Are you looking to plant some fruit & nut trees? Make sure to have a good fence! On Salt Spring Island the deer are a challenge for gardeners. If a space is not fenced properly the deer can damage a young orchard very quickly. It is our experience that fruit trees need to be in a fenced area, or have individual fences. We get a lot of questions about how to fence trees, so this is our guide on how to build strong, cost-effective fences.. Included below is a materials list, a tools list, and a rough sequence of our fencing process.
Individual Fences for Fruit & Nut Trees.
Materials List:
12-14 gauge wire. Fencing wire. 4-5ft high. Maximum 2″x 4″ holes. 200ft Link: 100ft Link
Rebar 1/2″ or 3/8″. Get the store to cut rebar into 4ft lengths! Rebar Link
Fence Ties or 16-18 Gauge galvanized wire. Wire Link
Tree Guards for Voles, Rabbits, and Mice. Link
Tools List:
Gloves
wire cutters
Post Pounder
Hammer
Sequence for Fencing individual Fruit Trees:
- Wrap your tree in a 24-36″ Tree Guard.
- Cut Fencing wire into 10ft lengths for each tree.
- Connect the fencing wire to make cages. (3.3 diameter)
- Set Wire cages over trees after they are planted.
- Weave rebar down through the holes of the wire cage.
- Pound rebar in with a hammer 1-2ft into soil
- Adjust wire cage as needed.
- Repeat Step 5, to set a total of three rebar around the cage.
Congratulations, you`ve fenced your trees! They are now protected from deer, rabbits, mice and other creatures.
Fencing a Garden or Orchard.
For fencing a property we recommend using 7-8ft metal fencing. Deer can easily jump 6ft. Now the bigger roles of 8ft fencing are incredibly heavy to move by hand. For a DIY project, you can easily fence a garden with two runs of four-foot-high fencing. For corner posts `you need more stability; we use cedar logs 3-4″ in diameter for our corner posts. For the rest of the fence line we use 8-9ft metal T Posts pounded into the ground about 2ft deep. The T Posts are spaced about 10ft apart.
Materials List:
12-14 gauge wire. Fencing wire. 200ft Link: 100ft Link
Rebar 1/2″. Get the store to cut rebar into 4ft lengths! Rebar Link
Fence Ties or 16-18 Gauge galvanized wire. Wire Link
Fence Staples /Fence Nails. Staples Link
8-9ft T posts Tpost link
Tools List:
Gloves
wire cutters
Post Pounder
Hammer
Sequence for fencing a garden or orchard:
Set your corner posts. Dig a 2ft hole. Drop a 10ft Cedar Post. Fill with large rocks, and or concrete.
Run a string line between corner posts. Clear the fence line of any vegetation
Pound in T Posts approximately 10 ft along the string line.
Attach the Fence into the corner post with fencing nails.
Unroll the Fencing wire down the line.
Pull the fencing tight and tie the Fence into the T posts with wire ties.
