Plastic deer fencing

[Rich]

Hello,

We are going to put up the deer netting this weekend, just wondering how people are fixing it. I spoke to the supplier this morning http://www.farmforestry.co.uk/deerfencing.html and they recommended using battons to hold the netting on to the posts. We're a bit loathed to go and buy tanalized batton, so we thought of just cleving some hazel and predrilling it to stop it splitting, he also recommended screwing the battons on, but I think we might get away with nailing it if we predrill. The other thing he suggested was leaving about 6 inches at the bottom and clipping the netting to barbed or fencing wire to allow rabbits through as they will otherwise chew throught the netting. I was intending to peg the netting tight to the ground, as I really didn't want to bother with extra wire on the bottom, so I'm not really sure now. I noticed some fencing the other day around a cant which was just left hanging, I would have thought a deer would easily get underneath but the shoots appear to be doing fine. How are people fixing theirs?

cheers

Rich and Penny

[Darren]

It's a good idea to leave a gap around the bottom. The rabbits will chew through it anyway, another advantage for leaving a gap around the bottom is it lets the foxes in so they can hunt the rabbits. Otherwise you end up with a safe haven for rabbits. We use wire ties to hold up the fence to the sticks. We found it a cheap and quick and easy way of fixing it. You can buy them from DIY stores.

[Rich]

Well we've definately got several fox or badger holes in the cant, but since all the activity I guess they will have upped sticks and left! (I would if I were a badger living among all the chansaw noise and fence pounding!) So Darren, are you using wire ties to hold the fencing to the fence posts? Or as I had thought of doing put sticks/pegs into the ground between the posts to stop the bottom from flapping around (especially as we are considering having it up off the ground. Now, as rabbits may be getting an open pass to our cant, do you think they will respect the new shoots? Has anyone else had much trouble with rabbit damage, or do you think there's too much other stuff around in the spring to keep them interested.

Cheers

Rich and Penny

[Darren]

Yeah we use wire ties to hold the fence to the posts. One other thing we considered was using staples, but opted for the ties as we thought they would be stronger. We didn't tie the bottom of the fence.

From my experience rabbits leave new shoots alone in the summer as there is more favourable food around. In the winter they will eat shoots that they can reach the tops of( about a foot down) as other food sources are depleted. I'm hoping that these shoots that have been munched will get a clean get away this summer and be out reach of the rabbits by winter.Certainly the ones that grew tall enough last summer have not been nibbled.

I wonder other experiences are of this?

[Toby Allen]

cable ties

or if your clever use baler twine, by the time it comes to moving the netting it will be degraded enough by the sun to pull off easy, leaving the fixing posts free of wire, nails etc.

Alternativly get 6' pailing made up, looks great, supports the coppice industry and lasts for years. If your in the south east try Mick 07811782575, or contact me if your near Herefordshire.