Mesh pots and baskets

Jane McGary janemcgary@earthlink.net
Sat, 17 Aug 2002 06:45:22 PDT
To follow up on my previous posting about these mesh pots:

I just checked one, and although I thought they were made in Holland, in
fact they are MADE IN ENGLAND, and the brand name is FINOFIL.

Neither of the suppliers from which I have bought them will tell me where
they get them--they are giving me a 20% discount off retail, but still
making money from me. However, an Internet search might disclose the mother
lode of mesh pots.

Regarding making one's own from wire: Don't use chicken wire -- small
rodents can go right through it. However, there is a small-mesh product
called "aviary wire" that stops them. Hardware cloth is even better.
However, after some years of experience, I don't recommend using any kind
of wire mesh in a buried situation. It rusts, and when you go to remove it,
it pulls apart and is an awful mess. Pieces can remain hidden in the ground
to interfere with cultivation for years.

I am now using commercial nursery groundcloth, a woven plastic product that
lasts about 10 years on the surface and indefinitely if covered, below my
bulb frames. I have yet to see any burrowing animal come up through it,
although moles often attempt to -- their hills are obvious as
ankle-spraining humps under the walkways. The only problem is that the dogs
hear the rodents under the groundcloth and sometimes tear it in an attempt
to get them. Another advantage though is that snakes like to live under it,
and I'm sure they do away with some pests.


Jane McGary




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