When I use steel chicken wire, I like to prop it up a bit after the sprouts emerge. I use plastic 2 liter soda bottles, but smaller ones could work. last year I had some with the bottom cut off, to be "cloches". I would push the cut bottom into the soil between rows, and let the screw-top stick through one hole of the chicken wire. That made a stable base.
It only took a few (3-4) to support the chicken wire up off the small beds. I would weigh down the edges with bricks, but as far as I can tell, no squirrel made much effort to burrow under an edge.
That way, I can leave the chicken wire on the bed until the plants are 3-5 inches tall, and have a few pairs of real leaves, hopefully enough to deter the cats and squirrels.
Otherwise, seedlings get tangled in the wire and are upooted if you try to remove it.
. I GUESS I could leave the wire in place indefinitely, and let plants grow through it, but it would prevent hoeing and cultivating.
(Now that I think of it, it would be a cool way to support many floppy plants. Suspend chicken wire or wider-mesh fencing 6-12" above the soil. let floppy plants grow through it. Now the wire will support the plants and prevent flopping!)
