Following the loss of one of our cats to traffic, I'm looking at enclosing a substantial part of our large garden, to avoid future casualties. Inspired by this:
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'm looking at trellis, but having priced it up roughly the cost is astronomical; I'm wondering if anyone has any tips on the cheapest route to durable trellis? A local fencing supplier wants 33 quid for a
6' x 6' panel, whereas a garden centre is asking 18 quid, but I'm not sure if the latter is tannalized. Obviously I could make it myself, but I'm assuming that fencing suppliers can get tannalized timber much more cheaply than I can, so I wouldn't save a lot. I have more research to do, but thought I'd ask here in case anyone is a trellis enthusiast ;-)
You can make very good low cost trellis from standard roofing battens, but if you made the holes small enough to restrict cat access / exit it would probably look a bit silly. You could make it to match bought-in trellis and cover with chicken wire, but it seems a bit unkind to restrict the movement of a cat.
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The example on that website has chicken wire fixed to the back of the trellis - you have to look hard to see it.
In principle I agree with you about restricting the movement of a cat. We've always let ours roam free, but it's a bit salutory when one of them roams into the road and ends up planted in the garden. I wouldn't dream of confining a cat indoors, but I don't have a problem restricting its activity to a quarter-acre enclosure, with undergrowth and shrubbery provided. If you think about it, we already restrict their natural behaviour by preventing them from breeding, fighting over mates and dying young from FIV. I'd rather have a cat live to 18, with its range restricted by an ornamental fence rather than the neighbouring cat's territory, than hit by a car at 8. Cats near roads are just a kind of feline roulette.
There are off-the-shelf solutions to this, like the Secure-a-cat system that fixes to the top of fencing, and which I may yet deploy on grounds of cost. But I'm keener on something that would also double as attractive garden architecture. Trouble is my preferred option comes in at over 2 grand at the moment. I'm currently negotiating for a budget ;-)
I'm interested (OT) in how adventurous Gerald's Maine Coon was. Although they're big cats, and I'd expect them to swat a mere trellis out of the way with one blow of their mighty paws, I don't have one myself. The reason is that the (admittedly few) Maine Coons I've had any contact with have been awfully timid, to a level that made me suspect either past trauma (like one of ours) or else something about the breed itself. Are they all like that?
Our cats roam free, but then one of the reasons for buying this place is that it borders allotments. The cats are smart enough to ignore the boring tarmac road in front in favour of much more interesting hedgerows at the back.
I don't have a Maine Coon; it just happens that the example I found on the internet featured the said beasts.
Our garden has six miles of fields behind it, and one of ours still ended up in the road. As we're in countryside, there's as much to interest on the other side of the road as this. A friend lives in a village right on the A19; they've lost two cats to the main road, but another to a tractor in the field behind. Another used to live up the quietest rural lane you could picture, and still managed to get a cat run over.
Possibly the trouble with our road is that it's quiet for most of the day and night, apart from people going to work. If it had constant noise and continuous traffic, they probably wouldn't go near it. Then again we wouldn't have moved here.
I understand how you feel about protecting your cats because I actually worry about where my present moggy goes on her travels. I've never seen her cross the road and hope she never decides that she must go there.
As far as roofing battens are concerned, I'm pretty sure that they are usually tanalised as they're likely to be exposed to some slight damp for many years.
I made some open trellis fencing from these battens about 12 years ago and it's still in good condition with no signs of deterioration, so you might find it worth shopping around for best prices.
You don't need to tell me that it's a challenge ;-) I'm impressed by the ascents up (presumably roughcast) render. Notice that the one thing you don't see in that video is a cat climbing round an overhang, upside down.
This is an interesting read, on another man's attempt to tackle the challenge:
and pampered that they have difficulty climbing or jumping onto anything much. I do applaud your desire to keep them in your own garden and have found that deliberately wobbly tops to fences (in the old days, when they were fit enough to try) was enough to deter them from trying to climb in.
The example on that website has chicken wire fixed to the back of the trellis - you have to look hard to see it.
In principle I agree with you about restricting the movement of a cat. We've always let ours roam free, but it's a bit salutory when one of them roams into the road and ends up planted in the garden. I wouldn't dream of confining a cat indoors, but I don't have a problem restricting its activity to a quarter-acre enclosure, with undergrowth and shrubbery provided. If you think about it, we already restrict their natural behaviour by preventing them from breeding, fighting over mates and dying young from FIV. I'd rather have a cat live to 18, with its range restricted by an ornamental fence rather than the neighbouring cat's territory, than hit by a car at 8. Cats near roads are just a kind of feline roulette.
There are off-the-shelf solutions to this, like the Secure-a-cat system that fixes to the top of fencing, and which I may yet deploy on grounds of cost. But I'm keener on something that would also double as attractive garden architecture. Trouble is my preferred option comes in at over 2 grand at the moment. I'm currently negotiating for a budget ;-)
Are roofing battens generally tanalised?
yes - I use wickes packs of 8 battens (tanellised- lasts for years even buried in the ground) (19x38???) about £5.5 iirc used these for years in different houses to make trellis - making yourself you can vary the size angle and design especially if you are going to back with chicken wire could probably post some photos if needed ......
are quite right, it is cheaper (depending on how closely you space the battens) and more robust than buying a panel, and you can choose your own design. I will leave calculations of wastage for a diagonal pattern to the student, but I guess it sort of cancels out.
I will be quite honest, I had not expected this result, and am now re-thinking about a few panels I need next spring.
Cut a small length of batten to the distance between battens (6" approx.) on the finished panel to use as a spacer. It helps if two people are working together each with a spacer.
At different times I used annular ring nails (gold colour) driven at an angle and drywall screws. Neither has shown any signs of failure.
Dry wall screws are often quite brittle so anything that projects through the finished panel can be broken off with a sharp tap from a hammer to avoid risk of injury when gardening.
the waste from a diamond pattern is remarkably small, the 'stoutness' of the battens 19x32 (not 38 as perviously stated) means that you can piece lengths if needed and depending what you are doing you can vary the crossover angle. as previous poster says cut two lengths as spacers and due to labour availabilty I've always done the job alone. If I'd known 10 years ago how much I was going to do I would probably have bought a nail gun but didnt so over the years I've tried nails and external woodscews and often just 11/2 x 6 csk woodscrews - will often bury the haed with this size. The type of fixing depends on how structural the trellis is going to be - working on a hinged panel atm (6'x 3'6") and fixng the ends with 21/2x8 to give it some support. For some of the odd shapes I've filled in the past I've preassembled then cut to fit but usually just build into the shape required .
A six foot square panel with 100mm gaps would require 36 of those battens; with four packs (32) coming in at over 20 quid, plus nails, it's more expensive than buying a trellis panel at 15 quid. Still cheaper than from my local timber supplier at 33 quid a panel - then again a lot of the cheaper panels are stapled, rather than nailed.
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