A Better Deer Fence
Nina Maclean
I
live in the mountains of Montana and for three
years I have successfully kept the numerous deer, elk, and
moose out of my 2.5 acres
garden and young trees. This
has been done without the
expensive, imposing, eightfoot high prison yard deer
fense so common. My fence is
only 4’ high, made of five-foot
chicken wire on metal posts.
One foot of this five-foot
wide chicken wire is bent
to lie on the ground toward
the outside. This closes the
gaps on uneven ground, and
prevents small animals from
digging a hole, which later the
deer would use. Another key
to the success of this fence is
two strands of string or wire
running parallel to the top of the fence on the inside. These are
strung a little over two and four feet to the inside, and are also
four feet high. Metal posts hold the wire that is four feet to the
inside, but the middle (two feet to the inside) wire, is suspended
between short wire connections betwen the inside and outside
posts. These two inner wires seem to deter the deer from jump-
ing over this four-foot fence. The resident elk herd and frequent
moose, which can walk through such light fence, have also stayed
out. The inner strands can support vines, and I have planted wild
plums, caragana, and nanking cherries along the chicken wire. In
a few years, it should be more of a living fence. It is so inexpensive and easy to construct, that I can take it down as trees mature,
or move it to a new area. ∆
HIDDEN CONNECTIONS in the GARDEN • AUGUST 2011
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