Deer proof fencing

[Cherie]

So, my family is moving is about a month and I will finally have a yard. It is an acre but the majority of it is wooded. I am so excited to have a garden! Problem is, I know that deer (and bunnies) will destroy it. Are there any options for fencing other than chicken wire and metal stakes? I was hoping for something a little nicer looking. Amazon had some cute options but they are bunny proof only and not high enough to keep deer out.

 

[Durgan]

A simple three strand electric fence is what my friend has to keep deer, racoons and rabbits from his fairly large garden. The power for the device is a car battery. This friend has about 100 acres and woods are close to his garden area so he has many creatures.

He uses welding wire for the fence proper if I recall. TSC has the simple posts. It is not too expensive and totally effective.

 

[Durgan]

http://www.zarebasystems.com/store/electric-fence-chargers/edc25m-z Here is one charger off the internet. Power is by a 12 volt car battery.

http://www.ruralmfg.com/mall/2_EF01_EN29_B11.aspx

 

[galmal]

So, my family is moving is about a month and I will finally have a yard. It is an acre but the majority of it is wooded. I am so excited to have a garden! Problem is, I know that deer (and bunnies) will destroy it. Are there any options for fencing other than chicken wire and metal stakes? I was hoping for something a little nicer looking. Amazon had some cute options but they are bunny proof only and not high enough to keep deer out.

Good luck! Keeping a determined deer out is almost impossible, I've seen them easily clear a 6 foot fence, and since they jump it, the electric fences don't really affect them. I think if I were you, I would talk to other gardeners in the area and see if they have problems with them. If you live in an area that has plenty of "habitat", they may not be a problem. The only time I had issues with deer was when I moved into the city. Out in the suburbs and country, I've never had to deal with them - go figure.

What are you planning on planting - some things seem to be more "tasty" than others for deer and rabbits.

 

[Cherie]

For some reason, I didn't even consider an electric fence. I will have to think about it. I have a 5 and 6 year old, so the idea does make me a bit nervous!

I was planning on planting your basic vegetable garden, I suppose. Tomatoes, squash, lettuce, cauliflower, carrots, zucchini, cucumber and such. I am pretty excited for my kids to have this experience. I think that they will love the entire process. My son would not even try tomatoes until I got one cherry tomato plant. We put it in a big container in our sun room. It grew all summer and he loved watering it and watching it grow. When it started getting tomatoes, you would have thought that he won the lottery! LOL. He was excited to pick and eat the tomatoes and now he loves them (it's actually how we got him to eat cucumbers and onions too. My father in law used to have a rather large garden!).

 

[galmal]

I was planning on planting your basic vegetable garden, I suppose. Tomatoes, squash, lettuce, cauliflower, carrots, zucchini, cucumber and such. I am pretty excited for my kids to have this experience. I think that they will love the entire process. My son would not even try tomatoes until I got one cherry tomato plant. We put it in a big container in our sun room. It grew all summer and he loved watering it and watching it grow. When it started getting tomatoes, you would have thought that he won the lottery! LOL. He was excited to pick and eat the tomatoes and now he loves them (it's actually how we got him to eat cucumbers and onions too. My father in law used to have a rather large garden!).

I love seeing the world through the eyes of a child. The things that we taken for granted, because we've seen it a million times, is still so new and miraculous. The idea that you can plant this tiny little seed, and a plant will grow from it. Then veggies or flowers will develop. WOW! To us, it's just routine, but to them - they've created new life!

I always had a little section in my garden that was "Thomas' garden". Whenever we went to the nursery, he could pick out a plant or two, and I would help him plant it. It wasn't much on design aesthetics - and sometimes the colors clashed, but it was his and he was so proud of it.

 

[Cherie]

My kids are going to love it. I am going to have a separate herb garden and my daughter and I are going to make it into a little 'fairy' garden. I already have some super adorable little fairy garden accessories in my Amazon shopping cart. She is going to lose her mind! LOL! I haven't told her yet because she will bug me endlessly until we get to plant it. I'm going to at least wait until the end of March when we actually move in to our new house! If the stupid snow ever melts, she'll at least be able to plan and set out the accessories.

 

[Durgan]

My main vegetable patch is about 1000 square feet. To solve the rabbit problem I put a chicken wire fence around the perimeter. It is effective but grass grows along it and becomes a misery to remove.

I don't have a deer problem. The information I supplied is from a friend. He claims to have no damage from creatures with his three strand fence along two garden areas. He specifically mentioned deer as being a problem in the past.

I do have a problem with squirrels but my solution is to feed them peanuts instead of having them attack my corn. My little dog also hassles the squirrels.

I am familiar with electric fences as a child and we never considered them a hazard to humans. A quick shock and one remembers to not touch the wire.

 

[Cherie]

Durgan, you are right about it only taking one shock. I accidentally bumped the electric fence at the grandparent's farm ONE time. And that fence was no joke. There was no car battery hook up...it was a straight up hard wired electric fence! It took quite a while before I got brave enough to give the cows treats over the fence after that! How many different types of vegetables do you have in your 1000 square foot garden? I won't really be able to know for certain until we actually move in to our new house but a 1000 square feet seems like it would be manageable in our back yard!

 

[Durgan]

Durgan, you are right about it only taking one shock. I accidentally bumped the electric fence at the grandparent's farm ONE time. And that fence was no joke. There was no car battery hook up...it was a straight up hard wired electric fence! It took quite a while before I got brave enough to give the cows treats over the fence after that! How many different types of vegetables do you have in your 1000 square foot garden? I won't really be able to know for certain until we actually move in to our new house but a 1000 square feet seems like it would be manageable in our back yard!

I would never use direct plug in to the mains AC. They should be banned by law.

One thousand square feet is very large. I grow 30 tomato plants, 60 potato plants, 8 kale, 8 collards, 8 Brussels sprouts, 25 foot row of beets, 12 feet of carrots, 25 feet of onions, 100 garlic plants, four celery plants, 8 romaine lettuce, 8 egg plants, eight sweet pepper plants, six sweet potato plants, a patch of purslane, green beans, and peas.

Then I have some smaller garden areas for corn, melons, and some herbs. The various fruit bushes are scattered throughout the yard. It take several years to get up to full production for various reasons.

 

[dave david]

Our neighbor had an 6' chain link fence around is garden and the deer did not even miss a step in getting over it. added almost 4' of hog fence to the top of that and that slowed them some, but in the end they still got in several times over the season and did a great deal of damage.

Groundhogs were ALWAYS in it, and the only solution there was a .223 and waiting them out.