Well Porkchop, I don't think my veggie garden "fence" would impress you. It's basically 4 wires surrounding the plot at a height of about 4 ft. >>> a solar powered electric fence to keep the deer out, nothing pretty but it works well. It also deters most rabbits but not squirrels. The squirrels don't bother my veggies but they'll jump thru the wires (twice) on their way to our blueberry bushes on the other side of the garden, it's just a shortcut to them.

^^ What you do for a gate? (so you don't shock yourself)

No fence for me. I don't have rabbits or deer and nothing keeps snails out! Nets over the top stop the wood pigeons eating the brassicas.

I can't send a picture--no cell phone--but I got my fence from deerbusters.com in 2022. I phoned them and they worked out with me what I needed for the size and number of gates. It is very well made and has worked great for the 5 years I've had it. No idea of the cost now, but it was very reasonable when I bought it.

Our vegetable garden is probably small compared to most but it is enclosed. Here it is a few years back when we had a rat problem, the sides had plastic roof panels to keep them from climbing. We’ve since replaced those with hardware cloth and the gate is a repurposed interior door. Watering is by drip and we cover it with shade cloth in the summer.

Porkchop, for a "gate" I left a narrow walk-thru gap with just the top wire in place (left out the lower 3 wires). The pic below isn't mine just a quick pic from the web that shows a similar setup to mine. Easy to unhook to enter the garden.

Most of my plants are in raised beds and not fenced. You didn't say what you need to keep out of your garden, it matters.

Floral, you've mentioned snails on several occasions so they obviously cause a lot of damage for you. I've never had slug problems so never did any control. This might be a hare brained idea but it's inexpensive and simple if it works.

To eliminate possible confusion on regional name, nails have a shell into which they can retreat, slugs don't. Some snails live in water,some on land. It's safe to assume yours are land dwellers. Toss a few in a container of water to see if they creep right out,linger then crawl out or drown. If they pretty much all drown, let's build them a tra,,,,,,swiming pool. Bury open top containers with water in bottom to see if a significant number fall in and drown. If several fall in but crawl out, try a couple alterations. Add a bit of detergent to see if that drowns more. If additions to water or substituting another liquid fails,on to plan B. Again, assuming a number fall in but escape, fashion a funnel for container opening. Some creatures climb up to travel from limb to limb or plant to plant,seldom going back down.. With funnel in place,snail must climb UP then DOWN and UP again to escape. If you need a simple way to make funnels for various size openings, let me know.

None of that was tested, it just came to me while helping my neighbor sample home brew he made.

^^^ speaking of home brew, beer works pretty good as a replacement for water. I have land slugs here and they love beer. Too drunk to get out, if they want too, nyuk. I use smaller containers like tuna cans, don't want to waste too much beer ;-)

Well there you go Floral ,if beer doesn't kill them it might give them a hangover that stops them from messing with your greens.

I donate cans to the comunity center. Before tossing into bag, I dump a tbl spoon or so out into a bucket. Recycler deducts weight if liquid runs out when they dump cans into smasher. The bucket also recieves donations form bottles that held neighbor's hooch. Those tbl spoons plus occasional partial full cans add up. Unless slugs refuse stale beer, you might try this for filling tuna cans.

Klem, it's kind of you but, believe me, no home remedy can deal effectively with the numbers of snails and slugs we have. I have tried them all. I actually have a purpose made beer trap but its not worth the effort of refilling and it's a waste of beer imo. The only practical ways of coping with them are hunt and destroy, organic slug baits and techniques like planting sizeable transplants and picking non palatable species. As well as many species of slug we also have these ...

Who is that brave soul who is holding those slimey things in their bare hand?? The picture is the stuff of nightmares for me!! 🤣

"You didn't say what you need to keep out of your garden, it matters."

Deer.

Here’s mine. Very utilitarian. Green steel posts, chicken wire and zip ties. Built a wood door. Rocks around both the outside and inside. Had them only around the outside in the beginning and the ground hog was able to move them and get under. Deer have not been able to get in.

I'm holding the snails myself. It doesn't bother me.

"Deer" Seem to be #1 invader and when coupled with another such as raccoon, be very challenging to exclude. Hot wire 12" lower than back of typical doe and a few feet outside primary fence saves building primary higher than deer can jump. Providing no other invaders to be dealt with, primary fence can be somewhat unsophisticated. Needing a mile or more, farmers exclude quite a number with as little as a single strand 4-5 feet high, flanked by lower hot wire a few feet away. This arrangement minimizes material and labor plus ease of mowing around. Melons must be rotated and I've seen mobile fencing that utilized post anchored in car wheels (some filled with concrete). If you investigate further , reports of electric fence being ineffective, you'll find they are using a "Fido Fence Charger". Get charger from a farm store.

Most jurisdictions permit killing if destroying property. Invasions usually start with 1 or 2 doe then progressively grow in numbers. A stitch in time saves nine. Those who spend time observing deer from their deck and experienced hunters know each herd has a matriarch who are bolder and wiser. Those are generally the first to explore food sources. Ability to communicate easy pickins food or danger is born out by sudden reaction of deer on opening day of hunting season. It isn't the sound of gunfire,it's the smell of blood. A fresh road kill sectioned and scattered around approach routes will have a remarkable effect. Effect on deer or neighbors? Both! (:

I have hundreds of day lilies and recently deer ate every single bud off one plant, and didn’t touch others inches away. i was lucky! I spray deer and rabbit repellent…and we are having a bumper crop of rabbits this year. i don’t have veggies…not enough sun.

As for snails, I have hundreds of snails and slugs. Early every morning I hand pick and dispatch, often 300 a day. The beer trick never worked for me.

@floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK You are indeed the personification of ”Keep Calm and Carry On”! And, I do mean that as a sincere compliment! I’m not one who thinks that snails are any more desirable with lots of butter and garlic either. 😁

Remember, I don't have to contend with much snow or heat, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, deer, groundhogs, poison ivy, snakes, termites, skunks, bears, porcupines, bobcats, various nasty mosquito born viruses or even many mosquitoes at all. I'll take a few snails any day.

@floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK I'd take the snails too. I contend with all you have listed plus the snails but minus the porcupine.

LOL, Floral. I don't have earthquakes or hurricanes, but I sure have most of the rest of those things, plus snails. Fortunately, not very many snails, but snails anyway and MIchigan has no venomous snakes other than the Massasauga rattler which is rare and endangered. There are termites in Michigan but I don't have them, that I know of. Right now it's groundhogs, rabbits and Colorado potato beetles. Everything wants to eat what I want to eat, geez. Oh, I also have black bears which want to eat my berries and the occasional cougar, it's like Wild Kingdom in Northern Michigan! (grin)

Annie

The Colorado beetle has occasionally turned up here but has been successfully kept out with strict regulations. If you see one you have to report it. I've just thought of another one. We don't have rabies. Thank goodness.

When I built my first vege/fruit garden here, 20 years ago, (around the size of a tennis court), I installed a 2' high chicken mesh wire fence to keep out the rabbits. I also buried it 2' underground to deter burrowing. It worked well for a while. But after my first corn crop reached about chest high, I arrive home one day to find it had entirely been reduced to 2" stubs.

The nearby kangaroos looked at me very guiltily. So, more posts, recycled wire mesh and a 6' tall fence surrounding the lot. But it didn't take long to realise that the 'roos could leap 6' from a standing start. So more work to bring it to 7', which seems to be their upper limit. So no more invasions since then. We don't have snails and slugs here at all.

Thanks for sharing your pics @shaxhome (Frog Rock, Australia 9b)! Those ’roos really put my recent concern with wild bunnies snacking on my Hosta in perspective! I am in the PNW in the state of WA so I do have snails & slugs. This year has been a good one for snails here.

Kangaroos aren't something we read about often on this site LOL! I enjoyed the pics -- they're cute! Likely quite destructive, but cute nonetheless...aren't they all :o/

Oh, mercy, at least I don't have kangaroos! And Michigan has gone about a million years now without a shark bite, so I guess that's something, LOL.

Annie