Deer fencing for small garden?

[texasdiver]

I have a small garden composed of two raised beds and I'm getting tired of fighting the deer and rabbits. Our lot backs up against a greenbelt which deer, coyotes, rabbits, racoons, and other critters frequent and we probably get deer walking by every morning. I don't want to fence in the whole yard, but rather run a small perimeter fence around the garden itself which has a wood privacy fence on one side and a shed on a second side so I really need to only fence in two sides so maybe 20 ft on a side.

Reading up on deer fencing, various people say 6, 7, or even 8 feet. But I'm wondering how necessary that really is since the garden is so intensive that there really isn't any place for a deer to land. On the other side of the deer fence will be a row of heavy 5 ft. high tomato cages and I can't imagine a deer leaping over the fence just to land in a sea of wire tomato cages and trellises. If a deer jumps over the fence they will basically land on this



The garden is so intensive that there is no flat spot for any deer to land.

For those with more experience, do you think a 5' wire fence is going to be enough to keep deer out or do I need to go higher? I'm thinking of 5' welded wire fence with an additional 2' high role of chicken wire attached to the bottom to keep the rabbits out as well.

Opinions? Spring is fast approaching and I need to get something put in.

[Mike Scott]

For your raised beds, what you suggest should be good.

[homebuyer6426]

I have a 6 foot wooden privacy fence and deer do not jump over it. They do eat the plants right outside of the fence perimeter, though. Living here 6 years I have found their droppings frequently outside the fence, but never inside it. I do have a dog so that could be making an impact. The fact that they cannot see through the fence may also be a plus.

I use 1/4 inch hardware cloth, or the larger holed cattle panels (welded wire), to protect any plants outside of the fence. Either 2 feet or 3 feet high. It works for small plants. I secure it to the ground with landscaping staples, and just about anything can be used for the posts. Mice and small rodents can get through the cattle panels, but not the 1/4 inch hardware cloth.

Groundhogs will dig underneath a fence. Birds will swarm in from above and land, you need netting to stop those, for example on grape vines.

[makeitcount]

Fencing may not be needed if you are willing to occasionally spray your plants and their perimeter with a deer repellent. We back up to a wooded area that itself backs up to farm land. We are also across the street from a pond. There is basically a deer highway through our yard. I have found that regular application of a product like "liquid fence" works quite well.
Your solution may work just as well if you don't want to fuss with occasional spraying. Keep in mind that it is almost impossible to keep deer away from something they discover is tasty, short of having a dog outside 24-7.

[hammockhiker]

Fencing may not be needed if you are willing to occasionally spray your plants and their perimeter with a deer repellent.

Another vote for liquid fence type products. We live in a rural area and have raised beds and a couple of apple trees. Diligent application of repellent (bought at Home Depot but probably available elsewhere) has kept deer out of our stuff for the last couple of years, despite a huge number of deer in the area.

[Chadnudj]

Pro tip that worked with our garden to somewhat keep the deer away: Irish Spring soap.

Hang a couple bars by string (ideally in porous, wide holed mesh bags) around the perimeter, and cut up/shred into tiny pieces Irish spring and sprinkle around perimeter. The smell is strong, and repels deer (and, frequently, other vermin, though to stop rabbits you really need a fence at/into the ground and up 3 feet.

[texasdiver]

Pro tip that worked with our garden to somewhat keep the deer away: Irish Spring soap.

Hang a couple bars by string (ideally in porous, wide holed mesh bags) around the perimeter, and cut up/shred into tiny pieces Irish spring and sprinkle around perimeter. The smell is strong, and repels deer (and, frequently, other vermin, though to stop rabbits you really need a fence at/into the ground and up 3 feet.

That's the thing. I'm plagued by BOTH deer and rabbits. I was thinking about putting in something like this and then layering an extra 2ft or so of chicken wire around the bottom to deal with both deer and rabbits.



But it occurs to me that maybe 5' hardware cloth will be better and then I can skip the chicken wire. Basically something like this which doesn't look quite as nice but would be more functional I think.



But I don't want to go over 5 ft. at that would just overwhelm the garden. The one thing that no fence will keep out is squirrels so I've given up on them.

Or maybe make a 2-level fence like this one with hardware cloth on the bottom 2 ft and welded wire fence or livestock panels on the top half

https://www.thisoldhouse.com/pest-contr ... rden-fence

[Tubes]

I've gone to 3'x6' beds with swinging doors on the side. Sides are hardware mesh. The top is removable and is just a pvc pipe frame with plastic netting. This keeps out everything. Under the bed I also have hardware mesh to keep out the diggers. In summer when I grow tomatoes, I take the top off.

Be careful with plastic netting. I don't recommend it for anything that goes down to ground level. It captures beneficial snakes and they die in agony as they try to force themselves through the flexible netting. I haven't had that happen with using it up top, the beneficial snakes have not tried to climb my guard walls.

[homebuyer6426]

I've gone to 3'x6' beds with swinging doors on the side. Sides are hardware mesh. The top is removable and is just a pvc pipe frame with plastic netting. This keeps out everything. Under the bed I also have hardware mesh to keep out the diggers. In summer when I grow tomatoes, I take the top off.

Be careful with plastic netting. I don't recommend it for anything that goes down to ground level. It captures beneficial snakes and they die in agony as they try to force themselves through the flexible netting. I haven't had that happen with using it up top, the beneficial snakes have not tried to climb my guard walls.

That is awesome what you did and is definitely the thorough way to go.

A note about the snakes, I did see one small garter snake get stuck and die in 1/4 in hardware cloth. Felt bad for it because from the wound you could tell it had been there for days.

[ItzaHoot]

There is a product called "deer fence", available on line or at Home Depot or Lowes that comes in a 7' tall x 100' long roll. We had a large "square foot" garden, surrounded by acres of woods with deer, rabbits, squirrels, and even a family of red foxes. The fence is very light weight black plastic mesh and we used thinwall (EMT) electrical conduit, connected by paracord, to support it and left about a foot laid out on the ground. to discourage digging.

It Can also be laid over the top of plant to discourage birds from getting your fruit or tomatoes.

It worked great!

The theory is that the deer can't actually see it and when their nose hits it they also don't see the top and won't try to jump it. I't so hard to see, we went back and tied pieces of yellow marker tape in the mesh to keep from walking into it ourselves.

[k73]

About ten years ago, our garden was tore up by deer. I found some used 4ft chain link fence on craigslist and put it around the garden. Nothing fancy - I put 4x4 posts on the corners and halfway between the corners, then stapled the chain link to the posts with t50 staples. The used fence came with a gate that I put in. Since doing this, I have not seen a single deer track in the garden. There's no way a 4ft chain link fence would stop a deer, but it's enough that they go around it and eat elsewhere. I routinely see deer tracks within several feet of the fence.

[meanween]

There is a product called "deer fence", available on line or at Home Depot or Lowes that comes in a 7' tall x 100' long roll. We had a large "square foot" garden, surrounded by acres of woods with deer, rabbits, squirrels, and even a family of red foxes. The fence is very light weight black plastic mesh and we used thinwall (EMT) electrical conduit, connected by paracord, to support it and left about a foot laid out on the ground. to discourage digging.

It Can also be laid over the top of plant to discourage birds from getting your fruit or tomatoes.

It worked great!

The theory is that the deer can't actually see it and when their nose hits it they also don't see the top and won't try to jump it. I't so hard to see, we went back and tied pieces of yellow marker tape in the mesh to keep from walking into it ourselves.

I used a 5' x100 version of this product with a "Certified 950 pounds of breaking strength" from an online company that sells the posts that pound into the ground as a system. Went up easy enough but after a year or two the rabbits or a groundhog or maybe both have put a number of holes in it along the bottom. Might be suitable in a tall version to keep deer out, but no the smaller critters. Luckily I only use it to keep a non-motivated fairly large labrador from escaping the yard.

[Circe]

I have a similar garden. I think it's 8' x 12'. I bought green metal posts and green plastic coated welded wire 4' fencing. I stapled the fencing to the raised bed wood that surrounds the garden to keep rabbits out. I had problems with deer leaning over the fencing to eat everything but bought these green garlic clips that I attach to the fence. No more problems with deer! I don't know if this is the exact brand but they were like these:
Fend Off Deer/Rabbit Organic Odor Clips, 25pk

[Tubes]

Around here in safe suburbia (no guns), the deer are very comfortable. They pop over my 4' perimeter fence with ease. My neighbor has a 6' fence. They avoid his property, mostly, but when stressed (like when I yell at them), they can jump his fence too! One neighbor built a massive garden and he put an 8' fence perimeter around it. That stopped them.

Amazing creatures.

[harvestbook]

You can also double fence, if there is a small gap between fences, they don't want to risk jumping into it. Your set-up looks too intimidating for a deer to want to jump into it.

[hudson]

Ride by my garden and see a row of 12... three-foot-diameter wire cylinders with okra stalks growing inside. The deer eat what sticks out of the cages, but a good crop is left.

I got a 150' roll of concrete wire from Lowes and made some 3 foot in diameter cylinders using cutters and pliers. I cut mine so they have wire spikes on the bottom that stick into the dirt. No support needed. I don't think one has blown over in the last 10 or so years.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Grip-Rite-Comm ... ll/3369078

https://thefarmchick.com/gardening/best-tomato-cages/ (Note: mine are much larger in diameter.)


I use a few for tomatoes and cukes. I place the rest over okra plants. My deer usually only eat young okra foliage outside the wire....so the crop survives. For the tomatoes, I build a mound big enough for a holey 5 gallon irrigation bucket surrounded by 4 or 5 tomato plants. I throw a spiked concrete wire cylinder over the top and fill the bucket once a week whether it needs it or not.

Bottom Line: I don't need to fence my garden, just the okra.

[bradinsky]

Try using a motion sensing deer sprinkler. Many have had good success with them. If it works it’s much more economical & simpler than fencing.

[pshonore]

Around here in safe suburbia (no guns), the deer are very comfortable. They pop over my 4' perimeter fence with ease. My neighbor has a 6' fence. They avoid his property, mostly, but when stressed (like when I yell at them), they can jump his fence too! One neighbor built a massive garden and he put an 8' fence perimeter around it. That stopped them.

Amazing creatures.

I have a problem with deer and apples. I bought 5 foot steel posts at HD, put those in the ground every 8 ft and fastened 4 foot plastic snow fence (green not orange) to them using zip ties. I then fastened bamboo poles approx 6 ft long to the fence posts again using zip ties which gave me another 4 ft of elevation to fasten fence. Its now about 7 to 8 feet high. That stopped them. I also used 6" landscaping staples to hold the fence to the ground where they might try to go under. Probably would be cheaper to buy the apples.

[lthenderson]

Opinions? Spring is fast approaching and I need to get something put in.

We live among a thick deer population as well as rabbits, raccoons and other creatures. The best deterrent I have found is to get a roll of electrified netting fence. Ours is five feet tall and you install it by just poking the stakes of each post into the ground using your foot. I install 100 feet of it every year around our garden and it takes about 15 minutes. In the fall when the garden is done, I just pull out the stakes, lay it on the ground, roll it up and store it for next year. Takes maybe 20 minutes to do that. It plugs into a 110 outlet. If you need more than 100 feet, you can string them up in series.

https://www.premier1supplies.com/p/vers ... ic-netting

[Mr Fussy]

Your original idea of a 5 foot fence with the 2 foot chicken wire barrier will work fine as long as there is not space inside the enclosure for deer to land cleanly. The deer are plentiful and vorocious here and I've done what you described on one of my three vegetable gardens. In the larger two I've used the same system but added 7 foot bamboo poles every 6 feet along the fence and tied bamboo crossbars at 6 feet and 7 feet high respectively and that keeps the garden deer proof.

[texasdiver]

Thanks guys. Lots of great ideas here. I'll have to go through and see what I can pick and use.

A couple of additional details that might be relevant. We live in a fairly upscale subdivision with an HOA and building restrictions and all of that. Most of the homes around here just have the typical 6' cedar privacy fences between properties. But our lot is on a slope and backs up to a greenbelt that is a stream and ravine running through the subdivision with homes on each side. The deer and other critters like coyotes can wander up and down this greenbelt ravine all the way from the Columbia River up to the top of the ridge. And they are abundant. Plus rabbits are everywhere.

I am NOT planning to engage with the HOA about putting in a fence around my garden. No one can see it from the street and the only ones who will notice are the families on either side. So I don't want to put up anything that will loom over the 6 ft privacy fence that divides our property or that will be an eyesore for them sitting out on their patio and looking down on our backyards which slope downwards to the ravine and make it so that our neighbors on both sides can sit on their decks and see straight into our yard.

So I'm not going to put up any big system of plastic netting or any such that will be an eyesore. And no 7 or 8 ft fences around what is just two 3x10' raised beds. What I want to do is create a modest 5' fence of wire and cedar or pressure treated lumber that blends into the garden and looks good so that no one complains. And then figure out how to make that work by using trellises and cages to keep deer from jumping over the fence since they will have no place to land.

I also don't want to fence in the entire back yard because right now we have a beautiful view down into the trees and stream behind and it feels like it is part of our lot. If I put up a 6' or higher fence back there it would make our back yard feel much smaller and claustrophobic. And that wouldn't do anything about the rabbits anyway.

[Tubes]

Hey OP, I had similar constraints, with a similar sized bed. I've described previously what I have, now here's a picture. One box is running open with tomatoes and peppers. Deer don't care. The other has the lightweight cover, which I can remove. It also keeps the squirrels out when the plants are young. Around here, squirrels don't care for lettuce or anything, but they like to dig. Each box also has a bottom of mesh to keep out the tunnelers.

Bonus: I put up a tent greenhouse over the left box for the winter. My lettuce is... growing slow, but I thought I'd give it a shot.

[greengates]

My situation, rural area, moderate deer and rabbit pressure, large garden. I didn’t want to spend the money or put in the effort for a high end fence. After some research I put up the simplest fencing I could come up with. 3 strands of electric, spaced at 4 inches, 8 inches and 42 inches. 2 bottom strands are for the rabbits and top one for deer. I really didn’t expect it to work but it does. I’ve had this set up for 5 years now. Not perfect but reduces damage by maybe 95%. Inexpensive(I already had a fence charger running) and low visibility. Not exactly your situation but might give you some ideas. Premier fencing has an excellent catalog and products.