Susan, You won't need wire cutters; the wire is too heavy duty for that anyway. In the concrete section of home depot, the pieces of concrete reinforcing mesh are stored flat. They are one size. It also comes in rolls but you don't want that; it would be too heavy to lift the roll and too hard to cut. I think the short dimension is about four feet and that is how tall your cages are going to be. The long side will be the top and bottom edges of your cage. To bend them, lay them flat on the ground, and step on them as you pull up one end. Keep going till you have a cylinder. Overlap the ends so your cages are the diameter you want. I overlap two squares and that seems about right for me. If you have tomatoes like the guy in the pic earlier in this post, you are out of luck. :) For most of us mortals they are big enough. The plants will grow over the top and hang down the outside by the end of summer. I usually tie my little tomato plants to a short stake to support them until they get big enough for their "arms" to reach the sides of the cage. Another use: One year I bent a couple of them lenghthwise to make a half-cylinder "tunnel" about a 14" high and maybe 18 inches wide. Something like a plastic hoop frame, but cheaper and more durable. With agribon fabric over it, you have some protection to extend the growing season for small plants like greens and radishes. I will have to say, that my attempt at overwintering spinach under them did not work. The spring romaine lettuce seedlings got off to an early start though. I did not get around to doing that this year. If you leave them flat and fasten them to t-posts with zip ties they make a great pea fence, sturdy enough for Oklahoma wind, but easy to take down. If you used green-colored posts, they would blend in well enough to use as a temporary or permanent support for ornamental vines. I don't know how many years it would last. The wire is not very visible.

Yes, you are right! It was Rosalind Creasy! And, Ali-B, I have been very lucky with my veggies. I live in a neighborhood where (sadly) very people garden, and I think it definitely limits the pest population. Also, I have such a small garden that I only have room to grow a very small number of each type of plant and the diversity keeps the pests at bay, too. But i am also convinced that my bird feeder and fountain (bird bath) which are just a few feet away from the tomatoes dramatically keeps the bugs down -- I see the robins and little finches hopping around my veggies every evening doing my work! I try to garden organically and my helpers make it easier! Tina

Interesting.

This is not particularly cheap, but it has worked well for me in finding a pretty way to keep tomatoes off the ground. I pound about a 3 foot piece of rebar about 1 foot into the ground. Then, I fit a 1/2 inch copper pipe over it. The rebar was free to me, but the copper pipe cost $13 each. I use this as a stake to tie my plants to. I may buy some copper finials on ebay to put on top of the pipe.