deerdecorative and functional ways to keep them out of veg

I am moving at the end of next week and having to leave my current garden behind (sad)
BUT, I get to garden on three acres rather than an 1/8 (happy)
BUT, of course there are deer at the new house---

I am thinking of building a 50x50 foot enclosure to house some raised beds for veggies and some susceptible cut flowers...will 10 feet be high enough? I am thinking of using 4x4's spaced 8-10 feet apart with 2x4's as horizontal supports every 3-4 feet down and then using wire to finish it off and make it deer proof--will this work? any better ideas on how to make it better?

I have found different recommendations on height. The 'fence' guys say 8 feet enough. Some others (internet searches) say 10-12. I think 12 may be overkill. Of course the smaller the space the lower it can be because the deer will avoid small enclosures. My spouse and I have been talking about putting in metal uprights and fastening the plastic fencing between. One thing for sure tho - when we do get around to doing it, we will be digging a trench around the perimeter and putting metal fencing (dog fence or smaller opening wire) in the trench and bending it so so some of it comes above ground (sort of an "L" shape) (don't know if I am describing well enough for you to picture it) --the point of doing this is to keep rabbits and underground tunneling critters from invading the garden and eating the veggies / and or roots. He actually wanted to do a footer of sorts and put in either poured cement or cement blocs or gravel and then 'walls' up from there...but I think that would be too costly and again - overkill. The only thing I have to figure out is the gate..how to get it low enough to the ground to keep rabbits out and make it easy to open and shut without dragging the ground. We got a quote from a fence company (not to include the metal mesh or digging the footer or the footer fill -- just the fencing and the gate) for 20 x 30 - $2500.00

Have you considered electric instead of such a high wire? I have kept both small critters and deer out of my garden all year with three strands of electric wire. You can barely see the wire when you look across the yard -- it is very unobtrusive.

does the electric fence keep out the smaller critters?

Knock on wood, I haven't lost a thing out of the garden to anything other than a few bugs. I have one wire 2 inches of the ground, one 6 inches of the ground and one 30 inches off the ground.

What about the tunnel-ers - voles etc., that is why I want to install some mesh underground.

Inside the fence, the garden is all raised beds, so I have had no problems with tunnelers.

Our beds would be raised also.....had not considered that. I guess in thinking about it..it wouldn't enter my mind that the critters would not come up under a raised bed --it would see the earth above would be much more hospitable in a prepared bed.

This message was edited Aug 25, 2008 6:00 PM

Well, I don't know much about voles or other tunnelers, but they would have a tough time tunneling into my raised beds. Our ground is really rocky (or should I say our rocks have some soil around them?). The bottom boards of the beds are set into the ground by 4 or 5 inches, too. Around here, it appears that the moles/voles/gophers tunnel just a few inches under the surface.

wow--only 30 inches--what keeps the deer from just hopping over?

I don't know, but we had them in the yard constantly until I put the fence in. They don't come within 50 yards of that fence now.

Granted, we're out in the country, so pressure for food is much lower than it is for suburban deer. So, our deer may not be as bold as those closer to town.

I figure they did what all animals do with something new --- they sniffed it. One jolt to the snout, and they decided to stay in the woods and eat berries.

Oh, and before they would "hop" over it, they would try to walk over it -- same result as above, one jolt and they decide it's not worth the effort. One of our cats had taken to using one of the raised beds as his litter box about the time I put the fence in last spring. He jumped the low wires successfully about 5 or 6 times. Then he got stung on the behind leaving the area once. Let me repeat that -- once. He hasn't been anywhere close to the garden since.

Well, that partially explains why you don't have problems with that rocky base, Jeff -- it provides that impenetrable barrier I am seeking by adding a cement or metal mesh footer around the entire space. We don't have the same levels of rocks that you do (my sympathies ;0) --I know those rocks can be murder) and so I was seeking another solution. And, by sinking your wood in the ground several inches ----again you have provided a barrier to access under your veggies. It is a good idea. If I could get the main fencing close enough to the ground to prevent the rabbits from getting in ....plus protect the vegetables on the interior of the space by placing a barrier around the bed...it may actually be less work and less expensive. I was going to raise the bed via long berms but maybe your way is better. Or maybe I can sink a metal edging alongside each berm if I want to keep the long berm idea. I just hadn't considered protecting the area that way --thanks for your comments -- I think it is going to save me a lot of money! Thanks so much. Rah - do you have an idea how you are going to approach now?

I saw someplace about a slanted fence to keep deer out. It leaned at about an 80 degree angle outward. It both was tall enough, about eight feet, but the outward slant, angle, was the great deterrant. Deer didn't like it at all, looked to them like a trap, 'they' said. Whatever, it worked.

Anyone google "deer fence"? Not my problem, go for it! (Why do I feel like I'll pay, umm, dearly for that comment??)

Electric fence. A friend, true story, had a flat tire in the country. Had no place but next to an electric fence to change the tire. Said he was being so careful about the fence, but at some point, his bare skin between his belt and his shirt touched the wire. He did a perfect back flip into the pasture.