am so I'm pretty sure he'll agree (whether he realises he'll be building it all too is another thing :lol2

Just found a photo of the garden - that whole end bit next to the shed is the tortoise's run. It makes it look bigger than it is!










and this is a bad shot from my phone yesterday morning.


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

I agree with Shell that it should be quite an easy undertaking at that size and believe me - it's well worth doing it.

There's nothing better than sitting in your garden with a cup of coffee and cat on your knee, soaking up the sun!! 

Well sitting in your garden with a cup of coffee and a cat on your knee - maybe it's a bit too optimistic to say soaking up the sun! :lol2:


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## ukphd (Mar 29, 2008)

feorag said:


> I agree with Shell that it should be quite an easy undertaking at that size and believe me - it's well worth doing it.
> 
> There's nothing better than sitting in your garden with a cup of coffee and cat on your knee, soaking up the sun!!
> 
> Well sitting in your garden with a cup of coffee and a cat on your knee - maybe it's a bit too optimistic to say soaking up the sun! :lol2:


yeah more like sheltering from the rain :lol2:


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

I see what you mean about the trees. Is that big tree right at the back on the right hand side in your garden or a neighbours?


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

feorag said:


> I see what you mean about the trees. Is that big tree right at the back on the right hand side in your garden or a neighbours?


 

I found sheds quite hard to fence and used to find an odd cat sat on top in the end we got rid of ours. There must be an easy way of doing though


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## ukphd (Mar 29, 2008)

feorag said:


> I see what you mean about the trees. Is that big tree right at the back on the right hand side in your garden or a neighbours?


It's in ours - it's a silver birch and behind that, just in front of the shed is a mountain ash of a similar size - both of which my OH will never get rid of (he loves his garden!) so we'll have to find a way to stop them getting up them.




Shell195 said:


> I found sheds quite hard to fence and used to find an odd cat sat on top in the end we got rid of ours. There must be an easy way of doing though


Yeah I was wondering about the shed - particularly with the handy tortoise-run as a jumping off point!


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

:idea: Just had a thought, could you not put a trellis type fence with wire netting behind it across the garden in front of the torts and shed and add a gate then you could still see the torts and have access to the shed but then you could cat proof this trellis with an overhang to stop the cats getting beyond it so stopping them from climbing/jumping out off the shed and bigger trees. We have an apple tree in our garden and the cats love to climb it, I guess its about 15ft high, we prune it so the heavier boughs are this side and not the side you can see so they cant use it as a spring board and it still looks pretty. Its about 10 ft away from the back fence


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

I think with the shed you have to put the brackets around that in the same way as the fence, but you need to have a shed that's 6' high. Barry has refused point blank to let me have a shed, because it would mean altering the cat proofing! :sad: So no shed for me, but if I'd had one before we catproofed he would have had to to it! :roll:

I was about to suggest a divider in front of the tortie section too, alternatively a trellis extension at the weak point might stop them springboarding. The height of the fence at our level dividing wall is only 5' 7", so we just increased the angle of the bracket to give more height of the overhang at that point, so I know a height of 5'7" can work too!


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## ukphd (Mar 29, 2008)

Shell195 said:


> :idea: Just had a thought, could you not put a trellis type fence with wire netting behind it across the garden in front of the torts and shed and add a gate then you could still see the torts and have access to the shed but then you could cat proof this trellis with an overhang to stop the cats getting beyond it so stopping them from climbing/jumping out off the shed and bigger trees. We have an apple tree in our garden and the cats love to climb it, I guess its about 15ft high, we prune it so the heavier boughs are this side and not the side you can see so they cant use it as a spring board and it still looks pretty. Its about 10 ft away from the back fence


We did think about that but the tortoises also have access to that whole end of the garden (which is why the sleepers are there) - so they have the inside of the shed, the cold frame bit, the meshed run and then access to that end of the garden. It wouldn't be fair to keep them just in the run as it's not really big enough so I'm not sure I could stop the cats but still allow the tortoises access - if that makes sense!


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## ukphd (Mar 29, 2008)

feorag said:


> I think with the shed you have to put the brackets around that in the same way as the fence, but you need to have a shed that's 6' high. Barry has refused point blank to let me have a shed, because it would mean altering the cat proofing! :sad: So no shed for me, but if I'd had one before we catproofed he would have had to to it! :roll:
> 
> I was about to suggest a divider in front of the tortie section too, alternatively a trellis extension at the weak point might stop them springboarding. The height of the fence at our level dividing wall is only 5' 7", so we just increased the angle of the bracket to give more height of the overhang at that point, so I know a height of 5'7" can work too!



Is the 6 ft because that's how high cats can jump - from a standing start? blimey! although actually that makes sense now - just seems a lot when you say it! :lol2:

I've been discussing it with the OH this morning and we're trying to see if we can find a solution - I'm really hoping this might work


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## vetdebbie (Jan 4, 2008)

Hmmm I've just been looking at my back garden - going to be a BIG job. Bad pics as it's cold and i can't be bothered to go outside, but..........










From upstairs


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## vetdebbie (Jan 4, 2008)

Oh and just because I can - the terrorists!

The intelligent one:









The fat stoopid one:


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## ukphd (Mar 29, 2008)

vetdebbie said:


> Hmmm I've just been looking at my back garden - going to be a BIG job. Bad pics as it's cold and i can't be bothered to go outside, but..........


wow yeah you do have a big job on your hands! :lol2: although I think having nice long stretches of fence might also be easier in some ways?


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

Debbie can I have your garden please:2thumb:

Cute cats :flrt:


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## LisaLQ (Jan 29, 2009)

Just wanted to say I think it's fab what you all do to keep your pets safe, and also that I'm incredibly jealous of your beautiful gardens lol.

Having a dane kind of ruins any hope of having a smart one!


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

LisaLQ said:


> Just wanted to say I think it's fab what you all do to keep your pets safe, and also that I'm incredibly jealous of your beautiful gardens lol.
> 
> Having a dane kind of ruins any hope of having a smart one!


 
I would never risk my cats going out alone just I would never risk letting my dogs roam. I like to thinks my cats get as much enjoyment and stimulation as my dogs do. Mine even hunt as we back onto a strip of woodland and the mice like to come into the garden although I do rescue as many as I can. My dogs have a large L shaped paved area to toilet and play in and are kept out of the garden unless we are there as they jump straight in the small pond:gasp: LOL


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## vetdebbie (Jan 4, 2008)

Shell195 said:


> Debbie can I have your garden please:2thumb:
> 
> Cute cats :flrt:


 
Feel free - enjoy the 2 tonnes of oak leaves every autumn! :Na_Na_Na_Na:


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## ukphd (Mar 29, 2008)

Having seen your photos on here of how you've both fenced your gardens the OH is much happier about doing it so thank you very much indeed. He loves his garden and he's already slightly miffed that the tortoises take over so much of it so the idea of the cats taking over the rest didn't appeal (although he's just as worried about letting them out as I am). Now he's seen how it can be done without looking too obtrusive he's much keener - cheers! :2thumb:

I'm not sure when we'll do it. As he'll probably put it up himself we'll have to wait until he can get a decent amount of time off work. We've only got a couple of days over xmas and we'll be with the family. We won't be letting the cats out until it's all sorted though so watch this space!


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

ukphd said:


> Is the 6 ft because that's how high cats can jump - from a standing start? blimey! although actually that makes sense now - just seems a lot when you say it! :lol2:


I'm not sure that they can jump 6' from a standing start, but they can get well near enough to springboard over the overhang if you have a lower height. 6' sort of guarantees that they have to jump onto the fence and then negotiate the mesh. The idea with the mesh is that you staple it to the fence and tie it through a hole in the end of the bracket. Then you run galvanised wire along the edge through the holes so you get a tight edge, but a loose mesh. So that the cat runs up the fence, grabs the mesh and the loose insecure feel of it worries the cat and it lets go. It also helps in the early days if you clip the cats claws so they find it harder to get any purchase on the wooden fence. In most cases, certainly in ours, once they become aware that they cannot get over, they just stop trying and accept their little lot in life.


vetdebbie said:


> Hmmm I've just been looking at my back garden - going to be a BIG job. Bad pics as it's cold and i can't be bothered to go outside, but..........


Yup! You've got a big job there, no doubt about that! Not insurmountable, but *BIG*!!!

And just cos I can - pictures of my garden in late spring when the plants are starting to grow and fill out a bit. I have a few shrubs and a lot of herbaceous so that the plants die back at the end of the year and Barry can paint the fence in spring, without fighting loads of plants. It is painted with wood preserving paint every spring, because he said when he finished building it that if it fell down, blew down or rotted, he would be moving house (not sure if that included me and the cats or not! :lol2

Left hand side of the top half of the garden with Poser Harry showing off his climbing post.










Right hand side of top half










Pond and bog garden on bottom right hand side










View from further back so you can see the wall that gets rid of the slope that was there when we bought the house.











And finally a "birds eye view" from the bedroom window


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

feorag said:


> I'm not sure that they can jump 6' from a standing start, but they can get well near enough to springboard over the overhang if you have a lower height. 6' sort of guarantees that they have to jump onto the fence and then negotiate the mesh. The idea with the mesh is that you staple it to the fence and tie it through a hole in the end of the bracket. Then you run galvanised wire along the edge through the holes so you get a tight edge, but a loose mesh. So that the cat runs up the fence, grabs the mesh and the loose insecure feel of it worries the cat and it lets go. It also helps in the early days if you clip the cats claws so they find it harder to get any purchase on the wooden fence. In most cases, certainly in ours, once they become aware that they cannot get over, they just stop trying and accept their little lot in life.Yup! You've got a big job there, no doubt about that! Not insurmountable, but *BIG*!!!
> 
> And just cos I can - pictures of my garden in late spring when the plants are starting to grow and fill out a bit. I have a few shrubs and a lot of herbaceous so that the plants die back at the end of the year and Barry can paint the fence in spring, without fighting loads of plants. It is painted with wood preserving paint every spring, because he said when he finished building it that if it fell down, blew down or rotted, he would be moving house (not sure if that included me and the cats or not! :lol2
> 
> ...


 
Very pretty Eileen that is the first time I have seen your garden in full bloom:no1:


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## fenwoman (Apr 15, 2008)

Shell195 said:


> I have asked my OH how big the cat garden is and he says the whole garden is about 30ft x 30ft and the cat garden which is within this area is about 20ft x 20ft


30' X 30' garden?:flrt:
awww bless. Tis a 'teacup' garden :lol2::lol2::lol2:

I wonder how I'd go about cat proofing my 3/4 acre? I'd have to raze the mature hedges to the ground first. Then fell all the 50+ year old trees, then buy loads and loads of fence panels and posts.I think I'll do it after I win the pools lol.


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

fenwoman said:


> 30' X 30' garden?:flrt:
> awww bless. Tis a 'teacup' garden :lol2::lol2::lol2:
> 
> I wonder how I'd go about cat proofing my 3/4 acre? I'd have to raze the mature hedges to the ground first. Then fell all the 50+ year old trees, then buy loads and loads of fence panels and posts.I think I'll do it after I win the pools lol.


 
I could never fell trees I love them. When I look beyond my fence all I can see is huge trees and I got very cross when the council started cutting some down:bash:


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

Shell195 said:


> Very pretty Eileen that is the first time I have seen your garden in full bloom:no1:


Not quite full bloom yet - the herbaceous plants aren't all at any great height yet and the hostas have still got a way to go. The only part that is really 'full' at that time of year is the pond and bog garden!



Shell195 said:


> I could never fell trees I love them. When I look beyond my fence all I can see is huge trees and I got very cross when the council started cutting some down:bash:


Neither could I - I love trees, but cos my garden is so small all my trees are bonsai'd!


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## fenwoman (Apr 15, 2008)

Shell195 said:


> I could never fell trees I love them. When I look beyond my fence all I can see is huge trees and I got very cross when the council started cutting some down:bash:


I don't fell trees either I try to plant at least 3 per year. This year so far planted another 6.


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## vetdebbie (Jan 4, 2008)

Eileen your garden is really pretty. I have a bit of a love hate relationship with my garden - obviously having 80 foot oak trees in it is amazing, but I can't really grow much else it as there's no light! (and 2 tonnes of oak leaves every autumn.) Also, not only is there a massive drop front to back, but also left to right between my garden and my neighbours garden. No problems with the guys to my right - i'm above them, have a high fence and can't see a thing. Which is a good thing as I have accidently caught sight of them sunbathing before, really once your in your sixties it is rarely appropiate to wear a thong......... But to my left, their garden is on a really steep slope and they've built a massive deck at the top along the entire length and the rest is just overgrown, so it looks a mess, and even with 10 foot fences, I could still see/be seen from their deck. Grrr.


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

Thanks Debbie. Our gardens are also sloped down from right to left as well as front to back. We have no neighbours on our right (as we stand facing the garden from our back door) because we are the end house, but the garden to our left is lower, which created another problem for the dividing fence, because we had to sink the fence on our side over 6" below the surface so that it came to the surface on their garden, which worried Barry about it rotting, so there's plastic lining on our side to hopefully prevent the damp soil from rotting the fence from underground up.

Previously we had a low fence between and when we got new neighbours many years ago they were sun worshippers - outside on sunbeds at 9:00 in the morning and neither of them a pretty sight!  The man never had his mouth shut and all the neighbouring kids called him "fish face" :lol: I used to hate going out in my garden and seeing that sight too!! So putting a high solid fence in between was the best thing we ever did! :lol2: Thank goodness they're long gone now!

Our garden faces south, so we get sun in areas all day, except at the back corners - which is where I've planted hostas and ferns mainly and other plants that like shade. There are quite a range of pretty ferns, but of course hostas like damp and if you've got huge trees in your garden they may be taking up a lot of the moisure??


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## ukphd (Mar 29, 2008)

Wow Eileen - your garden is lovely! and bless Harry - what a little poser 

I love the climbing post too - think my 2 would like something like that. They're going to need somewhere to sit away from the ground as one of my tortoises is the personification of chelonian evil and bites/tries to mate with anything at ground level! :lol2:


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## vetdebbie (Jan 4, 2008)

feorag said:


> Thanks Debbie. Our gardens are also sloped down from right to left as well as front to back. We have no neighbours on our right (as we stand facing the garden from our back door) because we are the end house, but the garden to our left is lower, which created another problem for the dividing fence, because we had to sink the fence on our side over 6" below the surface so that it came to the surface on their garden, which worried Barry about it rotting, so there's plastic lining on our side to hopefully prevent the damp soil from rotting the fence from underground up.
> 
> Previously we had a low fence between and when we got new neighbours many years ago they were sun worshippers - outside on sunbeds at 9:00 in the morning and neither of them a pretty sight!  The man never had his mouth shut and all the neighbouring kids called him "fish face" :lol: I used to hate going out in my garden and seeing that sight too!! So putting a high solid fence in between was the best thing we ever did! :lol2: Thank goodness they're long gone now!
> 
> Our garden faces south, so we get sun in areas all day, except at the back corners - which is where I've planted hostas and ferns mainly and other plants that like shade. There are quite a range of pretty ferns, but of course hostas like damp and if you've got huge trees in your garden they may be taking up a lot of the moisure??


 
South facing, on clay. Rock solid in summer, slippery as heck in winter. The front of the house is beautiful mind - lots of sun despite being north facing. Ironic!


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

Yeh, we're on clay too and of course piles of broken bricks and lumps of concrete about a foot below the topsoil! :lol:

We fought moss on the lawn of the front garden for years until we gave up and pebbled it!!


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

We have a builders site with a clay top too. Ive spent a lot of money on top soil and compost over the years trying to get some goodness back into the soil. I have never planted anything with a big root ball as the minute you dig down you hit bricks and lumps of concrete:bash:


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## ukphd (Mar 29, 2008)

The bit where our tortoise run is was solid concrete - in the end we couldn't remove it so we managed to hammer out some drainage holes and then had to fill the run with top soil with a slope from back to front so it ends at the same level as the rest of the garden. Nightmare! The rest of the garden is on clay so we're always bringing in topsoil/mulch etc too!


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

Shell195 said:


> We have a builders site with a clay top too. Ive spent a lot of money on top soil and compost over the years trying to get some goodness back into the soil. I have never planted anything with a big root ball as the minute you dig down you hit bricks and lumps of concrete:bash:


:gasp: Oh!! Not again Shell!! :gasp: :lol2:

We needed loads of soil when we split levelled the garden to raise the height of the upper half and Barry carried home bags and bags of superb topsoil from his mother's garden, which was in the middle of nowhere and has soil almost like dust it was so good! To that we added leaf mulch and peat and all sorts of extras and do you know what? Over the years it's vanished and the clay has worked its way to the top again, so every spring when we tidy up we're picking up huge lumps of solid clay! :roll:


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