Deer destroying roses

[RalphVa]

Article I wrote for this month's MG newsletter: Pardon the title, but they are not “dear” to a gardener. This topic came up in 2020 on the Next Door Ivy forum. Below are some replies that pretty much describe the 3 types of fencing available. For limited areas, the commercial sprays work if you vary them and refresh them after rains. I don’t think I want eggs or blood remains on my veggies which is what the sprays contain.
I have used italics to denote the titles of the messages from Next Door Ivy. The Benner fence alternative is the most expensive but is the most elegant if you have trees to hide it in surrounding your tended garden areas. The electric fence is well proven, particularly in its more recent dual layer rendition, and is less expensive but probably requires more maintenance/technical expertise. I had not heard of the dual white ribbon one when I wrote on NextDoor. It is probably the least expensive and possibly the easiest to maintain. The electric fence tends to keep other animals out as well, with some slight changes. I’ve written another article detailing my electric fence experience which is available on request.
If you own a dog, this may be your best protection. It would have to be on duty 24/7 though. Most deer do their damage in the wee morning hours (judging from my wildlife camera experience) or around 7 pm.
You can lessen deer impact by taking out a kill permit, but this will not stop them. They’re a good source of meat for humans, and we’re about their only enemy currently.
For the occasional groundhog, a Hav-a-Hart trap baited with cantaloupe works. You must dispatch it after the capture or hire someone to do it because transport is illegal. I’ve never been pressed much by groundhogs here like we were in NJ. If you want groundhog tales, I have plenty to share. If you’re troubled by other animals or just want the latest in controlling animal access to your garden, the animal hot line is 855-571-9003.
Benner Fence
We have a Benner fence as well. No deer gets in unless you leave the gates open! BUT. Our fence is 14 years old. (2 acres of fencing) The fence is getting brittle which we patch as well as the wire at the top splits and needs to be replaced. It’s all plastic after all. If I had to do it again, as much as this fence has done well by us, I’d do what vineyards do and use heavy posts with metal wire. That would at least last your lifetime. Fran Boninti
Dual Electric Fencing
You have to either use a tall fence like Fran uses or a double layer of 4' high electric fencing. You can buy the 4' teflon push-in posts at Tractor supply as well as the light weight wire and fence charger gizmo. I'm old fashioned and use separate solar panel, fence charger and utility battery. Put in 2 or 3 wires on one fence and then set another set of posts (can be much farther apart) out about 18" away from the other fence but with only 1 wire about 2 ft high. Electrify all wires. The light weight wire is easy to cut, bend, splice, etc. Ralph Hall
White Ribbon Rows
When I lived in Stony Point, my neighbors put 2 rows of 2" wide, white ribbon around their vegetable garden 2 ft and 4 ft above the ground. They told me that the deer did not know they could just push through it so they did not try and thus the veggies were safe. I have not tried it, but it makes sense. Alex Janssen
I encourage more people to try the white ribbon rows and let us know the results. Deer have trouble with depth perception, apparently. This is why it works, and dual electric fence works much better than a single fence.

Ralph

 

[Peter 315]

Hang orange streamers on the wire. Use some of that plastic orange marking tape. Educate the kids that orange means danger.

Leads to another thought. Hang wiggling flickering things around the plants, bits of foil or pie plates.

Pie plates hanging in front of a million dollar home I don't think so.............:laughing:

 

[RalphVa]

My backup article detailing my electric fence experience the last 20 years. For small areas, I just put a 4 ft mesh wire fence surround (hydrangaes, hosta, etc.).

Electric Fence Details
Just because I have the knowhow, I値l provide some pictures and a short historical description of what I have learned while using electric fencing. I started using it in 2001 when I created a big veggie garden in our meadow which was in an Ivy Creek overflow area. I put up strong 4x4 wooden corner posts and placed 4 ft high Teflon posts in between. I started off with 2 wires and fairly quickly went to 3 wires when I saw deer going between the wires. The lowest wire had to be within about 2 off the ground to keep the rabbits out. If there were any high spots due to ground depressions, the rabbits would get in. I once found one living underneath squash plants. The fence chargers then were NOT electronic. They were very similar to the old automotive electrical systems using condensers and points. They had to be reconditioned at least every 6 months. By around the mid-2000痴, electronic chargers became available. Some were even available in an all-in-one package of solar panel, battery and charger. These last multiple years, about 6 for charger and battery and maybe 10 or more for the panels. I致e maintained the use of separate solar panels, charger and battery because this is what I started with. Also, diagnosing problems is easier with separate components.
Hereç—´ a picture of my current 2 wire row system. Online, they say you can use 2 wires and then a single wire 18 (roughly) out front. I already had the 3-wire system that absolutely was not working to keep deer out of the raspberry rows. However, the dual rows are effective. You can see in the picture where the canes had been nibbled more where the deer were able to gain access when I had only the single line of fence.

Itç—´ hard to see, but there is a knife edge switch just above the cyclone fence. This is used to deactivate the fence for inside garden maintenance. If you look very carefully, you might see a red screwdriver handle which I use to keep from getting zapped by a wet knife edge.
Hereç—´ a picture from the other side. You can see the knife edge around the back side.

Note the 2 solar panels. Even 2 will not maintain the battery in other than high summer periods. So, I really question whether the tiny panels in the all-in-one systems will do the job. The wiring underneath the blue tape is a battery tender off the bigger panel (around 20v). The other panel is only 15 v and is connected directly to the battery. Notice the ?5 Miles charger. DO NOT drop your charger! Mine was dropped, and it lost its audio and blinking light output. However, it still works.
I have another knife edge down below supplying that little garden you see to the right below. It is mounted on a metal pole. It regularly sparks from the knife to a screw holding it in place on the pole when the battery is still ç*¥p? When it quits sparking, the battery needs a recharge.
Hereç—´ a picture of what is inside that old chlorine container: the battery!

Itç—´ an inexpensive utility battery which now costs more than $50. That bar is to keep it from sliding out if the lid pops off. Thereç—´ a fence tester coiled up just to the left of the battery. Itç—´ scary to use. It makes a loud ZAP when the fence sets off its multiple LEDs and makes you feel almost like YOUæ*ŽE been zapped. Don稚 use your volt ohm meter on the fence. Itç—´ 5,000 volts which is necessary to deter deer..
Ralph Hall

 

[RalphVa]

My roses are inside a cyclone fence. Tried growing some knockout roses. Had to extend my electric fence to protect the ones back here. They ate all the ones out front.

Ralph

 

[Diggin It]

Pie plates hanging in front of a million dollar home I don't think so.............:laughing:

Not a concern of mine.

 

[Diggin It]

My roses are inside a cyclone fence.

Afraid they'll escape?

 

[CADplans]

Plant 2 acres of soybeans in the field next to the roses,,
I guarantee the roses will never be damaged,, :thumbsup:

at least until the deer eat all the beans,,

:laughing:

 

[cqaigy2]

My sister used the motion sensor sprinklers and the did a pretty good job of keeping the deer out of the flowers. On their garden, they used 7 or 8 foot 2" square heavy duty black poly fence.

 

[RalphVa]

Somewhere in my electric fence article I'll add about the ground. About the most important part of an electric fence is the ground. An 8' length of rebar driven into the ground works well. If you cannot get the 8' in, cut it in half and put the 2 halves in and join them with a wire. The present location of my fence charger on the cyclone fence pole, it is grounded to the fence, which is grounded to a lightning protection system ground on the other side of the pool.

Ralph

 

[RalphVa]

My sister used the motion sensor sprinklers and the did a pretty good job of keeping the deer out of the flowers. On their garden, they used 7 or 8 foot 2" square heavy duty black poly fence.

Yes, this has worked at a couple of Through the Garden Gate tour properties I've seen, e.g. the mostion sensor sprinklers. Doesn't work in the winter, of course. The 8 foot poly fence would probably be cheaper than a Benner fence, which is quite dear.

I'd like to see more of you try the 2 sets of ribbons. Think it'll work and be the least expensive and less of a maintenance problem all around. Guess you get the ribbon at a notions store like JoAnn's.

Ralph