Whidbey Island Deer Fence Inspires A Fresh Design for a Sammamish Garden

Shirley and Alf Collin's spectacular Whidbey garden inspired a Sammamish couple's new deer fence. I wrote about their garden (read the story here) a couple of years ago, and their fence caught Rob Gunther's eye. He was so taken by it that he got in touch with the Collinses, visited their garden, and modeled his own deer fence after their basic design.

Rob wrote the following email to my editor, describing his fence odyssey..."My wife & I are long time Seattle Times subscribers....Over a year ago, we read an article about a garden tour on Whidbey Island that featured a picture of a "deer fence" that interest us. Although we could not swing the tour, we uncovered the garden owner and later arranged a visit. We took this gardener's basic fence design but modified it significantly to achieve our own design. We recently finished our fence which protects a garden on our Sammamish, WA property. I've attached a couple of pictures and would appreciate it if you would pass these along to Valerie and thank her for her inspiration."

 I love that  Alf and Shirley were willing to share their garden not only with Times's readers, but also with a guy fascinated by their fence. Their design sparked Rob's creativity, and he was kind enough to tell us his story and send photos of his handsome, deer-proof new fence.

 

Comments

[DariaW]

To keep elk out of our vegetable patch my husband sets up a series of towers w/ motion detectors, lights and radios. It works pretty well. He also sprays w/ liquid fence and cayenne pepper. Unfotunately, it's nowhere near as elegant.

[Alicia]

I have been looking for an attractive deer fence and this is by far the best I have seen. I am interested in what the black arches are made of and would love to get in touch with the owner.