Fishing Line Deer Fence
Ugh, I was so disappointed to get up yesterday morning and find the deer had used my garden as an all you can eat buffet. My first clue should have been earlier that day I had to chase them out of the area, so why would I think they wouldn’t be back? So without creating an ugly mess I knew I had to fence the area in and I chose to create a fishing line fence. Not only is it functional it’s also not an eyesore.
Right here is the evidence they were tramping through my garden…..hoof prints! I’m quite the detective right? That didn’t require much investigation. I’m just so mad at myself for not putting the fence up sooner, a garden is hard work and I certainly didn’t plant it just to feed the deer.
You can see here what they did to my tomato plants, (sigh). It looks like someone took a weed wacker to them, and they were loaded with golf ball size tomatoes. I’m just sick about the whole thing. So rather than cry I decided to keep the deer out while I still had some things left. It seems they like the tomatoes, strawberries, sunflowers and beans best, they didn’t touch the squash, broccoli, brussel sprouts, peppers, cabbage, cucumbers, or spinach. Go figure!
I first did a little research online and decided the fishing line fence was the easiest and most economical way to go. I will also spray a liquid fence once the rains stops, we’ve had over a week of downpour rain here. One good thing I haven’t had to water the garden, but if the rain keeps up I fear it will all be waterlogged and ruined.
The only day we didn’t have rain, and a good thing, I gathered my materials and started fence building. I used 12 pound fishing line and green garden stakes. I had the stakes so all I needed to pick up was the fishing line. I really needed something that didn’t require hubby’s help with (he was out of town) and this was easy enough to do myself.
I shoved 6ft tall green garden stakes into the ground all the way around the perimeter of the garden, placing them 6 inches from the raised beds. I then tied off the fishing line to the starter post (above pic) and wrapped it around each stake several times, keeping it taut until I made one row and tied it off at the ending post. I continued doing this until I had enough rows, keeping them 6 inches apart until I reached the top. Here’s a tip. Put two stakes close together, this will be your starting post and your finish post. That way you can pull one out of the ground and move it to make for human access to the garden, don’t block yourself out, just the deer. I put a rubberband around the top of the starting and ending post like a latch to hold them together (as seen in the previous picture).
I’m not sure why the deer decided to pick on my garden this year, in the past they’ve always left it alone. Nevertheless, I hope this keeps them out. I know it worked for the dog, she couldn’t get past the fishing line..
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Hope the fishing line fence does the trick Dawn. Hopefully those plants that were nibbled off will send up new shoots soon.
Linda, no deer last night so I hope it continues.
I feel your pain Dawn…this is why I cannot have a garden in my backyard…as we are not allowed to have deer fencing according to the HOA guidelines…our only alternative is to put up decorative black iron of PVC fencing surrounding the property. I did get away with my decorative fencing that I placed around my hydrangeas…:) Great solution Dawn….I have neighbors that plant rosemary around their flower gardens to keep them away…Many “rose” mary gardens here!!
Shirley, that’s terrible when they tell you what you can and can’t have on your property. I think I may need to fence in my perennials too. I’ve never heard of using rosemary.
Shirley,
How sad to hear you cannot put a fence up, it may make sense in some situations, yet?— Really ? Hmm ?
But surly an invisible ‘fishing wire fence’?
Maybe made with non — spreading bamboo posts would be okay ?
Has the HOA committee NOT heard of LYME?
I would ask at the next meeting !
Bring some roses with you as a nice gesture.
Oh Dawn … been down that road too many times. For us our biggest problem has been our fruit trees. Our garden problem is the rabbits and gophers. Let us know if the fencing helped!
Lani, it worked no deer in the garden last night. I had a problem with the deer eating our fruit orchard too. What I did to solve it was place a bar of Irish Spring soap into a knee high nylon and hang one from each tree, the deer hate the smell and no longer get close. It has worked for me for years.
Thank you for the fruit tree tip! Definitely going to try it!
Lani, it’s been working for years for me! Good luck 🙂
Will the soap work for bunnies?
Oh snap! Hope this works for you. At the risk of sounding gross, I will share what worked for us before we acquired our farm with a fenced in garden plot. When we lived in subdivisions, everyone had deer issues and everyone used something different with little to no luck while we had a fence free completely “open” garden and no deer problems.
The secret? Urine. Hubby collected urine in a jug and would spread it around the perimeter of the garden. I kid you not.
Windi, the garden is outside my bedroom window and Im not sure I want to smell that, LOL. My do goes out there but I guess that’s not enough. Thanks for the tip 🙂 I may have to resort to it, but so far the deer stayed out last night.
Greetings from Maine, Dawn! We live in the woods…and have sooooo many deer around here that we’ve tried many things to keep them from eating our veggies and flowers. I’ve discovered an organic spray…cheap and oh so easy to make…and it has worked for years for us!!! I buy the following 50 cent spices at Walmart or Renys or the dollar store…chili powder, garlic powder, and onion powder…put two tablespoons of each in two cups of boiling water and let the mixture sit overnight. (cover it because it really stinks!) Then in the morning…I strain it through an old pair of nylons or some cheesecloth. Pour the liquid into a spray bottle and fill it up to the top with warm water. I spray my veggies with this and have had no trouble with deer or bugs for years. I just repeat whenever we’ve had heavy rains. They don’t like the hot taste…but it doesn’t seem to have any effect on the veggies…good luck!
Sweet blessings,
Laura
Laura I will try your recipe. Thank you for the tip 🙂
I could have used this great idea when I was living in North Carolina. We were overrun with deer. xo Laura
Laura, for the price and the amount of time it takes to put up I say it’s the best solution for me so far.
oh, deer!! I think the deer have finally crossed the line with your garden buffet! lol
Susan, I hope the line will keep the out! and so far so good. There’s plenty to eat this time of year….like a corn field right behind me, that’s where they should eat, lol
I hope your fence works. We garden too and it’s so frustrating to come out in the morning to find your garden eaten by deer, rabbits, or raccoons. The raccoons can strip row after row of sweet corn in just one night. I have a neighbor that swears by human hair to ward off unwanted visitors to your garden. She hangs a mesh bag of hair in her garden. I’ve never tried it, but it would be an easy idea. Her sister is a hairdresser so she had an unlimited supply. lol
Becky, so far so good, they didn’t touch it last night. Let’s hope it stays that way. I have tried the hair method and it didn’t work for me. I don’t even plant corn anymore because of the racoons, they always know what day it will be ripe and strip it the night before:(
If you put a Food Source out for deer such as cracked corn, the deer will leave your gardens and flowers alone. I have a bed full of hostas and the deer don’t bother them because I also have a bowl of cracked corn for them.
Fishing line in dangerous. It cuts. I hope no other animals or children/adults are around the area. It’s hard to see and can be dangerous.
Jan I have corn fields all around me and it doesn’t keep the deer out.
I tried the fishing line fence 2 years ago and it worked fine!! I had finally found a great way to keep the deer out of my garden after using sprays, hot sauces, and numerous other ideas. HOWEVER it was only to last for a few weeks. I believe it was probably the fawns that entered the garden first with the adults following. The adult deer will move away when they feel the line against them because don’t know what is there. They can’t see it but they know “something” is there, but the fawns probably just go through. I was so disgusted that last year,the first ever I didn’t plant a garden. Disgusted in Pa.
Jerry I had a deer lean over the fence and prune a few tomato plants for me, but the fishing line seemed to work pretty good. Im not sure I will plant a garden next year either I may turn it all into sunflowers instead.
The deer just ate all 24 of my sunflower plants last night 🙁
Conrad Oh no how horrible do you have time to plant again and have them produce? I’ve heard the population is up and gardens will be devastated by the deer this year.
Hi, i was just wondering if this worked for you? Were you able to keep deer out?
Mag yes it did keep the deer out. I think because they can feel it but not see it, it confused them and they keep away.
Thank you. that’s probably when they walk up to it. I have a problemwith them jumping my fence. I wonder if fishing line would be effective for that. Thank you.
Mag yes just sure you put it high enough.
Thank you. I will try that.
Howdy Dawn! How goes the fishing line fence? My brother in law and I are trying it this year. Tons of deer in our area. We were considering electrifying but don’t want to go that high (only 5 ft now with fishing line only). Thanks!
George it worked out well just make sure it’s far enough from the plant that the deer can’t lean over and nibble on them.
Whether you use fishing line, deer netting, or some other kind of fencing it helps a lot to tie yellow flags randomly throughout the fencing. You are right that they can’t see the fishing line but they can see bright yellow. Our community garden had a problem with deer bashing in whatever kind of fencing we used until we put up the yellow flags, and we haven’t had a break-in since. You can cut short lengths of yellow caution tape and tie them over the fishing line or through the netting. Best of luck to everyone.
For those that like to go camping, weather by tent or back pack or my preference travel trailer, to keep EVERY wild animal out of camp, I have my hubby, bless his heart, go pee in spots all around the camp. Not necessary in pay to park places like state camp grounds. And it has kept cows and bears out of camp. Sounds iffy, but it does work, wild animals don’t want to come in contact with us humans. Happy camping. For the back yard to keep the Mule Deer out we have the invisible plastic mesh 7 foot tall, and 30 feet long, you can’t see it from 20 feet away. Got it at Home Depot very reasonable. I love seeing the wild life, I just prefre they go get their natural food and leave us to OUR natural food.
Opal, send your hubby over will you, LOL I’ll have my boys pee around the area this year. Thanks for the tips!
You are more than welcome, hope it works as well for you as it has for us. The first time I asked him to do this he laughed so hard,, but,,,, it works. Opal
Opal, I’m so anxious to try I started pumpkin seeds inside and I want pumpkins, so hopefully this keeps them out of the pumpkin patch.
It only works until they get used to it. I did this one year, worked great. Tried it again and they just kept walking through it.
Tie a foot length of orange surveyor tape to the fishing line every few feet and let it flap in the breeze. Works even better to keep deer away.
Dawn, This is the second pin have have seen on the fishing line deer fence. I’m going to give it a try. What weight did you use ?
Sorry, I see it now ?
Trudy I have no idea what it was I just purchased what was cheap.
No way would this work. We have a Barr wire fence behind us deers walk right through it or over it