Make your own deer fence
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Deer fencing is easy to build and it's the best solution to the deer problem!
I snapped one morning, in a blind choleric rage watching a deer rear up and break one of my favorite dogwoods. That was it. I need the final solution. I didn't want to try the lousy ways, getting madder and madder each time one failed. I went to the ultimate and built a deer fence. I was in my late 40s and did it all by myself. That was almost 10 years ago and it's still doing the job.
There are a lot of laughable, ineffective ways people try to keep deer from eating their expensive landscaping. It's about as easy to keep deer out of your garden as it is to keep squirrels away from sunflower seeds. In my opinion only a deer-fence - or a dog - will do the trick.
Our neighborhood is overrun with deer, there's a population explosion! All the trees have their leaves eaten off them five feet up; the small saplings are stripped; there are many wildflowers (like Queen Anne's Lace and strawberry bush and passionflowers) which are gone because the deer eat them down to the ground.
Deer love azaleas, day lilies, hostas; I've seen them paw tulip bulbs out of the ground and chomp them. I've seen them rise up on their back legs and break the tops of little dogwood trees.
I live near a very handy guy and when HIS wife snapped one night (watching the deer eat an expensive bush she'd bought and planted that very day) he put up a deer fence. I watched how he did it and then I did my own. You can do it yourself too!
UPDATE: This lens received a purple star in November 2009. Thanks for the vote of confidence!
I wrote in my blog about why I built the deer fence...
Huge herds of deer roam our suburbs - like the bison that "blackened the plains of the American West" as the cheesy textbooks say, they roam free, chewing up whatever they please.
They like expensive landscaping materials best. They also like tulips - I've seen them delicately dig the bulbs out of the ground with their hooves. They demolish our native plants (they have a particular liking for passion plants and strawberry bushes).
Since nobody in the suburbs shoots deer, they are fearless. If you walk up to them they continue chewing, broken corpses of tomato plants hanging out of their mouths.
A few years ago I got so irate after watching a deer delicately lift itself up on its hind legs and eat the entire top off a sweet little dogwood tree, I googled my problem and found wimpy and unsuccessful solutions like these:
- Hanging "Irish Spring" soap from branches;
- Buying coyote urine and sprinkling it around one's perimeter (must be reapplied after every rainfall);
- Planting aromatic herbs around precious items (you think deer can't step over/on aromatic herbs on their way to the tasty treats?);
- Planting nothing BUT aromatic herbs. This was the solution of a neighbor who used to have the best garden anywhere. The deer ate all her hundreds of prize daylilies - they pull them completely out of the ground, roots and all - so she now grows only lavender and mint.
I knew that if I tried one of these wimpy solutions, it would be unsuccessful and I'd have to escalate.
So I decided to go immediately for the ultimate solution. I bought 1550 feet of deer fencing from Benner...
I started by researching deer fencing and soon found myself at Benner's Gardens, the oldest purveyors of this deerfencing system. They have a good website with lots of info. I found the best price I could online, and then went to Benner and they matched it. Now, many more people are selling the stuff (Amazon, for instance). Here's what you need to know.
An overview from the Benner website
Visit Benner's Gardens to do your own investigation!Benner's Deer Fencing is a high-strength, wire fence-like mesh (1.75 inch) material constructed of UV stable black polypropylene plastic. This deer fence comes in rolls that are 7.5 feet high ... and provides long-term deer protection without changing the appearance of the property.
The ultimate installed height of the fencing is approximately 7'. Six inches of the plastic fence grid is "flared" out onto the ground away from the protected area to keep deer from pushing underneath the fencing.
For over ten years now this height has proven to be sufficient. The thin profile of the fence coupled with the fact that deer have poor depth perception and cannot see where the fencing actually starts and stops, the deer will not attempt to jump the fence.
When Benner's Deer Fencing is first installed, white flagging streamers (included) need to be temporarily tied to the fencing every 10 feet so the deer do not run right into it.
Unlike electric or wire fence, Benner's deer fencing can be easily attached to existing trees (up to 20 - 25 feet apart). In areas where trees are not present, galvanized steel pipes (powder-coated black finish) can be installed for support. The fencing is also staked to the ground with ground stakes every five to six feet to keep the deer from pushing underneath it.
Spend some time browsing the Benner's Gardens website
Benner is the oldest deer fence supplier in the United States, I believe, and they have a very good website, and also a dvd to watch which will show you how it's done (you'll get one free with your order but you can also buy one ahead of time to see if you're up to it).
It was explained to me that most if not all of the high-quality deer fencing comes from the same place, somewhere in Italy, so it doesn't much matter in terms of materials which operation you buy from. I shopped around, found a better price than Benner was offering me, and then they matched it. I was comfortable dealing with a place that has been around so long.
Benner recommended "Heavy Perimeter Fencing" to me, but I went with the standard fencing and it's been fine.
Heavy Perimeter Fencing is for enclosing areas large enough that deer don't realize that they can just walk around the protected area.
The larger the area, the more you are changing deer travel patterns, thus the greater the risk of them running into the virtually invisible wire-like plastic deer fence.
I enclosed a very large area using standard fencing, with one high-tension cable at the top and staking the bottom. I have had deer trapped inside my fence and they throw themselves against the fencing at high speed and bounce right off. Amazing!
With either of our plastic, non-electric wire fence-like materials, once the deer have been properly trained, they will re-direct their paths and avoid your property entirely.
The key to successful deer damage prevention is total enclosure of the area to be protected. If this is not done, deer will wander the perimeter of the fenced area until they find an opening, enter the property, and become trapped inside.
Deer can jump 12' high, but they don't jump over these deer fences.
Our fence, once it is installed, is about 7' high. Because of the height and the invisibility of the product, the deer, due to poor visual depth perception, can't judge how high the fence really is. For this reason, they are intimidated and will not attempt to jump it.
Here are the steps involved, and the things I used when I built my fence. Take notes!
First: plan the route of your fence, and mark it with a line.
I used old yarn but Mason's line would be better.
Stringliner 35400 540' Twisted Gold 1/2 lb. Roll Replacement #18 Masons Line
Amazon Price: $5.95 (as of 02/17/2012)
Mason's line is actually fabulous for all sorts of things, I use it as often as I use duct tape.
Tie your twine to your starting place and walk the line of your deer fence, unrolling the twine as you go.
Where your fence goes through the woods, figure out which trees are close enough to use as supports to cut the number of needed extra posts to a minimum. You may back track a bit to find the best route, and your line may zig-zag quite a bit as you find the best trees.
I liked putting my fence through the woods because I can't see it there, so I planned the fence to be in the woods as much as possible. The only three places it comes out in the open: at my driveway, at a clearing across a power easement, and where my ex-husband (who lives next door) wouldn't let me put it in the trees at the edge of our boundary line.
Where you have trees, you need just staples and a hammer. Where you don't have trees, you need posts.
Posts are a pain, so plan your route to avoid them where possible.
Every once in a while in the woods I couldn't find a path with a tree every 15 feet. And there was a section where I had to put up about ten posts in the open because my ex-husband wouldn't let me hide the fence in the trees between our properties. So I had to rent a "Little Beaver" post-hole digger and drag it through the woods and dig holes.Instead of using really expensive poles, I used the 10-foot chain link fence horizontals as my vertical poles. I sank them as deeply as I could in my holes and poured half a small sack of concrete in each hole (well, actually, I filled the bottom of the hole with dirt and poured a "collar" of concrete). Then I filled each of the hollow posts with dry concrete and added water. Maybe that was nuts, I don't know if it's helped at all, but none of them have bent or fallen even though full-grown deer, frantic at being caught inside the fence, have hurled themselves against the fence.
Your fence is invisible among trees, so go through trees whenever possible.
After choosing the route you'll need this hugely long measuring tape to figure how long your fence is.
I love the way you can wind the tape back up.
100' Closed-Reel Surveyor's SAE Measuring Tape
Amazon Price: (as of 02/17/2012)
It's more fun to do this with somebody else, but I had to do it alone. So I took along a hammer and a screwdriver. At the starting point, I hammered the screwdriver through the metal loop at the end of the tape. Then I unrolled it completely, that was 100 feet. I marked that ending point, then I went back and pulled out the screwdriver and then hammered it in to the ground where I'd finished the previous time. I recommend measuring twice. Then be generous with your estimation - you would not want to run short of deer fencing.
Second: clear your fence line with a bow saw.
You'll need it to clear biggish branches and saplings.
Fiskars 7031 30-Inch Bow Saw
Amazon Price: $9.98 (as of 02/17/2012)
You could use some other kind of saw, but I love bow saws because they're cheap, lightweight (for lugging through the woods that helps), cut fast, and have cheap replaceable blades.
Third: finish clearing your fence line with a lopper.
This garden shear and pruning set looks a little cheap but will probably make it through the project.
Bond 6584 2 Piece Pruning Set With Lopper And Pruner
Amazon Price: (as of 02/17/2012)
After you've taken out any major sized obstacles, you'll want to clear the fence line right to the ground, several feet to each side of where you'll be working, because it's hard unrolling the rolls of deer fencing and you don't want it getting stuck on brambles and little bushes.
Once your fenceline is clear, measure it again (a couple more times). Now you're ready to start ordering materials. The fencing comes in 330 foot rolls if you're using the standard weight. I needed five rolls. Your trees must be no more than 20' apart (I prefered 15') so you'll need enough posts - and heavy duty cable ties - to fill in. And compute all the rest.
Compute carefully and then order your materials, it takes a while for them to come. Meanwhile prepare your gates.
I used this standard-weight deer fencing
Deer Fence: Standard Perimeter 7.5ft x 330ft
Amazon Price: $299.00 (as of 02/17/2012)
I love the stuff. It's been up for almost ten years and is still in great shape. A reviewer at Amazon wrote: "The fence material was economical to purchase and worked very well. It was easy to install and stretch. I used smaller staples to fasten it to the wooden posts and electrical wire ties to fasten it to steel posts. I buried it 6 inches deep so that rabbits don't dig under it. It has been up for about a month and I have had no deer or rabbits enter the garden. "
This is the extra-strong variety recommended for large enclosures
I have a huge enclosure (1600 feet) and didn't use this but it's really strong!
Deer Fence: Extra Strength Perimeter 7.5ft x 165ft
Amazon Price: $269.00 (as of 02/17/2012)
This is the stuff. A review of the netting at Amazon:
I have tried over a dozen different ways to keep deer out of the garden. All have failed. This year I decided to pay the extra expense of getting deer fencing. This was worth the cost. I finally have a garden that would make momma proud.
The fencing was easy to roll out and attach to eight foot landscape timbers. The heavy duty mesh is going to last for many years. Deer have yet to jump over it.
I have raised garden beds. I have stapled the bottoms so that rabbits and other small animals cannot get in.
There is cheaper fencing on the market. I believe you would be wasting your money.
The heavy duty fencing will go the distance for you.
Here's the approved driveway gate.
Cheaper: make your own out of pvc pipes (I did).
OK, fine, you don't want to get out of your car? Get an automatic driveway gate opener.
Powered by battery and/or solar panel.
Inexpensive fence posts: chain link fence top rails
The cheapest fence posts I've come up with
You can get these top rails at your local Lowe's - they are 10' 6" long (tall) and I have found them to be perfectly strong when sunk in 18" of concrete. You can use a 4" auger for your post-hole digger when you use these slender poles. Deer have flung themselves again and again at the fence and these posts haven't bent. Click on the picture to go to drillspot.com which is an online source for these poles.
Cap your deer fence posts with these chain link fence rail ends
They keep the water out and keep the fence from sliding down....
You also need to plan for some more exit/entrance points.
Where do you need to be able to get through the fence? That's where you need a gate.
You need a stepstool to reach the top of the fence.
You'll use it a lot, so choose a light one.
Rubbermaid 4209 EZ Step Folding Stool, 2-Step, White
Amazon Price: $25.99 (as of 02/17/2012)
I have a light-weight wooden one, but this one would be fine. Don't get one with skinny legs, they'll sink into the ground.
Get a backpack to store your supplies as you go around the perimeter
I keep mine stocked permanently.
Levi's Boys Core Unistrap,Black,One Size
Amazon Price: (as of 02/17/2012)
On the big day fill your backpack with: jars of staples; scissors and pruners; hammer. Later you'll fill it with cable ties and ground stakes. Tie something colorful on it so you don't lose it in the woods.
Oh, and - you'll kind of wreck it hauling it around, so use an old one and replace your old one - that you used to actually use going around in the real world but now it's kind of wrecked - with a nice new one.
Losing steam? Let this picture put the fire back in your heart.
FINAL CHECKLIST
Be sure you're ready because once you start wrapping your area there's no stopping. Fence line clear. Posts strongly concreted into the ground. Gates up and ready to be closed. Step stool, hammer, staples (two sizes), big cable ties, small cable ties, everything mentioned below. Get up early. Ready, set, GO!
Get an early start - once you start unrolling the deer fencing and attaching it to your trees and posts, you can't stop till you're all the way around and everything is closed! Otherwise, deer will wander in and get stuck and go crazy.
I started when it was barely dawn and finished when it was a little bit dark. I was dead tired.
It's the big day! Here's how to install the fence.
Picture isn't me, I was alone the day I did this. Get somebody to help you if you can.The rolls of netting are heavy. Start at one of your openings (gates) and attach the fencing using staples (if it's a tree) or cable ties (if it's a post). You can do without your stepstool today because you don't have to secure the fencing at the top - as high up as you can reach will be fine.
Holding the roll of fencing vertical, lift it off the ground a little and unwind it as you move sideways.
When you get to the next tree or post, pull the fencing taut and staple or cable tie it. Just keep hitching it upwards and unrolling as you move sideways and attaching it to your supports until you're all the way around.
Close all your gates and go to bed.
If you want an early start, or you're going to finish late, you need a headlamp.
I use this every winter night when I have to go get hay for my donkey.
Streamlight 61400 Enduro Impact Resistant Headlamp, Elastic Strap, Black
Amazon Price: $14.49 (as of 02/17/2012)
My son bought us one of these when he was home for a year and doing the nightly donkey feed. I love it. You can see AND have both hands free. Superb idea.
If it took you all day to wrap the protected area in fencing, next day...
Staple (or cable tie, if you have posts) your monofilament just above the top of your fence. Double or triple staple it and knot it securely on one tree; go from tree/post to tree/post and LOOSELY staple it up for a couple hundred feet; then staple/knot it securely there. Not too tight because then go BACK to the middle, CUT it, and slip the two ends through a gripple. Cinch. Repeat.
You'll need this nylon high-tension line around the top of your deer fence...
... and maybe 3' from the bottom too (I didn't)
Deer Fence: Black 8 ga Monofilament Fence Wire - 333 ft
Amazon Price: $34.95 (as of 02/17/2012)
Use this 333 ft reel of black 8 gauge deer fence monofilament wire at the top and bottom of your deer fence. The wire is UV stabilized to prevent breakdown from the sun and weather. Monofilament needs to be tightened with a Round Monofilament Tightner to provide the needed support for the fencing.
I bought a big batch of these big heavy duty cable ties
Deer Fence: Heavy Duty Self Locking Fence Ties 8 in - 100 pk
Amazon Price: (as of 02/17/2012)
You use these to attach the netting to any poles you have to put up (where there are no trees to staple the netting to).
Gripples, oh gripples, how I love you.
They aren't cheap but using them is a delight.
Dare Products Inc 20Ct Med Gripple 2882-20 Electric Fencing Accessories
Amazon Price: $27.92 (as of 02/17/2012)
I adore these gripples - you use them to tighten the line around the top of your fence (and around the middle, if you're using the stronger system). First you tightly attach your nylon monofilament to a tree. Then you feed it loosely through staples (on trees) or cable ties (on posts) for a few hundred feet. Then you cut the monofilament somewhere in the middle. cut it at an angle so each side has a point. Now feed one end through one direction and the other end through the other direction and tighten - I hate to admit it but you do need the tool below - you can get that sucker so so tight! It makes your fence wonderful.
Unfortunately, in order to have the pleasure of gripples, you need a gripple tool.
This tool's expensive. I borrowed one. You can't tighten your fence well without it!
Deer Fence: Gripple Tightening Tool
Amazon Price: $99.95 (as of 02/17/2012)
Argh, I hate to recommend that you buy such an expensive and specialized tool, but I personally have not been able figure out how to do without it. I borrowed one when I made my original installation (from a neighbor who'd installed the same fence), but now I'm embarrassed to ask for it again when the fence needs repair. Maybe you and some neighbors could go in on one together.
How it works: you put one end of it up against the gripple (as I recall) and feed the loose end of monofilament through the tool. When you work the handle, it rachets the monofilament through, much much tighter than you could do on your own.
When the line is TIGHT, go back and use little cable ties to attach the top of the fencing to it every four feet or so. It's fun.
THEN go back with a backpack full of stakes and a hammer and hammer those stakes into the ground, trapping the fencing in the stake loop before you drive the whole thing down flush with the dirt. Those suckers don't want to go in if you have rocky soil like I do. Not fun. But think about those deer sticking their noses under your lovely fence! Argh!
You'll need a cable tie about every 4' around the top of the fence
They're good for many other parts of the project - buy a zillion.
Cables to Go 43036 Cable Ties 4-inch - 100 Pack (Black)
Amazon Price: $0.01 (as of 02/17/2012)
I LOVE cable ties. They never degrade, they slip on instantly, they're as invisible as the fencing itself. You can use them not only to clip the fencing to the high-tension line around the top (critical) but also to pull the fence together nice and taut between leaning trees, and also to repair holes or rips (sometimes trees fall down right over my fence, and it tears the fencing).
You absolutely HAVE TO stake the bottom of your fence every 5 feet.
It's amazing how the deer will shimmy under it otherwise.
Deer Fence: Bottom Stakes 12 in Kinked Fence 30 pk
Amazon Price: (as of 02/17/2012)
I wish I could say staking is unnecessary but it's critical to the success of your deer fence. When my fence has been breeched it's always been because one of my bottom stakes has worked loose or some critter has gnawed a hole in the bottom of it and the deer have weazled their way through and underneath. I used lots of these stakes - but I also bought a giant batch of yellow plastic tent pegs and use them for reinforcement sometimes.
Straight aluminum pegs are useless. These crimped ones are the bomb.
You did it! Treat yourself to a cold one.
Then sit back and watch the deer go by the outside of your fence (all these years later I still feel smug about it). And now, for a laugh, here are some less Herculean alternatives:
Some other solutions to deer infestations, and repair tips
Some of my other "Do It Yourself" lenses
I'm a big DIY fan.
What do you think? Would you try it? Any questions?
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jptanabe
Jan 7, 2012 @ 11:12 am | delete
- Wow, now that's the solution to deer alright! Loved your descriptions and advice on how to accomplish this. I was headed towards growing only lavender and mint, but now I see another option! Blessed
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Reinindeermann
Dec 27, 2011 @ 8:54 pm | delete
- this deer netting is probably the best option--however the supports used are pretty important too. unfortunately I used wooden posts and just found that a deer had snapped the wood in half and gone in to eat all the remaining leaves on dozens of rose bushes. these were thick wood posts, so this swine must have leapt right into the net. At least the net didn't rip.
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BlueDunDan
Jul 14, 2011 @ 11:46 am | delete
- I understand you snapping! I am a hunter and I stopped hunting deer after getting one. But once they started eating my plants, I was ready to hunt them again!
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Lady_Gotrocks
Sep 11, 2010 @ 5:49 pm | delete
- I lost $500 in Tulip bulbs to deer the first spring I lived in IL. I Soooooo Feel your pain!
Great job on the Lens!
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resabi
Sep 8, 2010 @ 8:47 pm | delete
- Impressive. This is a very well done lens -- clear and informative, with a bit a humor and a lot of commonsense. Golly -- and to think I was a basket case over squirrels in my attic (lensrolling this to my squirrels lens, btw). Blessed and it will be features on my Winging It lens.
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Some of my other lenses...
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- HockeyRodent
- Entire P1, Marty had "deer-in-the-headlights" look. He got beat late in P1 but puck just missed the net after glancing off his body.
This lens on deer fences was awarded a purple star. Want to see the other purple star lenses?
Purple star winning lenses at squidoo.
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