How do I Build the Best Fence to Keep Deer Out of My Garden?

Deer are cute, but you don't want them in your garden.

Deer are charming, endearing woodland creatures--as long as they remain in the woods and don't visit your garden, where they can eat your fruit and vegetables and cause other damage. If you share a neighborhood with mule deer or white-tailed deer and want to keep your plants safe from their nighttime marauding, you will need to build a tall fence to keep them out of your property. You can also fence smaller areas around plants that deer like to eat. The National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service website states, "Permanent woven-wire fences provide the ultimate deer barrier."

Things You'll Need

• Wooden, metal or plastic stakes
• Heavy gauge wire
• Roll of flexible wire
• Wire cutters
• 4-by-4 boards, 10 or 12 feet long
• Posthole digger
• Quick-mix concrete
• Nails
• Hammer
• Gate
• Hinges

Instructions

Small, Simple Fence

1. Determine where you should build your fence, based on the plants you are growing and the damage you have witnessed.

2. Build a simple fence around individual trees or your vegetable garden if these are the only plants you need to protect. Cut enough 8-foot-tall heavy-gauge wire to encircle the tree or garden area.

3. Drive several stakes into the ground at least 1 foot deep and tie your wire to them using wire. Space the stakes evenly around the area--if you place them 3 or 4 feet apart, they should adequately hold the wire.

Large, Permanent Fence

1. Build a larger, sturdier and more permanent fence around larger areas you need to protect. Begin by measuring the area so you can plan how many materials to purchase: plan on sinking support poles about 6 feet apart. The amount of wire you need will be the total of the entire circumference of the area.

2. Dig holes for your support boards 6 feet apart, using a posthole digger. Then set one 10 or 12 foot long 4 by 4 board into each hole and hold it in place while you add quick setting concrete to fill the hole. Make certain each board rises at least 8 feet from the ground level.

3. Attach your heavy gauge wire around the support holes by nailing it in place in several places for each board.

4. Construct or purchase a gate to allow yourself access into the protected area. Be sure it is 8 feet tall to keep the deer from jumping over it. Include a secure latch or lock.

Tips & Warnings

• When you build any size deer fence, place it far enough from your plants to prevent deer from poking their heads through the holes in the wire and reaching your plants.

• Deer like to eat corn, nuts, fruit, soft vegetation and even the buds and twigs of such fruit trees as apples. If you have noticed damage from deer in your yard, you can probably add to this list, including the damage that male deer can cause to young trees when they rub their antlers against the trunks.

References

• National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service: Deer Control Options
• Benner's Gardens: Deer Fencing Details