Not sure how to add text to the main post. Basically the plan this year is to have a small garden. There is high deer pressure and in fact, some deer may live in the woods on the property (10 acres). I would like to put up a deer enclosure around a small garden (say 100 to 200 square feet) in a temporary manner. If it works out well I will then try to make it look better in subsequent years. What do you think of these ideas?
socalquestioner
Wood posts and wire, get hair from barbershops and put in the garden to help keep them away.
MobileElephant122
I’ve seen deer jump at 10ft fence Good luck !
I’ve heard there are certain plants you can plant in the Perimeter of your garden to deter them such as marigold and others. Also you can make a sacrifice area outside the fence that feeds the deer. You can feed them in another location or plant clover and okra in some out of the way place at the back of your property to encourage them to eat there instead
ND-98
option 1
Sillybumm
You can also mess with depth perception, have a medium height fence. Add 2nd row of thin tall electric fence posts [taller better] followed by running bailing twine in a zigzag between the main fence and the thin posts. Deer can’t comprehend the distance required to jump the shorter fence and thus won’t risk it.
===========≈============ medium height fence.
Few feet of distance between can be either inside or outside garden depending on preferance.
Add zig zag bailing twine between these two
———————————————— 2nd row of posts
Edit: an quick Google search of depth perception deer fence can provide a more indepth guide
awfulcrowded117
I’ve only known 2 people who kept deer out of their gardens. I’ve heard of deer getting over a more than 10 ft fence. For a small garden, I have known someone who completely enclosed the garden with a fence “roof” and that worked, and for large gardens I knew a guy who installed what he called a worm burner, which is a very high voltage but low amperage electrical fence at 12-18 inches. Apparently, the deer drop their heads and smell as they cross the fenceline and it zaps them right in the ears.
SlipperyTom
1. Call the game warden and get nuisance tags. 2. Purchase case of beer, lawn chair and camo ground blind 3. Thin the herd.
​
edit – I forgot. You have to show economic impact. Tell the game warden you sell SexyEdMeese’s specialty vegetable spread from your own garden at local farmers markets.
grungleTroad
Put up wooden posts in the corners, and T-posts between them. This minimizes how many postholes you have to dig without compromising stability. Also optimizes bang for your buck on wire fence cost, as opposed to only fencing around a small garden area.
jazzminetea
My garden is pretty small. I just have a 4ft fence around it and it works. But I think the reason it works is location. It’s right next to the area where I keep my dogs (which is a much larger area than the garden). Also, I have berry bushes on one side and trees on two sides. So the side left open, the deer would have to jump towards barking dogs. Also, I have an electric fence wire strung all around the top of the fence. It’s not hooked up, it’s just there to keep my horse from hanging her head over to munch on MY food (she knows it’s an electric fence wire, so maybe the deer do to??)
Bicolore
Depends what kind of deer you have?
IncompetentFork
The first one looks great, and it will keep the deer out. Deer fencing is expensive, so youèll want to make sure you know what type of deer they are to determine the height of the fence. The only downside is it’s not really temporary. If you want to move it soon, use t-posts and 6ft+ tall fencing.
BookieMets
Pee outside during the growing season
GardenGrammy59
Whatever you go with, needs to be 7 Ft talk to keep out deer.
Perenium_Falcon
2 and 3 best bang for your buck. Put netting over the top to keep the birds out and you’re solid.
whi5keyjack
This is anecdotal, but you can get away with shorter fences if you put a lot of stuff inside the fence, so the deer have a hard time figuring out where to land, or can’t figure an easy way to get out again. A friend of mine has a 4 or 5 foot tall snow fence that works because there are a bunch of raised beds and trellises inside.
You might also consider planting stuff they like to eat more than your garden plants outside of the fenced in area, some distance away, to act as a distraction.
---SilverWolf---
You don’t necessarily need a fence you just need make them not interested…..I suggest buying the cheapest largest container you can find of cayenne pepper and chicken feed it through your garden… Reapply after it rains…. I did this for years when we lived in North Dakota and had a big garden they’re only going to come back once or twice and then they’ll be done…. nothing came back to revisit my garden not the feral cats not the coons not the deer…. And not that I mind but surprisingly it didn’t affect the flavor of my veggies at all we did salsa gardens with tomatoes and peppers I did cukes, corn, You name it all kinds of stuff tried watermelon, did pi pumpkins for the kids we grew all kinds of stuff and I did it for years without a hitch 🤷
cropguru357
8’ is the minimum.
joecoin2
The fence has to tall, but doesn’t have to go all the way to the ground.
Get some 4 feet high snow fence and start it 3 feet off the ground.
Rthegoodnamestaken
Deer can jump high, and far, but not high and far simultaneously. So double fences are the way to go.
For my garden, i have 2 6ft high fences 6 feet apart. And then i have electric fence strands 6 inches out from that.
The 6 foot gap between the fence doubles as a chicken run. Ive had 1 deer in my garden in 10 years, and that was before i was 100% done with the fencing.
ent1138x
first one is best, tie little strips of bright plastic yard tape to the top wire every few feet, it’ll help them see it and think twice.
thesirensoftitans
4th is too low. 5th won’t keep them out as they’ll charge right through that soft stuff. We had that experience with our apple orchard. Look into what colors they can see and top a fence to 12 feet with a zig zag colored string. we used blue.
LadyIslay
I live in a rural area, and deer pressure here is not heavy. We were hoping that the opaque pallet fence might’ve been enough to keep them out of the garden, but I had fresh hoof prints appear last week.
I can’t pound fence posts, and I can’t really afford fencing material right now.
What I’ve done is try to make a double fenced in as many places as possible using left over materials and then stuff the existing fence with long, straight branches that I’ve pruned to make it look closer to 8 feet tall instead of 4.5 feet.
It looks hilarious. Especially with the pallet fencing on half the garden. And a super flimsy green bird netting to keep the chickens out on one side. But it also looks weird enough that it just might work.
I would share photos, but they can’t be added to this post. It’s either going to be a hilarious disaster or a genius DIY.
I want to buy another roll of stucco wire and some push in plastic fence posts to create a better double fence, but in the meantime, I’m putting the deer-vulnerable plants under crop cages. (I don’t think a deer is going to go after the fuzzy artichoke plants I just put out.)
Vermontbuilder
We garden in a VERY high deer population area. We’ve always used a simple 2 strand wire system with lower one at 12” +/- off ground ( groundhogs) and top wire at about chest height. We use a very strong cattle charger. We’ve never had a deer jump the fence. A couple times deer have charged the fence after getting zapped but they NEVER return.
unconscionable
Before you go spending a ton of time and money building a deer fence, I would verify that deer are an actual problem and consider other mitigation strategies such as planting an actual wildlife foodplot (usually a clover mix) somewhere.
Consider that TONS of people have gardens in areas with high deer pressure who do not have issues with deer getting in their garden, and they don’t build a 9ft tall fence either
I get tons of deer in the back of my property, but they never come near the garden. Rabbits, on the other hand…
johnnyg883
I understand deer being an issue. But raccoons, opossums and turtles have been my biggest problems.
Healfarms
Eat them.
mikeeez
5 mm iron is enough effective
NamingandEatingPets
3 might work. I have a 60’ garden adjacent to a hay pasture and woods. I don’t fence it. I just share.
lurker-1969
My buddy figured out the deer fence at 7′ for Whitetail. Then along came Mama Moose and her 2 calves ! No defense against that currently. He watched them pick every apple off the 2 trees and spit them on the ground then leap out of the garden giving him the finger !
1960Dutch
How do you build a double fence to keep deer out? A double fence deters deer from jumping using width and space limitations.
The thought behind a double fence is that deer can’t tell exactly what they are up against because they have poor depth perception. Since they aren’t sure what they are seeing, they aren’t confident about jumping.
Deer need a good running start to jump their highest or longest. The distance they can jump, at maximum, is either long or high. Therefore, a very deer-proof fence has both width and height working against their abilities.
The biggest Idea of a double deer fence is to save money on the material price. So people are using this tactic with two short fences. Usually around 5 feet high with 3-5 foot spacing apart.
The sturdy material is often used on the outside and cheap mesh is used on the inside.
therealharambe420
Don’t go with the cheap plastic netting that stuff sucks so bad and the only thing it will do is tangle a deer up when it tears through it becuase it is a black mesh which nearly invisible during the day and not possible to see at night when your running around on 4 legs.
___multiplex___
I’ve successfully kept deer out of the garden I was managing (community garden) by angling the fence posts outward by about twenty five degrees. If a deer can’t judge where they will land, they won’t jump the fence, and since they have poor depth perception because of where their eyes are on their head, if the fence is angled it’ll confuse them enough to keep them out. I think we used 8 ft posts. We also put a very mild electrified line of wire around the perimeter of the garden that was powered by a little solar panel (2’ x 2’), which is another level of deterrence.
mahatmacoat0804
I used gramps deterrent. 5 gal wat,r, urine,some baking powder and raw eggs. Spray the perimeter to repel deer , antelope, moose, rabbit and bear. And nosey neighbors.
RLB2019500
Do a perimeter fence. Less hassle when trying to garden
melodyadriana
We used tposts driven in. And then the bars from an old trampoline / chain link fence made them taller
IKU420
I fence in my garden also but what I did different this year is on my tree line I planted some herb & veggies just for the deer so they have no reason to fuck with my garden. We’ll see how it goes.
raspberrybeginner
6’is nothing for a white tail. Need 8′ inu experience
Character_Army_3128
Try premier 1 supplies they have great e-net fencing amazing product highly recommend!!!
fairyprincest
We used deerbusters 7 foot tall black welded wire fencing for our garden/orchard space. The fact that it’s black makes it basically invisible from 20 feet away, so you can’t even tell there’s a fence. It’s welded wire so very sturdy.
It was an investment, but our orchard/garden space is 6000 sqft, so we needed something serious. Plus, the orchard was a big investment, so protecting it saves us big money. I also wanted something that wouldn’t be ugly since I’ll be looking at it every day forever, lol
39 Comments
Not sure how to add text to the main post. Basically the plan this year is to have a small garden. There is high deer pressure and in fact, some deer may live in the woods on the property (10 acres). I would like to put up a deer enclosure around a small garden (say 100 to 200 square feet) in a temporary manner. If it works out well I will then try to make it look better in subsequent years. What do you think of these ideas?
Wood posts and wire, get hair from barbershops and put in the garden to help keep them away.
I’ve seen deer jump at 10ft fence
Good luck !
I’ve heard there are certain plants you can plant in the Perimeter of your garden to deter them such as marigold and others. Also you can make a sacrifice area outside the fence that feeds the deer.
You can feed them in another location or plant clover and okra in some out of the way place at the back of your property to encourage them to eat there instead
option 1
You can also mess with depth perception, have a medium height fence. Add 2nd row of thin tall electric fence posts [taller better] followed by running bailing twine in a zigzag between the main fence and the thin posts. Deer can’t comprehend the distance required to jump the shorter fence and thus won’t risk it.
===========≈============ medium height fence.
Few feet of distance between can be either inside or outside garden depending on preferance.
Add zig zag bailing twine between these two
———————————————— 2nd row of posts
Edit: an quick Google search of depth perception deer fence can provide a more indepth guide
I’ve only known 2 people who kept deer out of their gardens. I’ve heard of deer getting over a more than 10 ft fence. For a small garden, I have known someone who completely enclosed the garden with a fence “roof” and that worked, and for large gardens I knew a guy who installed what he called a worm burner, which is a very high voltage but low amperage electrical fence at 12-18 inches. Apparently, the deer drop their heads and smell as they cross the fenceline and it zaps them right in the ears.
1. Call the game warden and get nuisance tags.
2. Purchase case of beer, lawn chair and camo ground blind
3. Thin the herd.
​
edit – I forgot. You have to show economic impact. Tell the game warden you sell SexyEdMeese’s specialty vegetable spread from your own garden at local farmers markets.
Put up wooden posts in the corners, and T-posts between them. This minimizes how many postholes you have to dig without compromising stability. Also optimizes bang for your buck on wire fence cost, as opposed to only fencing around a small garden area.
My garden is pretty small. I just have a 4ft fence around it and it works. But I think the reason it works is location. It’s right next to the area where I keep my dogs (which is a much larger area than the garden). Also, I have berry bushes on one side and trees on two sides. So the side left open, the deer would have to jump towards barking dogs. Also, I have an electric fence wire strung all around the top of the fence. It’s not hooked up, it’s just there to keep my horse from hanging her head over to munch on MY food (she knows it’s an electric fence wire, so maybe the deer do to??)
Depends what kind of deer you have?
The first one looks great, and it will keep the deer out. Deer fencing is expensive, so youèll want to make sure you know what type of deer they are to determine the height of the fence. The only downside is it’s not really temporary. If you want to move it soon, use t-posts and 6ft+ tall fencing.
Pee outside during the growing season
Whatever you go with, needs to be 7 Ft talk to keep out deer.
2 and 3 best bang for your buck. Put netting over the top to keep the birds out and you’re solid.
This is anecdotal, but you can get away with shorter fences if you put a lot of stuff inside the fence, so the deer have a hard time figuring out where to land, or can’t figure an easy way to get out again. A friend of mine has a 4 or 5 foot tall snow fence that works because there are a bunch of raised beds and trellises inside.
You might also consider planting stuff they like to eat more than your garden plants outside of the fenced in area, some distance away, to act as a distraction.
You don’t necessarily need a fence you just need make them not interested…..I suggest buying the cheapest largest container you can find of cayenne pepper and chicken feed it through your garden… Reapply after it rains…. I did this for years when we lived in North Dakota and had a big garden they’re only going to come back once or twice and then they’ll be done…. nothing came back to revisit my garden not the feral cats not the coons not the deer…. And not that I mind but surprisingly it didn’t affect the flavor of my veggies at all we did salsa gardens with tomatoes and peppers I did cukes, corn, You name it all kinds of stuff tried watermelon, did pi pumpkins for the kids we grew all kinds of stuff and I did it for years without a hitch 🤷
8’ is the minimum.
The fence has to tall, but doesn’t have to go all the way to the ground.
Get some 4 feet high snow fence and start it 3 feet off the ground.
Deer can jump high, and far, but not high and far simultaneously. So double fences are the way to go.
For my garden, i have 2 6ft high fences 6 feet apart. And then i have electric fence strands 6 inches out from that.
The 6 foot gap between the fence doubles as a chicken run. Ive had 1 deer in my garden in 10 years, and that was before i was 100% done with the fencing.
first one is best, tie little strips of bright plastic yard tape to the top wire every few feet, it’ll help them see it and think twice.
4th is too low. 5th won’t keep them out as they’ll charge right through that soft stuff. We had that experience with our apple orchard. Look into what colors they can see and top a fence to 12 feet with a zig zag colored string. we used blue.
I live in a rural area, and deer pressure here is not heavy. We were hoping that the opaque pallet fence might’ve been enough to keep them out of the garden, but I had fresh hoof prints appear last week.
I can’t pound fence posts, and I can’t really afford fencing material right now.
What I’ve done is try to make a double fenced in as many places as possible using left over materials and then stuff the existing fence with long, straight branches that I’ve pruned to make it look closer to 8 feet tall instead of 4.5 feet.
It looks hilarious. Especially with the pallet fencing on half the garden. And a super flimsy green bird netting to keep the chickens out on one side. But it also looks weird enough that it just might work.
I would share photos, but they can’t be added to this post. It’s either going to be a hilarious disaster or a genius DIY.
I want to buy another roll of stucco wire and some push in plastic fence posts to create a better double fence, but in the meantime, I’m putting the deer-vulnerable plants under crop cages. (I don’t think a deer is going to go after the fuzzy artichoke plants I just put out.)
We garden in a VERY high deer population area. We’ve always used a simple 2 strand wire system with lower one at 12” +/- off ground ( groundhogs) and top wire at about chest height. We use a very strong cattle charger. We’ve never had a deer jump the fence. A couple times deer have charged the fence after getting zapped but they NEVER return.
Before you go spending a ton of time and money building a deer fence, I would verify that deer are an actual problem and consider other mitigation strategies such as planting an actual wildlife foodplot (usually a clover mix) somewhere.
Consider that TONS of people have gardens in areas with high deer pressure who do not have issues with deer getting in their garden, and they don’t build a 9ft tall fence either
I get tons of deer in the back of my property, but they never come near the garden. Rabbits, on the other hand…
I understand deer being an issue. But raccoons, opossums and turtles have been my biggest problems.
Eat them.
5 mm iron is enough effective
3 might work. I have a 60’ garden adjacent to a hay pasture and woods. I don’t fence it. I just share.
My buddy figured out the deer fence at 7′ for Whitetail. Then along came Mama Moose and her 2 calves ! No defense against that currently. He watched them pick every apple off the 2 trees and spit them on the ground then leap out of the garden giving him the finger !
How do you build a double fence to keep deer out?
A double fence deters deer from jumping using width and space limitations.
The thought behind a double fence is that deer can’t tell exactly what they are up against because they have poor depth perception. Since they aren’t sure what they are seeing, they aren’t confident about jumping.
Deer need a good running start to jump their highest or longest. The distance they can jump, at maximum, is either long or high. Therefore, a very deer-proof fence has both width and height working against their abilities.
The biggest Idea of a double deer fence is to save money on the material price. So people are using this tactic with two short fences. Usually around 5 feet high with 3-5 foot spacing apart.
The sturdy material is often used on the outside and cheap mesh is used on the inside.
Don’t go with the cheap plastic netting that stuff sucks so bad and the only thing it will do is tangle a deer up when it tears through it becuase it is a black mesh which nearly invisible during the day and not possible to see at night when your running around on 4 legs.
I’ve successfully kept deer out of the garden I was managing (community garden) by angling the fence posts outward by about twenty five degrees. If a deer can’t judge where they will land, they won’t jump the fence, and since they have poor depth perception because of where their eyes are on their head, if the fence is angled it’ll confuse them enough to keep them out. I think we used 8 ft posts. We also put a very mild electrified line of wire around the perimeter of the garden that was powered by a little solar panel (2’ x 2’), which is another level of deterrence.
I used gramps deterrent. 5 gal wat,r, urine,some baking powder and raw eggs. Spray the perimeter to repel deer , antelope, moose, rabbit and bear. And nosey neighbors.
Do a perimeter fence. Less hassle when trying to garden
We used tposts driven in. And then the bars from an old trampoline / chain link fence made them taller
I fence in my garden also but what I did different this year is on my tree line I planted some herb & veggies just for the deer so they have no reason to fuck with my garden. We’ll see how it goes.
6’is nothing for a white tail. Need 8′ inu experience
Try premier 1 supplies they have great e-net fencing amazing product highly recommend!!!
We used deerbusters 7 foot tall black welded wire fencing for our garden/orchard space. The fact that it’s black makes it basically invisible from 20 feet away, so you can’t even tell there’s a fence. It’s welded wire so very sturdy.
It was an investment, but our orchard/garden space is 6000 sqft, so we needed something serious. Plus, the orchard was a big investment, so protecting it saves us big money. I also wanted something that wouldn’t be ugly since I’ll be looking at it every day forever, lol