How to :
- First, determine how tall you wish to make your removable gate(s). For this project, I built a gate that was 4-foot wide by 1-foot high. You may need a taller gate depending on the existing height of your raised bed and/or the type of critters you're trying to keep out.
- From the two 1" x 2" x 8' furring strips, cut out two pieces that are 4-feet long and two pieces that are 1-foot long. After pre-drilling the screw holes, screw the four pieces together. You'll have a long rectangular frame shape (Photo A).
- Cut out a 4-foot by 1-foot piece of hardware cloth from a roll or sheet. Attach it to the rectangular frame with staples, about 3"-4" between staples. This is done on the same side that the two 1-foot long side pieces are on (Photo B).
- After pre-drilling the holes, screw the two 2-foot wood dowels to the wood frame, an equal distance from each edge of the frame (Photo C).
- Your pest gate is essentially finished (Photo D).
- Cut the 2-foot piece of PVC into two 1-foot pieces.
- Construction Note: In this project, I installed the pest gate in a raised bed that already had soil in it. This is obviously more difficult than installing the gates in a newly-built bed that didn't have soil put in yet.
- Using the 3/4" screws, attach the PVC pipes to the side of the bed with the plastic conduit brackets (Photo E). Tip: To position the PVC pipes in the right spots on the side of the raised bed, slip the PVC pipes into the wood dowels of the gate, then place all of those against the side of the raised bed. Then mark where you'll need to screw in the plastic conduit brackets.
- And you're done!
via : Vegetable Gardener