Well, I have a chain link fence around part of my back yard and at one time the deer hopped over it like a rope laying on the ground. But it is only maybe four feet. Later I put a bed outside the fence it is about five feet wide. I just plant regular stuff in there, but just recently added some roses so not sure how that is going to work out. Plus I added a bed of roses on the outside of the fence. I did that because my new neighbors have two big dogs and they (I hope) will act as a deterrent to the deer. My point is, that once I added the bed outside the fence it stopped the deer from jumping into my yard. I think it made them think they had to jump the full width of the bed and the fence and with a bed already inside the fence I think they thought even with the low fence that was too big of a jump to try. Really I don't think it is much of a physical barrier for them, but it seemed to mess with their mind. Yes they still nibble on a few plants outside the fence. The strange thing is that most of my daylilies are completely unprotected on the outside of the fence and they seldom mess with them. The only reason I can think of for this is that they are planted in a bog and it is very muddy and maybe the deer don't like standing knee deep in mud as they eat breakfast?
