How to Protect Blueberries From Deer & Rabbits

Blueberries are popular with people, deer and rabbits.

You can grow blueberry bushes in your yard or garden to add a focal point to the landscaping or to have a sweet snack on hand for a few months out of the year. Unfortunately, rabbits and deer also enjoy the sweet berries this plant sprouts as well as the tender green leaves. Fences may work to some extent and a dog may chase away other blueberry-seeking deer and rabbits. Creating unstable footing around your blueberry bush will also help discourage animals.

Things You'll Need

• Treated pickets (2 inches by 2 inches by 24 inches)
• Sledge hammer
• Welded wire fencing (2 inch by 4 inch grid)
• Tin snips
• Barbed wire staples
• Hammer
• Tie wire
• Work gloves
• Safety glasses

Instructions

1. Drive treated pickets into the ground with your sledgehammer. Place the pickets so that they form a grid with 2 feet of space between every pair. Extend the grid 10 feet from the blueberry bush in every direction. Drive each picket so that only 4 inches of the wood remains above ground.

2. Unroll your welded wire fencing on the ground over the grid. Lay the fencing on the ground so that it arches up as you unroll it. Bend the fencing by hand to make it lay flat on the ground.

3. Cut the fencing with your snips so that it fits around the blueberry bush. Cut the roll of fencing so that it makes several rows that you can lay side by side to cover the entire grid.

4. Hold the fencing an inch off of the ground at every point where it meets a picket. Slide a barbed wire staple around the fencing wire and against each picket. Drive the staples into the pickets with your hammer.

5. Bind the rows of fencing together with tie wire. Twist a piece of tie wire around both sections of fencing along each seam. Cut the ends off of the tie wire with your tin snips.

Tips & Warnings

• Work gloves and safety glasses are required when using hand tools.

• Use caution when walking around on the fencing. The raised wire cage poses a tripping hazard that will repel deer and rabbits, but it will also be dangerous to the unwary person.

References

• "Backwoods Home"; Here's a Mighty Creative Way to Protect Your Plants from Animals; Joy Lamb; 1998