Fence, Defense , Deer , And Alibies.

[Urbanheirlooms]

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

After taking care of the deer issue. need to address smaller garden thives.
I am thinking about a 24" wire rabbit fence. Part of it has to go deeper in the groung so they won't tunnel under it. .
Forget the squirrels. They cannot be deterred.

I use a 6' high metal fence with 2" x 3" holes. I used landscaping timbers for posts (I got them on sale for $1.97 each). I was fortunate enough to find two 150' rolls of 24" chicken cage fencing at an estate sale ($10 per roll) which I put at the base to keep the groundhogs & rabbits out. I am fortunate not to have a squirrel problem currently. I have not had any problems with this setup. The bunnies can get through the 2" x 3" fencing, so make sure to have something at the base to keep them out.

[Father'sDaughter]

Originally Posted by bower

Last couple of years I have clipped or tied row cover around my vegetable beds. The can't see what's inside, and they don't know what is this white stuff, they stay away.

I may have to put this one to the test if (when) anything starts finding its way in!

I have a 4' fence around my garden beds that I could easily attach row cover to, and I have a huge length of the stuff stashed in one of our sheds. It's the nice heavy stuff sold by the yard at the farm supply store.

Thanks for sharing!

[Gardeneer]

Just to keep thing going ...
I am still looking for more ideas about building a fenced garden , with least cost but yet to be effective.
As and alternative to slanted fence, How about double fence ? Such that the deer can jump over the shorter outer fence but won't have a runway , enough to pick up speed and jump over the taller inner fence But the can jump back out.
Now I have to do more search on this idea.

Gardeneer

[Nematode]

Gardeneer,
I cant vouch for any of these, but the peanut butter fence has an evil twist that agrees with me
Cheap too which agrees more.


https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...4HhiINZIGp1CbQ

[Gardeneer]

BREAKING :...
Latest innovative deer resistance fence design is not vertical, is not slanted , IT IS HORIZONTAL. ...you heard it here first

Deer can jump high , even over 8 ft high fence . But it cannot jump 4ft high and over 3 ft wide horizontal fence.
The genius of this novel idea is that it can be constructed from cheap materials, that need not to be strong at all. Deer cannot tell the difference between a barbed wire and manila twine or nylon rope. Deer's judgement tool is visual.

.....
Gardeneer

[Douglas14]

Here's a very inexpensive deer prevention measure that I came across on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URXR5gdjETY

I've tried it for the last month, or so, and it seems to be working. Before I tried it, I frequently found deer tracks in my garden, this year. I'm guessing it was the deer that mowed down most of my peas and ate the top off of a tomato plant(judging from deer tracks). Potato plants were grazed on as well. Since implementation, I only recall once or twice finding deer tracks in the garden(maybe they came on a still night). It could be a coincidence, but I'm thinking this method is working for me.

[Gardeneer]

Thanks, Douglas.
That is a good one too. You can buy those pie plates at Dollar store real cheap. But will it work ?
Some people hang old CDs to scare of the birds. Might work on deer too.

Gardeneer

[Worth1]

Wrong thread.

[Susan66]

There is another fence alternative that my father used to use for my aunt. Her yard included 15 or 20 apple trees that drew the deer in to eat twigs and apples year round. A herd of a dozen or so deer had taken up fairly permanent residence. His solution was a "sandwich fence" . He put up a fence about 5' tall around her gardens. Then tied plastic to it and ran another fence around the outside to keep the plastic in place. The plastic sheeting stuck out about a foot at the top and bottom of the fence and rattled in the wind on breezy days. The deer couldn't see through the plastic, and deer don't like plastic anyway. They, and the rabbits and woodchucks left her gardens alone. A sort of pricey solution, but it worked.
Susan

[Gardeneer]

That is a good one, Susan. I like the ideas that discourage deer rather than challenging them.

Gardeneer

[Susan66]

We decided that one reason why it worked was that the deer couldn't see in to the garden. They saw the fence as a solid structure- not something to jump over. The bonus was keeping out the bunnies and woodchucks. The woodchucks could easily have burrowed under the fence but never did.
But as far as I know nothing can keep racoons out of a garden with sweet corn getting ripe. In my experience they come the night before you plan on harvesting and sample all the corn in sight. I don't bother growing corn any more. There are several roadside stands in easy driving distance with great corn, not terribly expensive.
Susan

[Gardeneer]

Thanks again, Susan.

I forgot to ask, what kind of plastic was it in color, thickness ?

Gardeneer

[Susan66]

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

Thanks again, Susan.

I forgot to ask, what kind of plastic was it in color, thickness ?

Gardeneer

Just the regular translucent white plastic. I don't remember thickness but it was probably 3 or 4 mil. Most likely 4, but 3 would work. You don't need super strong because you are putting another layer of fencing on the outside to keep it in place. I'll try drawing it, but I'm not so good with the computer drawing programs.
Susan

[Susan66]

Sorry, no go on the illustration. Not until I figure it out better, anyway. The fence was 6 ft or 7 ft. T-posts with the wire with 3" x4" holes in it. Clear/translucent plastic sheeting for the inside of the "sandwich". The plastic came in rolls. We used wire- it's the kind used for tying concrete forms together, to temporarily tie the plastic sheeting to the outside of the original fence. Then tied another layer of fencing over the outside to hold it in place. I'm pretty sure he was using the same wire fence as the original to do the holding, but you could use whatever you have, I should think. Main purpose of the outside layer of fencing was to keep the plastic from being torn to pieces by the wind. He left about a foot of plastic sticking out at the top and some at the bottom also, to blow around and further discourage the animals. The sandwich fence idea was an add on to the original fence. A six foot wire fence was not enough to keep the deer out of the garden when there were just so many of them. But the sandwich fence worked very well. The gate was just a piece of plywood that slipped between the t-posts and a second set of t-posts that acted as gate posts at the entrance to the garden. At present I don't have to bother with a sandwich fence, but if I start having that kind of deer problem again, I'd go back to it -fast!
Susan

[Susan66]

Just as an addendum, we still have enough problems with deer that we fence everything in sight. In the early spring we put fences around the tulips in the yard, the flower gardens all have fences around them, and of course the vegetable garden is fenced as well. In addition, we've put little individual fences around our new young apple trees, Japanese Maples, and all our bushes. Otherwise we wouldn't have any decorative stuff left. The deer won't jump into small enclosed areas, so our fences around the flower gardens and bushes tend to be shorter and much flimsier than the ones around the vegetable gardens. I'm glad I live in the country so nobody cares whether I have fences all over my yard!
Susan