How to Build a Deer Proof Garden Bed | Fence Design
VIDEO TUTORIAL + FREE PRINTABLE
In this step-by-step tutorial, I’m showing you how to design and build your own deer-proof fence for your raised garden beds.
Print off your free instruction sheet below.
14 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Building a Raised Bed Garden
Purchase the supplies.
Create your raised beds.
Frame the 7-foot tall fence posts.
Staple chicken wire to the garden bed to prevent critters from digging in.
Lay down landscape fabric to prevent weeds.
Staple deer net (7 foot tall) to the cedar fence frame.
Attach door handles and locks.
Video Example
DIY raised garden bed to deter animals and pests
Gather all of your supplies.
Luckily, our family had some old 4in x 4in cedar laying around that they weren’t using so that’s what we used as our base.
We bought the rest of the supplies from Lowes, Home Depot and Ace Hardware.
To make a similar designed animal-proof garden bed you will need:
Wood (Cedar is insect resistant and rot resistant.)
Deck Screws & Exterior Screws
Brackets
Deer Netting 7ft by 100ft
Chicken Wire (optional)
Landscape Fabric (optional)
Door Handles and Hinges
French Door Lock
2. Create your raised beds on a flat surface.
Our backyard is sloped, so creating two 4ft x 4ft beds in the garage was easier to level.
We then brought out the two finished garden beds and laid them on the ground.
My husband and I didn’t need another 4ft x 4ft space for the entrance so we made it a little smaller by creating a 3ft by 4ft box.
You can plant more in your garden if you go ahead and make this middle square 4ft by 4ft.
3. Frame the 7ft tall fence posts.
Once we secured all three squares with deck screws and brackets, we started on the fence posts.
We found 7-foot tall deer netting so we created fence posts that were 7 foot tall as well.
We live on top of a hill so it can get pretty windy in our backyard. We screwed brackets to the raised beds for extra support.
4. Lay down chicken wire if you live in the country.
We needed the bottom of the raised garden beds to be animal proof so we laid down chicken wire first.
This is optional, but for us, we knew that we needed extra protection from critters and pests.
5. Before filling in the beds with soil, put down some landscape fabric first.
I didn’t want to have to fight with weeds so we opted for laying down landscape fabric to save us from future headaches.
6. Fill your garden bed with soil.
We decided to mix 20 bags of soil across the three raised garden beds.
We bought compost, inground soil mix, and organic potting soil.
We added brown mulch to the entrance because we will need that place to walk so we saved a little bit of money but using 1 bag of mulch instead of soil.
7. Staple the deer net to the inside of the garden posts.
You want the deer net to be stapled pretty close together so I would recommend getting an electric stapler.
We bought the Arrow T50DCD 3/8-in Cordless Electric Staple Gun from Lowes for $60 and it was worth every penny.
Just make sure that it’s charged for using it the next day.
8. Fill in the sides of the garden beds if on a slope.
Since our garden beds are on a slope, we needed to reinforce the sides with extra wood.
We bought 2in x 4in cedar fence picket to fill in the sides of the garden beds.
It’s cheaper than buying a 4in x 4in x 8ft cedar.
We added more brackets to the back of the garden beds for extra support in the wind.
9. Build a French door.
We couldn’t build a traditional door because of the sloped yard. A French door allows you to build two smaller doors, which are easier to assemble.
We also liked how the French doors made the garden seem a little more inviting (and cute).
Now I just need to convince my husband to let me put up party lights on the garden.
MEASUREMENTS
10. Add door handles, door hinges, and a lock.
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video tutorial
Note: I did not include the total price of the garden because we got some of the cedar wood for free, you can pick cheaper wood than cedar, and the wood prices really depend on your location.