I originally used chicken wire buried 6" and supported by 1x2's. It's a pretty rickety affair and as my son bluntly said, "Your fence stinks, Mom." But, it worked for 3 seasons until the deer realized that it really was a puny thing. I lost all of my tomatoes, beans, my new kiwi vines. They even ate the tops of my leeks!

I just bought 6' black vinyl covered 2x3" wire fence and 8' posts that I'm planning on painting black. (The other fence in our yard is a black aluminum so I thought to at least match the color.) I'll have to let you know if I'm happy with it when its up.

Thanks, ali-b. I bet the chicken wire worked well with vines.

We have shadowbox wooden fencing around two sides of our garden along the driveway and by the garage. We have a four-foot livestock fence around the other two sides which offer access by deer. The chickens and geese free-range in that area, too. On one of those sides is an old orchard which is used as a chicken yard with a coop, and on the other is a pasture. Both of those areas back up onto the woods where deer like to wander and we see them in the pasture and orchard sometimes. DH put up an electric strand at a height of 22" and two feet out from both of those fences, where the deer would have to set up to jump. When he first turned the current on, that night we heard a deer hit the electric wire and fall back with a thump. There was a lot of huffing and snorting, but they never tried it again. That was many years ago.

The fencing has three gated openings with brick paths leading to the center patio of the potager where the greenhouse sits, but nothing seems to get in through those openings. And it gives the garden a nice airy feeling. We have roses growing up the wooden fence, plus azaleas and other flowers plants, so they soften it and make it look pretty.

Here's a photo of the garden looking through the opening off the driveway, from when we had our old Rion greenhouse which has since been replaced. I've also added some metal flowers to that sign.

riverfarm- What a lovely garden! I like the idea of the gateway and the sign overhead. It's so charming! I've heard keep deer out can be a lot of work, but it sounds like you guys have solved that one for good. :)

OMG now I totally have to have a sign like that!!

Chain link losses its ugliness somewhat over time as foliage grows up over it, at least mine has. Plant some little apple trees espalier against it. Still don't like chainlink but it serves its purpose. Have to have a barrier at the bottom edge though, or you'll have bunnies and groundhogs galore. My barrier is wood, because I just have bunnies. If I had groundhogs I'd also need some chicken wire burried at least 12 inches down. And electricity at the top is really the only way to keep out deer, racoons and squirrels if they are a serious problem.
Squirrels are why I have had to give up most of my potager dreams, they tear up everything edible and drag it all around my row house neighborhood. My neighbors were fining half eaten tomatoes and ripped up sunflowers on their patios and porches! Now I stick to herbs, hot peppers, edible flowers and berries.

I have posted many times on this subject. The one thing I have found to work fantastic for deer is Milorganite.Anyone with a deer problem should at least give it a try. Place it and forget it. Going on 2 yrs since I first hung the sacks.
Tammy

Here is a link that might be useful: My deer problem fixed

I originally had chicken wire but I hated it...it was ugly. So I put this in...

{{gwi:1105500}}

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then, (the next week) I helped a dear friend and neighbor paint her fence (before and after)

I love color.

Jo

ps you can put chicken wire inside a painted board fence and it will be almost invisible. That is on my to do list.

Jo

Joellen, your fences are just wonderful! You have quite an extensive play yard, too. I love color but I tend to let it be in the form of flowers rather than paint, at least in my potager.

lpinkmountain, I had to MAKE that sign. Couldn't find anything that would do the trick. Here it is today; it's a bit dreary out and the flowers haven't been put in yet, but you can see the new greenhouse, the bean fencing on the right, and the tomato poles on the left.

I love all your fences! My potager is on a hillside, so a fence would be extremely difficult to build and I doubt it would keep out the deer anyway as it would have to stairstep down the hill.

So, I have planted boxwood hedges to give the look of a fence. They are still young and small, but I already like them.

I love those bright fences. Mine is the same purple as in the 2nd picture - we have new fences going in this week, and I'll be painting those up brightly to match the house too!

Here's my old fence complete with wild turkey "stuck" inside. It was very bad.

and here's my new 6' high fence. For Mother's Day all the men folk helped me stretch it out and staple it to the posts. I wanted to paint the posts black but hubby insisted he liked the natural wood better. Still "on the fence" about it.