Every good gardener struggles with it: how to keep the deer from eating their garden before it even gets established! We planted an orchard with 30 young fruit trees at the beginning of the year, and they were totally fine. Until one night, just after they started sprouting leaves, when some deer found them and stripped the sour cherries almost clean of foliage. They’ve bounced back now, thank goodness, because we got a deer fence put up right away. Right now, the fence is a mix of temporary and permanent. We hired professionals to sink pressure-treated 4×6 posts into concrete. Someday, we’ll use those posts as the starting point for a beautiful deer fence. In the meantime, we strung a few rolls of 8′ heavy-duty black plastic field fence from post to post and attached it using a staple gun. It’s by no means beautiful, but it actually looks really good, is barely visible, and best of all, it will keep the deer out of our garden until we can build something lovely and permanent.
We don’t usually think of deer fences as beautiful. But just because they aren’t often nice-looking doesn’t mean they can’t be! I’ve scoured the internet looking for deer fence inspiration, and here are just a few examples of beautiful, functional fences that keep those pesky deer out of the garden while managing to look good!
photo via houzz
photo via houzz
Deer fences need to be around 8 feet tall (or shorter and wide) to be effective at keeping deer out of the garden These first two fences use the two layer method: the bottom half of the fence uses metal paneling, while the top half uses tension cables. I love this look because it is pretty without being really dense. It blends in to the landscape decently well and doesn’t obstruct views.
photo via willamettevalleylawncare
photo via perjoy
These next two fences also employ the two-layer method, but instead of tension cables on the top half of the fence, they have a narrow pergola. This look is really pretty and structural (especially in that first photo!), but maybe not practical for a large garden.
photo via houzz
This fence uses two layers of wood-framed metal paneling on top of each other. Not super artistic, but attractive enough, and probably really effective at keeping deer out.
photo via gardenimagedesign
I can’t tell if this fence is tall enough to keep deer out, but I love those tall wooden pillars in the center of the garden. It looks like they have some trellises between them and spots for garden tools to hang up. Genius! And the fence, if a little too short, is really pretty. I love the wood!
photo via valeaston
This deer fence is super smart! Deer can jump high, but they can’t jump high AND wide. This fence is a little shorter than a typical deer fence, but the boulders and landscaping in front add width, so it’s still effective. And the curved iron pieces on top are beautiful, interesting, and unique.
photo via remodelista
Our last beautiful deer fence is truly one-of-a-kind! It’s almost too pretty to be a deer fence; it looks like an art installation. You can’t tell from this photo, but the bottom of the fence has some kind of chicken wire or small metal paneling to keep little garden pests out, and the height is perfect for deterring deer.
Do you have a favorite? If you had to build a beautiful deer fence, which inspiration photo would you use?
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