3 garden related things I learned this week...

[Zeedman]

Deer can easily jump a 4’ fence but during summer there’s plenty of other food out there for them...

Since the OP is about 3 things learned...
- Deer can jump over a 6' fence, but they won't if they can't see a good landing place. In my rural garden, I use 6' trellises on most sides, 3' in from the fence. I use electric fencing also, but the deer jumped over it once... since I started using the trellises, nothing.
- Deer are also apparently spooked by wire fencing laid on the ground. I have large pots lining the sidewalk to my front door, but couldn't use a permanent fence there. There are a lot of deer in my suburban yard, they would strip any plants in the pots (which were usually my rarest pole beans ). Had chicken wire around the plants, but the deer just reached over it. As an experiment, I laid a 4' strip of fencing on the on the ground, adjacent to the pots - it seemed to work, no further attacks. We just lifted it up to mow, then replaced it.
- One of my home plots runs close to my neighbor's wooden fence. I thought I had planned the proper distance from the fence, to avoid shadowing... but that was for the summer sun. I planted garlic in that garden for the first time last year, along both sides. The late winter / early spring sun was much lower in the sky; so as a result, the side adjacent to the fence was shaded, and that side of the garden thawed & dried out much more slowly. I lost all of the garlic on that side - which was 2/3 of what I had planted. I learned that I still have much to learn... and unfortunately, sometimes that process involves Mother Nature giving you a good swift kick in the nethers.

Incidentally, deer once jumped into that home plot (it is 15' X 85'), when I had just finished planting & no trellises were up yet. Apparently once it jumped over, it saw fencing all around it, and thought it was caged... because it then beat up the fencing in three places trying to get back out, without eating anything.

 

[flowerbug]

Since the OP is about 3 things learned...
- Deer can jump over a 6' fence, but they won't if they can't see a good landing place. In my rural garden, I use 6' trellises on most sides, 3' in from the fence. I use electric fencing also, but the deer jumped over it once... since I started using the trellises, nothing.
- Deer are also apparently spooked by wire fencing laid on the ground. I have large pots lining the sidewalk to my front door, but couldn't use a permanent fence there. There are a lot of deer in my suburban yard, they would strip any plants in the pots (which were usually my rarest pole beans ). Had chicken wire around the plants, but the deer just reached over it. As an experiment, I laid a 4' strip of fencing on the on the ground, adjacent to the pots - it seemed to work, no further attacks. We just lifted it up to mow, then replaced it.
...

yes, we've had a lot of experience with deer here. unfortunately when they built the place they decided to put trees on the property line so i cannot fence the deer away from the cedar trees (which they'll eat in the winter when there's nothing else to get at and they're starving)...

in the west you'll see these things called cattle crossings which prevent cows from wandering from one fenced area to another, but they allow vehicle traffic to pass through. they are slats.

deer don't like those sorts of things either. i may have to put some in here at the end of the driveway if i ever try to enclose the whole front part of the property here (i probably won't as it will be much easier to just do the part that works out lined up with the house corners or gardens close to that kind of layout and leave the rest of the front exposes which will be shaded by the trees anyways).

the deer are currently walking around on the gravel and driveway, but they don't really like it (you can see when they walk). the gravel gets stuck in their hooves (we find it tracked all over the place)... caltrops anyone? (except knowing my luck i'd step on one or fall on one... owwie...)...