Deer and Other Netting

TomatoDon · June 26, 2021

I've tried electric fencing and friends use 7 and 8 foot tall deer fence netting. I am tired of having to navigate in and around fences, and the weeds the grow up at the base and me and my dogs are tired of the electric fence. I don't care about a fence, I just want something that will stop the deer from nibbling the tomato foliage and the fruit.

Do any of you just drape bird netting or other kinds of netting over the plants to stop the critters and birds from damaging the tomato plants. I use 5' CRW cages, so I will have plenty of support. I have a double row in a raised bed that is 7 feet wide, and the beds are 150 long, so this is not for a small back yard garden. I'll need a lot of whatever I try.

I'd like to get some suggestions from people here who have faced this problem of deer, birds and other critters nibbling their tomatoes and what they did about it and if it can be solved with netting just draped over the cages in the long beds, and if so, what size mesh is best?

Thanks in advance.
Don

slugworth · June 27, 2021

Low to the ground plants;plastic laundry baskets from the dollar store.The flaw is they are only 1 foot high by 16 inches,so the plants have to be small.
Same store has white mesh laundry bags that are ideal for tomatoes in cages but have a tendency to trap bees inside.
Mesh bags with zippers for washing unmentionables; for tomatoes close to the ground,but mice/rats can still chew through.
People ask why I have 120 plants in the ground-very few tomatoes make it to my mouth.
It's more of a carbon capture function than getting something red to eat.

CrazyAboutOrchids · June 27, 2021

I have a 28 x 38 garden. We had a company install fenceposts around and then installed deer fencing. I use raised beds and cages for the tomatoes. Yes, it works for the deer and groundhogs.

Squirrels are more pests here, they do acrobatics along the top of the fence but no real damage seen inside. Birds don't bother the garden.

I wish I had spent the money and installed the hardware cloth I installed around the chicken coop. It's 1/2" x 1/2" and strong. My biggest issue is with the chipmunks once dry weather rears its head. They do a LOT of damage to the tomatoes. We did install a solar powered electric fence with 2" horse tape around the bottom but we haven't been successful in getting it to work 100% of the time. Seems to work when I touch it to test it - haha - but it's hooked up wrong somewhere - I just never figured it out last year.

If I had to do again. I would use the hardware cloth and install a perimeter barrier inside and out (under the beds) for digging critters like I did with my coop.

I have bear, fisher cat, bobcat, raccoon, fox, you name it here in my area - we are not in farmland, btw, about an hour out of NYC. My biggest garden threat, once the deer and groundhog were dealt with, is those little chipmunks.

PaulF · June 27, 2021

Deer and rabbits were my biggest problem. The garden is about 50'X50'. I tried to put up deer fencing and chicken wire around each section of the garden. It did work OK but was a real pain to do the work and made for difficult harvest. I decided to build a perimeter fence.

As luck would have it, a large quantity of picket fence came available (free thank goodness), enough to go all the way around. Wherever there was a fencepost I attached a 2"X2" six foot long board. Then I purchased a good quality eight foot deer fence. This one was a harder plastic weave rather than netting. I used a heavy duty staple gun to attach the fencing. All around the bottom of the picket fence I placed chicken wire, also with the stapler. I used "U" shaped landscape staple to keep the rabbits from digging under the chicken wire.

It was a little expensive but considering the system has lasted fifteen years without replacement and none of the critters get into the garden, it was well worth it. We have bobcats, raccoon, fox, groundhogs, squirrels and coyotes as well as deer, rabbits and other little vermin. They all stay out of the garden. The story is that black bears are getting close to moving into our area, so if they finally show up no amount of deer fence will stop those guys.

lwaedemon · June 27, 2021

If they can put their mouth through it they will eat it. I'm stuck with an electric fence but I only turn it on at night.

slugworth · June 27, 2021

At one time somebody had a sprinkler system that was attached to a motion detector.
So pests would be sprayed when triggered.

TomatoDon · June 29, 2021

This is 3/4 inch mesh and I don't think they are going to do much damage with this. I also have an electric fence that I haven't put up this year because I just don't like electric fences and will only use them as a last resort, and I'm a long way from that now.

eyolf · June 29, 2021

My tomatoes are growing in a 60' x 85' fenced-in enclosure. Rabbit-proof fencing is 3' high, then 2x4 mesh another 4' for 7'.

Last year, I witnessed a doe jump over. Posts were extended to 10' and a cheap plastic snow fence was layered above, and varies between 10'-11' high now.

Then I noticed a "sag" between the rabbit-proof and the 4' mesh: a deer had wriggled through and gobbled up a bunch of cabbage and broccoli starts.

Fixed that. Then the rabbits found a spot at a gate and wriggled through to snarf down some green beans. Fixed that.

The kids were up on Sunday and wanted a tour: one of the bunnies had managed to get his head through a spot where the weed eater may have broken a wire, but couldn't get past his shoulders; then couldn't get back out.

Soft hearted me grabbed a dyke's cutter, but then drove a stake in the ground there.

Some years are trouble-free, but this year is droughty. I have been leaving water in a few spots away from the garden to distract critters. Success is spotty, and at least one pan has become a bird bath...which bugs mama: she wants to see them and this one is under a currant bush across the yard.

My step-dad used to say: "can't win for losin' sometimes".

Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk

kycountryboy · June 30, 2021

My problem is coons, and possums.
I put up electric fence with wires 4" apart.
I still had something get in. Game camera is going up this year. It could be rats or squirrels.
They only ate pink tomatoes, not red. I have also trapped, baited with alarm, and go shoot them. I can kill something every day. I live in country with many acres of farm land and woods. I had a old timer tell me to feed them and they wont bother my garden., but the price of corn has went up.

PaulF · June 30, 2021

I wouldn't listen to everything the old timers say. Critters have a regular route they follow looking for food. You put out corn or whatever kind of food and you are on the daily route. Then what you grow in the garden is the dessert menu. Exclude the dessert and do not provide the entree and the search for dinner goes to a different area.

My garden is fenced but my wife's flowers are still on the menu. A pellet gun and a .22 take care of small animals, but deer are a different story. They love to browse certain flowers and the low hanging fruit on the fruit trees. I don't have a gun big enough nor enough fencing to protect everything.

SteveP · June 30, 2021

About every 3 years I have to thin out the squirrels. I normally thin them out with my pellet rifle, but it has problems. I bought a live catch trap and have set it set up in my shed and in 3 days caught 8 squirrels inside my shed. So Grandpa Uber has taken them for long drives to a park across town and released them. I haven't caught anymore the last 3 days, but have seen several going across the privacy fence along the back of the property. I'm not looking to eradicate only a major thinning. They LOVE peanut butter.

June 26, 2021	#1
TomatoDon Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: MS Posts: 1,523	Deer and Other Netting I've tried electric fencing and friends use 7 and 8 foot tall deer fence netting. I am tired of having to navigate in and around fences, and the weeds the grow up at the base and me and my dogs are tired of the electric fence. I don't care about a fence, I just want something that will stop the deer from nibbling the tomato foliage and the fruit. Do any of you just drape bird netting or other kinds of netting over the plants to stop the critters and birds from damaging the tomato plants. I use 5' CRW cages, so I will have plenty of support. I have a double row in a raised bed that is 7 feet wide, and the beds are 150 long, so this is not for a small back yard garden. I'll need a lot of whatever I try. I'd like to get some suggestions from people here who have faced this problem of deer, birds and other critters nibbling their tomatoes and what they did about it and if it can be solved with netting just draped over the cages in the long beds, and if so, what size mesh is best? Thanks in advance. Don __________________ Zone 7B, N. MS

June 27, 2021	#4
PaulF Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Brownville, Ne Posts: 3,291	Deer and rabbits were my biggest problem. The garden is about 50'X50'. I tried to put up deer fencing and chicken wire around each section of the garden. It did work OK but was a real pain to do the work and made for difficult harvest. I decided to build a perimeter fence. As luck would have it, a large quantity of picket fence came available (free thank goodness), enough to go all the way around. Wherever there was a fencepost I attached a 2"X2" six foot long board. Then I purchased a good quality eight foot deer fence. This one was a harder plastic weave rather than netting. I used a heavy duty staple gun to attach the fencing. All around the bottom of the picket fence I placed chicken wire, also with the stapler. I used "U" shaped landscape staple to keep the rabbits from digging under the chicken wire. It was a little expensive but considering the system has lasted fifteen years without replacement and none of the critters get into the garden, it was well worth it. We have bobcats, raccoon, fox, groundhogs, squirrels and coyotes as well as deer, rabbits and other little vermin. They all stay out of the garden. The story is that black bears are getting close to moving into our area, so if they finally show up no amount of deer fence will stop those guys. __________________ there's two things money can't buy; true love and home grown tomatoes.

June 29, 2021	#7
TomatoDon Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: MS Posts: 1,523	This is 3/4 inch mesh and I don't think they are going to do much damage with this. I also have an electric fence that I haven't put up this year because I just don't like electric fences and will only use them as a last resort, and I'm a long way from that now. __________________ Zone 7B, N. MS

June 29, 2021	#8
eyolf Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Central MN, USDA Zone 3 Posts: 302	My tomatoes are growing in a 60' x 85' fenced-in enclosure. Rabbit-proof fencing is 3' high, then 2x4 mesh another 4' for 7'. Last year, I witnessed a doe jump over. Posts were extended to 10' and a cheap plastic snow fence was layered above, and varies between 10'-11' high now. Then I noticed a "sag" between the rabbit-proof and the 4' mesh: a deer had wriggled through and gobbled up a bunch of cabbage and broccoli starts. Fixed that. Then the rabbits found a spot at a gate and wriggled through to snarf down some green beans. Fixed that. The kids were up on Sunday and wanted a tour: one of the bunnies had managed to get his head through a spot where the weed eater may have broken a wire, but couldn't get past his shoulders; then couldn't get back out. Soft hearted me grabbed a dyke's cutter, but then drove a stake in the ground there. Some years are trouble-free, but this year is droughty. I have been leaving water in a few spots away from the garden to distract critters. Success is spotty, and at least one pan has become a bird bath...which bugs mama: she wants to see them and this one is under a currant bush across the yard. My step-dad used to say: "can't win for losin' sometimes". Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk __________________ a day without fresh homegrown tomatoes is like... ...sigh

June 30, 2021	#9
kycountryboy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: ky Posts: 26	My problem is coons, and possums. I put up electric fence with wires 4" apart. I still had something get in. Game camera is going up this year. It could be rats or squirrels. They only ate pink tomatoes, not red. I have also trapped, baited with alarm, and go shoot them. I can kill something every day. I live in country with many acres of farm land and woods. I had a old timer tell me to feed them and they wont bother my garden., but the price of corn has went up. Last edited by kycountryboy; June 30, 2021 at 01:23 AM. Reason: Add more

June 27, 2021	#2
slugworth Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: connecticut,usa Posts: 1,151	Low to the ground plants;plastic laundry baskets from the dollar store.The flaw is they are only 1 foot high by 16 inches,so the plants have to be small. Same store has white mesh laundry bags that are ideal for tomatoes in cages but have a tendency to trap bees inside. Mesh bags with zippers for washing unmentionables; for tomatoes close to the ground,but mice/rats can still chew through. People ask why I have 120 plants in the ground-very few tomatoes make it to my mouth. It's more of a carbon capture function than getting something red to eat.

June 27, 2021	#3
CrazyAboutOrchids Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Zone 6 - CT Posts: 155	I have a 28 x 38 garden. We had a company install fenceposts around and then installed deer fencing. I use raised beds and cages for the tomatoes. Yes, it works for the deer and groundhogs. Squirrels are more pests here, they do acrobatics along the top of the fence but no real damage seen inside. Birds don't bother the garden. I wish I had spent the money and installed the hardware cloth I installed around the chicken coop. It's 1/2" x 1/2" and strong. My biggest issue is with the chipmunks once dry weather rears its head. They do a LOT of damage to the tomatoes. We did install a solar powered electric fence with 2" horse tape around the bottom but we haven't been successful in getting it to work 100% of the time. Seems to work when I touch it to test it - haha - but it's hooked up wrong somewhere - I just never figured it out last year. If I had to do again. I would use the hardware cloth and install a perimeter barrier inside and out (under the beds) for digging critters like I did with my coop. I have bear, fisher cat, bobcat, raccoon, fox, you name it here in my area - we are not in farmland, btw, about an hour out of NYC. My biggest garden threat, once the deer and groundhog were dealt with, is those little chipmunks.

June 27, 2021	#5
lwaedemon Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2021 Location: Hemphill, TX Posts: 4	If they can put their mouth through it they will eat it. I'm stuck with an electric fence but I only turn it on at night.

June 30, 2021	#11
SteveP Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Joplin MO Posts: 1,398	About every 3 years I have to thin out the squirrels. I normally thin them out with my pellet rifle, but it has problems. I bought a live catch trap and have set it set up in my shed and in 3 days caught 8 squirrels inside my shed. So Grandpa Uber has taken them for long drives to a park across town and released them. I haven't caught anymore the last 3 days, but have seen several going across the privacy fence along the back of the property. I'm not looking to eradicate only a major thinning. They LOVE peanut butter.