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Writer's pictureJoseph Pacocha

How to Keep Deer from Eating Your Plants and Tree Saplings

Last year we had the opportunity to plant several Quaking Aspen saplings for a great client of ours. A nice mass planting area near the road, with the goal to eventually create a natural non-manicured screen, and to add an ever expanding point of visual interest.


Everything went extremely well, the young trees looked fantastic!


A few weeks following installation, there was a problem. The client called us and mentioned that something bad has happened to the new trees and that I needed to come by quickly to take a look. Several of the trees looked like they have been vandelized, were cut to the base, picked at, branches sheared off, amazingly fast, all over-night!



The owner was very familiar with the local feeding deer population, but our team at PLS were under the false impression that the newly planted trees would be safe and able to thrive unprotected. We were sadly mistaken. Our team at PLS took full responsibility for the partial loss of trees since we did not anticipate the deer feeding threat and offered to travel to the Wisconsin plant nursery where the trees were originally sourced to purchase replacements and install them at no charge.


We still had a challenge at hand, and that was to keep the neighborhood deer away from our trees!


In discussing the tree protection needed with the client, turns out he was raised in the beautiful state of Maine and knew of a proven technique to keep the feeding deer at bay.


The solution was to install multiple steel fence posts around the area in need of safe-guarding and to simply take clear/transparent fishing line (I would recommend at least 8 pound test line) and string it around the steel stakes, creating a multi-stranded, multi-level fence around the plants in need of protection.


Fishing Line to Screen Plants and Trees from Feeding Deer


Fishing Line Screening to Protect New Trees from Feeding Deer

I was told that any deer that decide to nose into the area would feel the fishing line, and get startled enough to become disinterested and leave the area. Success!


Fishing Line and Steel Post Surrounded Stand of Quaking Aspen Trees

This simple deer protection approach has worked well over the last year and will be recommended whenever a similar situation arises in the future.

Fishing Line and Steel Fence Post Deer Protection

Please be sure to contact our team at Pacocha Landscaping Services, Inc. with any landscape improvement requests you may have. We stand ready and able to help any way possible.


Thank you for visiting our site and have a great day!

Pacocha Landscaping Services, Inc. (PLS)

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