What Is a Good Distance Between Posts for Putting Up Vegetable Garden Fencing?

Maximum Space

• In general, placing fence posts at 4- to 6-foot intervals is the ideal solution for temporary, semi-permanent and permanent wire-mesh fencing around a vegetable garden. For most garden fencing, the absolute furthest apart you should place your fencing posts is 6 feet. Thicker fences, such as welded-wire fencing, may be OK with 8- to 10-foot spacing. More than this and the structure is less secure, and can become flimsy, which, in turn, may result in pests getting into your crops.

Figuring It Out

• Of course, your vegetable garden may not allow you to space your posts evenly all around the perimeter. For example, if your garden space is 20-by-12 feet, you'll probably decide to space the posts along the long sides at 5-foot intervals and place only one post directly between the corner posts, or 6-foot intervals, on the short side. It doesn't have to be perfect, especially if this is a temporary fence, but you should try to make the posts along one side as evenly spaced as possible.

Factoring Roll Size

• Welded-wire and wire-mesh fencing comes in rolls of various lengths. For temporary fencing, you don't need to worry too much about the length, as the fence will come down once you've harvested your vegetables and aesthetics aren't a major concern. However, if the fence is going to be up on a semi-permanent or permanent basis, you'll need to measure and make cuts to your fencing. For small gardens, you may only need one roll. For example, a 50-foot roll of fencing will cover a 12-by-12-foot garden almost perfectly with only a small amount of unused fencing to snip off. However, if you can find only 50-foot rolls, you'll need to purchase two rolls for any garden that has a perimeter greater than 50 feet. You'll also need to connect the fencing together, ideally at a post for added strength. Spacing your posts where your fencing rolls will meet up can help eliminate some of the problem.

Types of Posts

• When it comes to putting up wire fencing, there are two types of posts you should employ in your design. The corners should be secured and anchored with heavy-duty posts. Heavy-duty posts also should be the center anchors for long sides. The spades on these posts are 18 inches above the bottom of the post which makes them more secure in the soil. Light-duty posts have their spades only 12 inches from the bottom.