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I'm trying to keep deer from eating our young apple trees. It is generally a losing battle. The current plan is to use these 1" stakes (6' tall) and 18 guage wire to build a little fence around each tree. (Yes, I know they make fencing for this but this method is far cheaper to implement.)

Trouble is, when I pull any one course of wire tight (say, the top one), all the others become to loose. Is there a way to get them to look reasonable and at a similar tension? enter image description here

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    Maybe try a different approach? I have had success with "tree tubes" or "tree grow tubes" (google it). They are relatively inexpensive and work really well. For deer, you will likely want tubes at least 5' tall.
    – Rob
    Commented Aug 8 at 13:42
  • You get what you pay for. This also can't be significantly cheaper than a roll of welded wire fence and a couple t stakes
    – jesse_b
    Commented Aug 9 at 12:06

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The main problem is with the light-weight stakes:

  • Push gently on the side of one of the stakes; I'm pretty sure you'll see it move a little, even when not pressing very hard.
  • When you pull one strand tight, the stakes almost certainly move closer together and the other strands become looser; keep tightening each strand in turn and eventually the stakes will be touching each other.
  • When a deer tries to get to the tree, the stakes will either pull out of the ground or break off.

There are seven wires pulling two poles together, so the setup is going to need something that can pull them apart harder than all seven combined, such as:

  • Much stronger and better anchored poles (e.g. t-bars embedded in concrete).
  • One or more rigid horizontal bars between each pair of poles (e.g. the same kind of 1" stakes).
    You could even use those bars instead of the wires.
  • Guy wires at each corner anchored to shorter stakes a few feet away (utility poles use this method to prevent them from being tipped over whereever the power lines change direction).

But a second problem is with the wires:

  • To get to the tree, the deer will simply push its head through the large space between the wires.

Combined, these problems make it about as effective as posting a "No Deer Allowed" sign beside the tree.

To give this a chance of working, there would have to be much closer spacing between the horizontals. The result though would be very much like an improvised mesh fence.

And, from what I see elsewhere, mesh fencing really is the way to go, presenting what looks like a solid barrier to the deer, which will normally avoid it rather than simply tearing it down (which they could easily do).

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  • This might work, not because it will physically prevent deer from reaching the tree, but because it's an unfamiliar obstacle that deer, being naturally cautious animals, may instinctively avoid and seek other nearby food sources instead. It would almost certainly not work against, say, goats (who'd just climb the fence, eat the tree and probably try to eat the fence too).
    – Ilmari Karonen
    Commented Aug 9 at 10:18
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    I know a few people who have also had good luck going the opposite direction and using fishing line. The deer can't see it at all, and when they bump into a barrier that they can't see they get confused and eventually just give up. They also tend not to try jumping over it since they don't know how tall it is.
    – Perkins
    Commented Aug 9 at 19:42
  • Great idea about the sign! Just as effective but much easier to implement.
    – TooTea
    Commented Aug 11 at 7:58
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It's just simple physics. Something has to lend support somewhere.

  • Use stiffer stakes to prevent bending
  • Install rigid top rails to keep the stakes separated
  • Use pre-straightened wire (twisted pairs?) so less tension is needed

For what it's worth, I won't be a bit surprised if deer slink right through that. I've watched them pass through barbed wire a thousand times. Smooth wire is just another twig in the forest. There's a reason why mesh fencing is used. Don't confuse cost with value. You can probably find rolls of whatever at secondhand sources.

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I would use a small electric fencer.

As long as you keep the wires from touching the ground(shorting out), the shock from the fencer should let the deer seek safer stuff to nibble on.

With that thin wire and small stakes, you will not keep anything away from the trees without much more work.

Electric fencers come using a power cord, use a battery, and solar types for power.

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  • This solution would be much more expensive than the already rejected solution of mesh fencing. It's also needlessly complex.
    – isherwood
    Commented Aug 8 at 13:43
  • @isherwood Some fencers come complete with a battery. Just hook one wire to the fence and one to a ground rod. Almost easier than connecting a simple switch up. With those stakes, even mesh might not keep deer out. For money, it might be a wash between the mesh and fencer.
    – crip659
    Commented Aug 8 at 14:43
  • But one for each tree?
    – isherwood
    Commented Aug 8 at 15:08
  • @isherwood You can connect the fences together the same as lights/receptacles, but just using one wire(hot/live), so do not even need a return wire or ground.. Most small fencers can do 1000s of feet. The bigger ones can do tens of miles, but they do cost.
    – crip659
    Commented Aug 8 at 15:26
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Do you have more stakes? Try adding a top-rail between each post, forming a hexagon.

That would hold the top of the posts apart and let you add some tension to the wires.

And then I'd suggest stapling a large piece of windbreak cloth around the outside to help "hide" the delicious tree from the hungry deer.

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Consider building a fence around the whole garden. It can be either or both "classical" or electric fence to keep rabbits and deers nibbling elsewhere.

If you want to protect each tree individually and easily, you can use thicker stakes to raise edges of a pyramid and wrap the mesh around. Or build a cube, but stabilize it with cross-links, both on walls and ceiling.

There are special meshes that are denser close to the ground (keeps rabbits and small deer out) and scarcer in the upper part, so they are lighter and a bit chaper.

The deer can be not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but they are determined to get the food. And apple branches are tasty for them, so they are even more determined to get the bite.

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