Yeah. Cross that bridge when you get there. What are you at on the fence, six foot?

Almost 6 feet.

Our deer jump 6' fences so mine all are 8' tall and so far that has kept all the deer out unless I forget and leave a gate open. And, just for the record, while the deer can not or will not jump the 8' fence to get into the garden, if I happen to leave a gate open and they walk into the garden and then someone walks out of the house or drives up the driveway, they'll frantically jump and jump and managed to scale the 8' tall fence to get out of the garden.

To scale the fence once they are inside the garden, they jump into the fence several times, gradually pushing it enough that it leans just a tiny bit and then they run hard at the fence and take a step on the leaning part a couple of feet above ground and then use that step to propel them over the remaining 6' of fence. Then I have to go back and straighten up the fence posts and hammer them back into the ground in a more upright position and tighten up the fence if their repeated hits on it made it loosen up some.

If I hadn't seen the deer do this right in front of me, I wouldn't have thought they go could over the fence once they are in the garden. On the rare occasions a gate is left open accidentally and they get inside, if I walk inside as soon as I see them, they don't get as panicky and sometimes will exit through the gate, but not often.

Johnny, For years and years I kept the deer out of my garden with two 3' tall foot tall fences spaced 4' apart. We put in that fence after reading that deer can jump wide or high but not wide and high at the same time. It worked for us from 2000 to around 2008. Eventually a smart deer figured out how to sort of jump sideways into the "moat" of land between the two fences and then to again do a sort of sideways jump over the second fence. Having seen that deer do it, other deer then did it too. They would get into the garden and eat every single plant down to the ground. That's when we took out one of the short fences and raised the other short fence to 8' tall. My friends here in our neighborhood tease me mercilessly about my "prison garden" with its tall fence, but I don't care. I'm not losing garden plants to deer any more, which is what matters to me.

Dawn

Dawn,
I am prepared to erect a horizontal component as necessary.
I saw one recently on TV that involved a horizontal net on the outside of the fence about 30" from the ground.

I found the third wire from the ground broken this morning. I'm guessing it was an unpleasant experience. (I hope)
BUT
The grass in the walkways is about 8" tall. I'm guessing the fence is keeping most deer out so far.

Johnny, I seldom put up more than one wire and it is not uncommon to fine a broken wire after I put up my fence, maybe for two or three nights, but they learn fast. My gardens are in my yard and I don't leave the fence up all the time. After the deer learn that eating in the wrong area is a shocking experience they go elsewhere.

Larry,
Wish us luck. Our snow peas are already up and running. I planted them about 5 or 6 per foot, in unamended clay.
Johnny