Building a Garden Fence

Building or "creating" a fence for your garden can be relatively simple provided that you have some time, patience and a bit of strength.  The cost will depend on how simple or fancy a fence you make and how strong you need it to be.  It is also important to keep in mind the purpose of your garden fence.  The 10 or so deer in our yard about a week ago reminded us at how important it was to create a barrier for those who might make a meal out of our hard work.  So after the last few months of deliberating and because I was on spring break, we decided it was time to get going.

The garden before we began this project.  

Fortunately, we have a wooded area on our property where we can find fallen trees and limbs to use for our various projects.  This time, the fallen trees became our posts.  We decided to go with a 6 ft. high chicken wire as it was cheaper than the "horse fence" that I had originally set my mind on.  The posts reach a high 7 foot out of the ground, and we will be stringing some wire or string at the top to provide just a bit more protection (apparently deer don't see very well so they are psyched into thinking the wire stretches up that high).  Who knows if our efforts will actually work.  We have had many different reports with suggestions from peeing on your garden fence to claiming that the deer won't bother our garden at all.

Al used a hatchet to strip the wood of branches
and some of the bark.

We foraged our property for 17 relatively straight posts, most of which were cedar, the others pine and oak.  Each were stripped of bark and limbs and were set in foot-deep holes with Quickcrete.  We then cut a large panel of wire for each "side" of the fence to make handling it easier.  Attaching the wire to the post with U-shaped nails was "relatively" easy aside from dropping them or hammering them in crooked.  I can't see how this part would've been possible with one person so I was happy we were able to work on this project together - one holding the wire in place, one hammering the nails.

We took turns digging.  Post hole diggers
aren't the most effective in heavy clay soil.

A chunk of our beloved clay.  Should be a great growing
medium when we finally get some organic matter in there!

We measured out and cut the chicken wire
to make it easier to handle.

The original plan to use 2x4's for the gate was switched to using 1x4's.  The 2x4's were really heavy and I was worried they would pull on the gate posts too much.  For our purposes, I don't think it was necessary to have a heavy-duty gate.  We bought four 1x4x8's which were cut to make a gate that was around 7x4.  Braces were made by cutting the wood 8 inches long and sawing a 45 degree angle on each end to fit in each corner of the gate.  A cross bar was cut for the middle.  We also purchased 3 hinges and a hook for the gate's latch.  I have yet to actually attach the gate to the post.  This is a task that needs two people, both for physical support and probably emotional support, as I predict this step of our process will be easy.

The heavier posts for the entrance gate.
Not sure how I'm going to get the hinges
on there!

We've worked really hard for this fence and hopefully it will be worth it as far as the deer go.  For me though, there are few things that are more fulfilling than working hard on our house and land.  Throw in the sunshine and a pleasant temperature and I can't get enough.