Over the winter, we moved to a new house with a much larger yard. Now that spring is arriving, we are building Steve's new outdoor garden enclosure. Steve will have way more space for all the essentials: a variety of tasty, edible plants; plenty of places to hide; and lots of rocks and pavers to climb and bask on. I'm also planning to purchase a bench so I can relax with him. We may also include some sort of water feature or underground hide, but I'm not sure yet (feel free to post some ideas if you like).
We broke ground on Steve's new outdoor enclosure/garden on May 5. Using a post hole digger, we dug 8 holes 42 inches deep where we'll be placing treated pine 4" × 4" posts. The posts will be secured in Quikrete Fast-Setting Concrete. We are planning to bury cinder blocks underground to line the walls, and on top of those, treated pine 1" × 8" boards will serve as some sight-barrier walls. We're not entirely sure yet which boards to use for the top beams, but the enclosure should end up measuring around 8 feet tall. We'll either purchase a wooden screen door or build one to enter and exit the enclosure. The area of the enclosure will be about 484 square feet (22' × 22').
With our property in more of a rural area, we'll need to guard Steve against raptors, coyotes, and other predators, as well as trying to keep deer, rabbits, and other herbivores from stealing the tortoise food. So we plan to cover the whole roof and walls of the enclosure with chain link fencing, as well as a layer of chicken wire maybe over the bottom few feet of the walls. Alternatively, we can cover the walls and roof with a good quality wire weld mesh. Any advice on wire mesh is welcome.
Steve's first outdoor garden enclosure was 96 square feet, which means this new garden is five times larger. Once we start working on the enclosure walls, I can start digging up and removing the sod. I have some pansy and calendula seedlings ready to be planted. There's plenty of dandelion, violets, and plantain here to transplant into the new enclosure. I dug up some aster, evening primrose, sedum, phlox, hibiscus, and hawkweed (and maybe more) from the old enclosure to replant here. As usual, I plan to purchase a lot more plants, especially species native to Michigan. Just as I did with our first tortoise enclosure, I'll be posting photos here as we build it and establish the garden. Enjoy!
Here's the area where the enclosure will go. There are some fence posts in the ground to temporarily mark the corners. The yard already had the fountain (we'll probably get rid of it) and the raised garden bed on the right (we're growing raspberries there). We have some apple or crabapple trees in the background (we've inherited an old orchard).
Looking down one of the post holes. Dark and scary!
Some of the rocks I pulled out of the dirt we dug up. These will go back in the enclosure for Steve to climb on.
My baby mulberry, ready to go in the ground when it warms up.
We broke ground on Steve's new outdoor enclosure/garden on May 5. Using a post hole digger, we dug 8 holes 42 inches deep where we'll be placing treated pine 4" × 4" posts. The posts will be secured in Quikrete Fast-Setting Concrete. We are planning to bury cinder blocks underground to line the walls, and on top of those, treated pine 1" × 8" boards will serve as some sight-barrier walls. We're not entirely sure yet which boards to use for the top beams, but the enclosure should end up measuring around 8 feet tall. We'll either purchase a wooden screen door or build one to enter and exit the enclosure. The area of the enclosure will be about 484 square feet (22' × 22').
With our property in more of a rural area, we'll need to guard Steve against raptors, coyotes, and other predators, as well as trying to keep deer, rabbits, and other herbivores from stealing the tortoise food. So we plan to cover the whole roof and walls of the enclosure with chain link fencing, as well as a layer of chicken wire maybe over the bottom few feet of the walls. Alternatively, we can cover the walls and roof with a good quality wire weld mesh. Any advice on wire mesh is welcome.
Steve's first outdoor garden enclosure was 96 square feet, which means this new garden is five times larger. Once we start working on the enclosure walls, I can start digging up and removing the sod. I have some pansy and calendula seedlings ready to be planted. There's plenty of dandelion, violets, and plantain here to transplant into the new enclosure. I dug up some aster, evening primrose, sedum, phlox, hibiscus, and hawkweed (and maybe more) from the old enclosure to replant here. As usual, I plan to purchase a lot more plants, especially species native to Michigan. Just as I did with our first tortoise enclosure, I'll be posting photos here as we build it and establish the garden. Enjoy!
Here's the area where the enclosure will go. There are some fence posts in the ground to temporarily mark the corners. The yard already had the fountain (we'll probably get rid of it) and the raised garden bed on the right (we're growing raspberries there). We have some apple or crabapple trees in the background (we've inherited an old orchard).
Looking down one of the post holes. Dark and scary!
Some of the rocks I pulled out of the dirt we dug up. These will go back in the enclosure for Steve to climb on.
My baby mulberry, ready to go in the ground when it warms up.