Major uses of hardware mesh in large and small scale farming

Hardware mesh also referred as hardware cloth or hardware fabric is a common prevalent agricultural product. The word ‘mesh’ actually gives the meaning of symmetrical linear gaps. There are clear and different sized holes between the crisscross parallel equivalent wires. Hardware mesh is widely used in farms, gardens and agricultural fields. It is easily adaptable and low cost farming technique.

There are various types and sizes of hardware mesh available in this day and age at many agricultural products’ suppliers such as Hortomallas. These meshes are categorized as per customer demand and the requirements of farms and gardens. Some of them are discussed here;

• Galvanize jolted mesh

This is one of the most common types of hardware mesh, widely used in farms. This type of mesh is made up of zinc coated steel or carbon. The material used in galvanize mesh is resistant to rust and corrosion. This is the reason that it is not exclusively used in agriculture but also used for caging pets and protecting windows glass. There are two ways of making this type of mesh. Either the wires are assembled, welded and then galvanized, or they are galvanized first and then welded and joined. It majorly depends upon the length of wire that which method of manufacturing and finishing mesh suits the most. The latter technique is although more expensive but it has also the stronger resistance against rust. This type of hardware mesh is popular even in industrial sector due to its corrosion resistance, fine looks and low price. 

• Stainless Steel Mesh

The wires of this mesh are thicker and more resistant to corrosion and rusting. The thickness of mesh wires is measured as per the diameter of applied wires. There are different gauges which are used to take the measurements of diameter of these wires. This sort of hardware mesh is widely used for creating a barrier between domestic animals and pets. Another purpose of applying stainless steel mesh is bird control in order to save the crops from possible attacks of birds and animals particularly in reaping season. 

A subtype of this mesh is welded stainless steel mesh in which finished wires of stainless steel are welded together to create a net structured mesh. 

• Copper mesh 

The hardware mesh made from copper metal is stuff fitted and hard to break or cut. It is made by large scale manufactures and shipped to a number of countries worldwide. 

• Woven Mesh/Rodent resistant mesh 

This mesh is strong but easy to cut, bend and turn into different shapes. Normally it is used as a guard against mice and other small animals to protect crops from their attacks. The other purpose is to support small plants and used as grow netting.

• Chicken wire 

Also known as poultry mesh. Chicken and other domestic birds and animals find an easy way to reach your home garden, farm or crops and can easily destroy them. This type of hardware mesh is used as a fence around crops for bird control and to reduce the chances of attacks of other domestic pets. It is made up of flexible steel wires and sometimes plaster or cement is also used along with the hardware cloth to make it firm and fixed. 

• Vinyl coated mesh

The wires of this hardware mesh are coated with vinyl. This is mostly used for bee keeping in farms and gardens. Another purpose that this type of mesh serves is keeping small animals away from the crops.

• PVC covered mesh

The mesh of steel or carbon is coated with PVC material. This material is repellent to the animals and birds.

The above mentioned mesh types are available in different styles such as:

• Wrapped along the mesh wires and passing through the hexagonal holes. This style is common when the hardware mesh is used as grow netting.
• Twilled above and below with every two wires (combatively less tight).
• Dense weaving with wedge molded gaps.
• Crimpled either double or single before uniting.
• Weaving through every crimp of wires.
• Deep crimping to bolt and latch. This creates heavy duty hardware mesh, which is hard to break or cut.
• Flat crimping to create a smooth surfaced and highly finished mesh.

Weaving, crimpling and twilling are basically the methodologies through which the mesh wires are assembled or combined together. The rule of thumb about crimpling is that, the larger the size of gaps or holes between the wires would be, the higher the number of crimps shall be there in the mesh. After final production and finishing the mesh is turned and wrapped like a cloth roll.

• Installation of hardware mesh

Most of these types of hardware mesh are buried approximately12 to16 inches down in the ground. This is because the predators which are great in digging and creating holes in the soil are restricted to reach the plants. The wires are then clipped and joint together to make a proper boundary around the crops and keep the livestock safe and healthy. Some of the hardware meshes are fixed for long time and are called permanent mesh. Others are easily removable thus called temporary hardware mesh.

• Hardware mesh serves many purposes:

Enlisted are some of the major purposes for which hardware mesh is mostly used:

• Protection of crops
• Separation of rows in case of more than one crop grown in a farm
• Stimulant bins
• Fences for horses and other animals
• Bird control
• Pests and insects control
• Garden boundaries
• Chicken control or poultry netting
• Grow netting
• Plant support
• Greenhouse fences
• Scrutinizing seeds, grains and soil
• Trees and expensive plants guard
• Livestock protection