A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to get the go ahead from the property owner where I garden with my neighbors, to build a fence to stop the increasingly destructive deer from eating all of my vegetables. The owner had some requirements, and I was happy to incorporate his fantastic ideas. I had an assistant who, like me was off of work and isolating at home due to the virus — he may appear in some photos, we share a love of gardening. Personally gardening is a passion that was ignited for me by my father on one side and a grandmother on the other. My dad came from a farming family that worked in other industries, but somehow couldn’t shake the gardening. It was he and my grandmother who started to teach me about it, and of course, I STILL have an awful lot to learn.

The fence though, that is one I originally designed from the remains of an old deck for another property owner some years back. I’m also building one at my own house, but that is a larger project that I may include in a separate entry. This fence however, in Takoma Park, MD is my newest baby. The owner required that we not use pressure treated lumber for which I was grateful (pressure treated lumber burns the skin and is unpleasant to work with). We instead, fire treated the posts that would be set below ground. This was the owner’s requirement, and the idea was to implement the Japanese technique Shou-sugi-ban to preserve the wood. Clearly our objective was functional, and not as a finish in this application. When the fence was completed, it was finished with linseed oil.

As you can see in the photos, we first laid out the posts per the owner’s sizing requirements, digging each hole with a post-hole shovel. We then were able to mortise the posts and rails as needed to provide additional support. After setting the posts solidly in minimal concrete so they can one day be removed/replaced (we also used some other tricks for strengthening the posts and allowing the holes proper drainage), we installed the top and bottom rails. Then we installed the 7’ deer netting and finally, we made the door out of cedar wood and installed it.

I can happily say that none of the materials we used to make the fence made me itch or sneeze — so thank you to the owner! The deer netting is a practical solution to protect your garden without spending a fortune. Just because it is plastic though, doesn’t mean that it has to be totally ugly!