garden fence height

[cisco]

As I progressively get my future retirement property into shape (currently laboring on a pond), I intend to put in vegetable garden. That means a fence, given critters such as deer and raccoons (undoubtedly rabbits are around, but I've not seen them). So, this fall I'm putting in the fence line for a 60' by 100' garden, probably with 4" X 4" treated posts and galvanized mesh wire.
The question - how high should the fence be? I realize I'll need to set the mesh wire about 6" into the ground so it's tougher to tunnel under, but have no clue as to a height that will deter most of the small variety of deer we have in South Carolina. I'm a hunter, so can dispatch particularly troublesome deer. That said, I'd prefer to have an unmolested garden (OK, birds will get in) most of the time, and not to have to shoot on my property. Lowe's and Home Depot only have 5 foot wire mesh in stock, which I assume is a tad short - should I order mesh 6 feet or 7 feet high?

 

[midlf]

I think you will need more than 6" in the ground. Others may have a better opinion on how much.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

We are over-run with rabbits. (Speaks volumes about my dawgs, don't it?) All I do to keep them out of the garden is to use 24" chicken wire, tee post's every 10' or so, and pin it to the ground with "staples" bent from #9 wire. That does the trick. I've never had to bury the bottom edge of the fence. (I pull the fence down in the off season.) Deer, well, that's another story entirely. I've seen 'em go over a 6' fence like it wasn't there. I guess you'd need a roof over the garden to "deer-proof" one. Squirrels can do quite a bit of damage too. Letting the dogs loose seems to keep them away. 'Coons are the worst. They'll go over, under, or through a fence. Luckily, they aren't a problem at our new place.

 

[GregMVT]

We have a lot of rabbits here too but they never seem to bother the garden. When we grew corn we had problems with coons but we never did good with corn so not planting it any more. The mice really love the tomatoes and pumpkins. We are trying to stake the tomatoes up higher this year, must have lost about 1/3 of them last year to the little vermin. Did catch a coon trying to get in the chicken run this morning. TSC has 6' fence that I used for the run, buried about a foot with about 5' above ground. Coon had the top of the fence pulled down and would have made it over except she had a leg stuck in a trap. Good luck with the garden. We really enjoy ours even if it is a lot of work.

Greg

 

[Paddy]

You do have very small deer in SC. I'd look in to a standard 4-5' fence with two rows of barb wire on top. Keeps your 4x4 long so you can add barb wire as needed. Use the metal Tee posts alternating with 4x4 or two Tees then a 4x4.

 

[cisco]

I've no immediate neighbor with a garden, but a number within a mile or so, and I've stopped by within the past weeks to converse. They use various stuff, including an old drift net, chicken wire and the like. It seems the local coons don't like to climb fences (lots of food without such effort), the rabbits tend to shallow tunnels, and the deer don't try anything over 5 feet. So, I'm going with 6' galvanized mesh, buried 6" into the ground, with the option of 1' of barbed wire above such (the 4X4s will be 10', with 3' buried in cement in the ground) if a larger buck shows up. Course, if such shows up (I've lots of small doe around, and we mutually ignore each other), I just might alter my intention not to shoot on that property.

 

[fishman]

One thing I would avoid is two strands of barbed wire spaced closely together on the top of your fence. It is a fairly common practice here in Tx, and deer often get their hooves caught between the strands when jumping over the fence. Once over the fence, they cannot get loose. I've personally released one small fawn from such a death trap who was caught by the rear leg and witnessed dozens of other carcasses hanging from fences. With more space between the wires, it shouldn't be as much of a problem as they can pull free more easily.

 

[HappyCPE]

Where I am, it isn't a serious deer fence unless it's 8 feet high.

There's an orchard nearby that has a 10' high fence, with another 3' section at the top projecting out horizontally, and diagonals running back on the fruit side. It looks like the fortifications on Omaha Beach, but that farmer gets to keep all his apples.

 

[txdon]

My pre-retirement garden fence, now my retirement fence, is 8 feet high. I got the deer fence from the farmers co-op in the county. I did not bury any of the fence and have not had any trouble with critters digging except an occasional gopher and burying all that fence would not be worth the trouble for the occasional gopher. I did have to put 2' chicken wire at the bottom because the rabbits got through the larger deer fence holes.

For a gate I used a 8' cattle gate sideways making it 4' wide by 8' high. I lined the gate with the deer fence. I should have used 2 gates so I could get my future tractor in....but that's another retirement project.....