Nuvue PestGuard Mesh Framed Animal Pest Control Cover Size: 52"

Raccoons. They are the bane of my existence. I have a small outdoor container water garden. I do not live in a rural area. I do not live in the suburbs. I do not live in a wooded area. I live in the city...and so do hungry urban raccoons in search of fish. They come into my yard in the dark of night and destroy the lotus plants and water lilies in my little water garden. They also pull all the pumps out of my patio fountains and flip over the bird baths, just for extra obnoxious effect. I was using a changing/shower tent to put over the "pond" and protect it every night, but it was an unwieldy and inconvenient solution.This pest guard cover is the perfect size, and since it doesn't block out sunlight or air flow, I can leave it in place over the water tub garden all the time. It's incredibly easy to put in place and to remove when needed. I bought a smaller one to go over one of my patio fountains that seems to be a favorite raccoon-vandalism target. Good solution!

My father has a small raised garden bed about 24 inches high, 52 inches square. Deer ruined his tomatoes last year so we wanted a protective net. This net was the right size and in many ways an excellent value for the money. It is designed to be staked into the ground. The built in support structure is the two cross bows which arc up in the four corners and cross in the middle. The bottom edge is finished with a plasticy fabric tape and is not very stable. The net comes coiled up and wants to spring open when you remove the string holding it together. Once staked into ground it is great - but as soon as you release a corner stake that corner kind of jumps inward in an erratic way and can damage plants. Removing and replacing it carefully over plants is a two person job and kind of a bummer. So - I bought some 1/2 inch PVC with elbows for the corners and made a square base that I bound to the net with twine. This made it stable in form and MUCH easier to lift off and back onto your bed. Still very light-weight. Since we had a raised bed we built a flat frame which rests upon the wooden bed (screwed in) and so had a flat surface to attach the net to. We used 3 conduit straps around the PVC on one side as the hinge side and a cleat on the opposing side to easily secure and release the net. I do not know if critters will chew through it, but it is a pretty tough looking net. We are very optimistic and it is truly easy for one person to open and close. Even if you were going to use this net staked into the ground as intended, it would be way easier to use once attached to a stable base, PVC or whatever. IMHO.

I really wanted to love this since it is such a great idea. However, having to stake this to the ground and then unstake it to get at your plants makes this less than idea. I wish it had a door that would unzip. Also, the netting is a little too large for the frame, so once it is attached to the ground, there is still enough slack in the netting at the base that would allow small animals to crawl right under and get to the plants that are supposed to be protected.

I had purchased a smaller version last year and that one came with instructions on how to properly set up the cover. This one, the largest size, came nicely packaged in a case and when you took the cover out of the case is was neatly tied up in a circular package with the two rods each clipped together with silver couplings. However there were no instructions on how to set up the cover. Nowhere was there any mention that you had to remove the silver clips to set it up. After struggling to set the thing up while the clips were still connected I thought that maybe I was doing something wrong. When I tried to remove the first clip it wouldn't budge so I assumed the clips needed to stay on. I soon discovered that with a bit of yanking the clips came off and the cover sprang open like it was supposed to. It also helped to look at the cover I had previously purchased to see how it was to be set up. I don't think adding some instructions is too much to ask for.

The item looked more substantial in the listing photos. My guess is that it's constructed with about $4-$5-worth of materials, so the price is ridiculous. The zippered case it came in is probably worth more than the contents. The "pest guard cover" is now sitting over a raised-bed garden, and we'll wait to see how long it takes for the squirrels to chew their way in. If it weren't virtually impossible to refold the thing, we'd return it.

We bought 1 and liked it so much that we purchased 2 more. I built a wooden base frame for ours and made sure that the bottom of the pest guard was tight all the way around. We are able to simply lift the entire guard and base off of our plants and replace the guard easily. It appears that the netting should be strong enough to keep squirrels out...if not, I will come back and update my review. This is one of the main reasons we purchased the pest guard.

My disappointment with this is just with the net material. It's made of plastic that reminds me of the six-pack plastic rings. They're staked down over my fig trees and nothing has eaten through the netting yet. And be careful when opening these. Even though there is a written warning, these can spring open quick and pop you in the mouth despite being prepared.

This is exactly what I needed to keep neighborhood cats from using my vegetable garden as a litter box! The size I got fits perfectly over my 4'X4' raised bed. Kind of spendy but after years of digging out cat "surprises" when gardening, I am looking forward to stink-free plantings. I think it will also protect seedlings from crows and jays. Nice that it folds flat for storage. Be careful when setting up if you are klutzy like me -- when releasing the ends from the metal tube that holds them, they snap out very quickly and will leave you wondering what just whacked you in the face!