I would say that you need to take one thing at a time. Sounds like you're in a somewhat rural location. If it is reasonable to expect that the 'critters' will continue to be a problem, a good fence is often a necessary, long-lasting, not too expensive, one-time investment.

I don't know where you are or what conditions you are working under, but it would be good to do some searches around these boards to get some ideas.

Are you gardening in raised beds? Do you have critters (gophers) They have their own kind of wire!?, Are you in a drought? Too much rain? Are you interested in composting? If you have deer, that's a whole different type of fencing !

Do some reading/searching in this forum and prepare for next spring!

Stay on this board, whatever state you're in board, compost and soil board, raised bed board, and you will get some great ideas!

Happy gardening! Nancy

Hand weeding and "aerating" unprepared soil probably left lots and lots of pieces of clover in the ground, which immediately started to grow again. Prepare your soil in the fall for a garden the following spring. And if critters are going to be a problem, put up a fence.

Buy a good hand weeder. I don't know why they aren't more readily available. I was able to replace my recently lost one with a $9 tool which is ok. Blade is offset but essentially it's "L" shaped. You can hack up the soil if needed but mostly you run the blade about a half inch below the soil to uproot weeds. One garden writer recommends a cobra headed weeder. If there are a lot of smaller weeds, I used a swirling motion to bring weeds to top and round up in a small pile. If they are very small, just pull the blade through the soil. If the weed has a long root runner, hold the top in one hand and drag the blade thru the soil as you gently pull so the long root comes up and doesn't break off.

I've been having very good luck with building raised beds using the lasagna method which doesn't not require a rototiller. Best to build the bed the season or year before. Advantage is usually very few weeds the first year.

I am protecting some plants until flowering with garden fabric, Agribon from Johnny's which I was able to buy off Craigslist. I have bee successful using an animal repellant spray which I bought at the farm and feed store. It contains coyote or fox urine. Doesn't stay stinky for long. Deer are around but haven't been visiting. I think they are eating other things. Although before the spray they ate some of my hosta. You might try putting black netting over your garden.

Hope your next efforts are more successful. Keep trying.

Hate to break it to you, but a one-foot high fence won't stop anyone.

In order to make progress, you really need to identify the pests. Different strategies for different pests. If you have deer around, we're talking about an entirely different scale of barrier, and probably some significant money to erect it. From your description, it sounds as if your main problem is with pests, and not with actually growing your plants. That at least should be encouraging.

The problems you are having are "usual" problems. The critters in my neck of the woods seem to be particularly active and attacking / eating plants they never have before. I've had the garden for over 10 years now.

A 1 foot fence will stop nothing. The only purpose it would serve is to act like a marker for lawn mowing. I have a three foot rabbit fence. I dug out a small trench (maybe 2-3 inches) and buried the lower part of the rabbit fence. I still have creatures sneaking in and reeking havoc this year.

I have become a fan of black paper or plastic mulches to keep the weeds down. Be careful of what you buy! They are not all created equal. I bought one this year that was tremendously thin. It is doing nothing to stop weed growth.

Gardening is always a learning experience. So you've learned what not to have for fencing and weeding is essential but damn near impossible to keep on top of.

Welcome to the world of gardening!

IMO First time gardening & garden plots are the most difficult. Many folks have "thrown in the towel" after their first year of gardening. Second year is generally a bit better but can also be somewhat difficult. Your word "experiment" is right on. But the experiments are never ending. The results and subsequent information gained from gardening experimentation helps to develop your gardening methodology.

iMO weeds are the number 1 problem. Tackle this and things become a lot more controllable... The suggestions above are great....hoeing, hand weeding, black plastic, leaf/straw mulch are all great for weed control. I find all methods to be appropriate and each may work better for a specific vegetable. E.g. In our deep south (hot) climate, I find black plastic is great for squash, watermelon, strawberries, & cantaloupe; but not so great for tomatoes, eggplant or bell pepper....which seem to prefer leaf (in my case) mulch.

I use an electric fence for critter control. But, I realize that this may not be suitable for everyone.

I hope you don't give up....& decide to keep your "experiments" going in the years to come.

Granddad and me are two of the most enthusiastic electric fence pushers. An electrified, strong fence extending underground is a gardener best friend. The best I had was chainlink, only four feet tall, with a hot wire right above it. The deer could easily jump it, but I had the good sense of baiting the wire with peanut butter. I even saw a deer touching it, it jumped several feet in the air and the whole herd was off to the races.

The fence went down to the ground and outward a foot (just under the surface) and no critter could dig under it. It was pretty amazing to have a groundhog burrow ten feet from the fence, a deer trail 8 feet from the fence, and a pristine garden.

Nowadays, too many kids around, no electric fence, I have a 8 feet deer fence on top, rabbit fence below, extending underground. The rabbit fence has needed overlapping chicken wire, because juvenile rabbits were still coming in, but so far this summer has been break free.