You don’t want this happening on your property.

Deer fencing is a unique addition to any yard or recreational area, and in the Bucks County and Montgomery County areas, homeowners are looking into the addition of deer fencing because of its many advantages.

A deer fence is much higher than a conventional fence. A regular privacy fence is fine if you’re only trying to seclude yourself, but they’re often not high enough to keep deer and other wild animals off your property.

An adult deer, after all, can jump as high as eight feet. In order to effectively keep them outside your private area, the fence clearly must be high enough to keep them from jumping over it. Not only do deer cause great destruction, but they can also spread Lyme disease by carrying infected ticks onto your property.

Peter Benz Landscaping has been installing deer fencing for many years to prevent deer from destroying everything from residential gardens to commercial orchards and nurseries, while also assisting with deer tick control.

But whether you choose Peter Benz or another area landscaper to install deer fencing on your Bucks or Montgomery property, we nevertheless strongly suggest having the installation completed by a professional.

Here are five important reasons why:

Deer Fences Must Be Properly Maintained

Because of its height, a deer fence must be properly maintained on a regular basis. Vines and other climbing plants can add unnecessary weight to a fence, causing it to sag and break under the pressure. If vines are left intact during the winter months, any ice and snow that adheres to them can cause additional damage.

It’s important to have a deer fence closely inspected every six months. Any damage caused by animals or the elements can be seen and repaired before a major problem presents itself.

Assuming a deer fence is installed by a licensed and insured professional, however, the chance that it will be able to withstand the elements — as well as any dangers that arise from naturally curious animals — are much, much greater.

A Pro-Built Fence is Strong Enough to Keep Animals Out

A professional deer fence installer knows exactly which materials will make your fence as sturdy as it needs to be. (At Peter Benz, we install a poly coated steel web material.) In some areas, where the elements can be rather harsh and animals may be strong enough to damage certain fences, the right materials can mean the difference between a sturdy fence and one that will stand the test of time. Professional installers also know special techniques that can help strengthen the intersections between the wire and the posts.

Deer Fences Need to Be Installed at the Proper Height

A properly licensed and insured deer fence installer will always be able to determine exactly what height your fence should be. Local installers know which kinds of animals you’ll need to be most concerned with, and what types of fencing materials will best protect you and your family from those unwanted intruders.

A Properly-Built Deer Fence Protects Your Family from Unwanted Insects

While deer will rarely attack humans, the insects they carry certainly will. Unfortunately, those insects also tend to wreak havoc on the immune systems. Deer ticks are an especially seriously problem in Pennsylvania, where a large portion of the deer tick population is infected with Lyme disease, which can be deadly to humans. The number of insects that can breed off one adult deer, in fact, is astounding. Did you know deer can also carry fleas?

When deer are allowed to roam free throughout your property, insects will eventually take up residence. A professionally installed deer fence can absolutely help prevent that from happening.

A Deer Fence Offers Security

With its incredible strength and added height, an extra bonus of the deer fence is the extra security it offers. Although it doesn’t necessarily extend additional privacy, it’s nevertheless true that a fence’s height alone can be a deterrent not only to four-legged intruders, but to two-legged intruders as well. A professional installer can create a fence that is durable and strong, and capable of providing a safe sanctuary for your family and your pets.

Any type of fence can be a beautiful addition to your yard, and adding a deer fence that’s versatile as well as beautiful is an obvious bonus. At Peter Benz Landscaping, we’re skilled at creating deer fences that blend into the landscape from only a few feet away. We can also incorporate deer grates into your driveway.

To learn more, or to speak with a member of our staff, contact us today.

And yet the unfortunate truth is that wild deer aren’t always the gentle creatures we see in nature programs on television. In fact, they often bring ruin in their wake.

Why would you want to guard your property from deer?

• Deer often destroy gardens, orchards and nurseries in their quest for food.
• Disease prevention! Deer often play host to ticks, which infect thousands of people every year in Pennsylvania with Lyme disease.

Deer cause millions of dollars worth of property and land damage each year. That’s why it’s in everyone’s interest to safely and humanely keep deer away from our property.

What are the different types of deer repellent?

• Taste-based repellents
• Odor-based repellents
• Deer fencing

Taste- and odor-based repellents are used on and around plants that deer are naturally attracted to. Many of these repellents can be purchased commercially; they can also be homemade. Deer fencing, meanwhile, is a type of fencing that is virtually invisible, and physically keeps these animals from entering your property.

Unfortunately, taste- and odor-based repellents are very limited in their effectiveness. They can be expensive to use, and they only work some of the time. They need to be reapplied frequently due to the weather, and this can be very inefficient. Deer can also develop a tolerance to these materials. During times of drought, or when food becomes scarce, deer will quickly learn to ignore these types of repellents. Because these animals are still roaming your property, they still are a source of deer ticks and Lyme disease.

Protecting you and your loved ones from Lyme disease

Lyme disease is carried by deer ticks, which sicken thousands of people here in Pennsylvania annually. Prevention is easily the best way to deal with the deer tick problem. By keeping deer away from your property, you will severely reduce the chances of this disease being spread.

Aside from preventing deer on your property, you can also utilize other methods to control these ticks. In conjunction with keeping deer off your property, Damminix tubes are one of the safest ways to address the problem.

Deer fencing is the only truly effective deer repellent 

Deer fencing is the most cost-effective way to humanely keep deer from destroying gardens, orchards and nurseries. Deer fencing is also one of the best ways to help prevent the spread of Lyme disease. Along with fencing, you can also install deer grates into your driveway. These grates are made up of slats that deer are unable to walk on, and can be used with a gate to your driveway, or in lieu of a gate.

By installing deer fencing, you will save money by preventing the damage to your property these adorable creatures can cause. You will also not have to worry about consistently applying and reapplying odor and taste repellents that are only partially effective, and expensive to use.

What is deer fencing?

This is a particular type of fencing that is made of a poly coated steel web material. It is black in color, and it has a very consistent grid that allows the fence to blend in easily with its surroundings. In fact, when you walk several feet away from the fence, it virtually disappears.

Ultimately, the aesthetics of your property are maintained by the use of this fencing, not only because it disappears into your yard’s landscaping, but also because it prevents deer from ruining your property in the first place.

When considering all the methods of keeping deer off your property in a safe and humane way, deer fencing is without a doubt the best way to go. To learn more about customized deer fencing, contact us at Peter Benz Landscaping. We look forward to helping.

The primary goal of a tick management plan for one’s home and surrounding property is to create low-risk tick zones within commonly used areas. These low-risk zones should include recreational, eating, entertainment and gardening areas, as well as spaces close to walkways, storage sheds, firewood piles, and mailboxes.

Ticks require a high humidity environment to survive, and need vertebrate hosts to feed on to be able to grow and reproduce. Without these two key elements, ticks just cannot sustain themselves. If you want to make your property safer from ticks, you must cut down on the number of potential tick hosts, while at the same time creating a drier, less inviting landscape for ticks.

Unfortunately, a tick feeds on any number of hosts which can infect the tick with a disease organism that can then be passed on to you through the tick’s bite. Immature ticks (larvae and nymphs) generally feed on smaller vertebrates such as white-footed mice, chipmunks, shrews, voles and birds; the the somewhat larger adult ticks are more likely to feed on larger animals such as deer, raccoons, squirrels, rabbits, and opossum. Ticks are most often transported into your yard by the deer that like to browse on your plants, by the mice and chipmunks that live in the stonewalls and woodpiles, and by the ground feeding birds such as robins, finches, wrens, and blue jays that frequent your lawn.

To decrease the number of these hosts normally found on your property, you need to develop a plan that disrupts their habitat, i.e., the surroundings which provides them with the food, water and shelter they require. First and foremost, you must keep your property clean and clear of garbage or other food sources that may attract rodents, deer and other potential tick hosts. This includes bird feeders and the spillage of seeds and nuts that fall to the ground beneath them. Bird feeders should be relocated away from the house or removed entirely from the premises.

You should eliminate heavy brush and ground cover (pachysandra, ivy, etc.) close to your home, and replace this vegetation with mulch and less intrusive plantings. Open these areas up to as much sunlight as possible. The more open and exposed these areas are, the less rodents and other wildlife, which are looking for shelter and a place to hide, like it. Ticks like it no better because they lose those shady, humid surroundings required for their survival.

You should also relocate woodpiles away from your home. Woodpiles provide nesting places for small rodents. Do away with, relocate or seal those old stonewalls near your homes. They also serve as favorite nesting places for rodents, and where there are rodents, there are sure to be lots of ticks.

It is advisable, where possible, to deter deer from feeding on vegetation in your yard because deer can be hosts for hundreds of ticks which are likely to drop onto your lawn or in your gardens. To keep deer from entering your property, you can install deer fencing high enough (approximately 7 to 8 feet high) to keep them out. If this is not practical, you can try to eliminate those plants that attract deer to your property.

Deer enjoy browsing on a variety of vegetation including apple, pear and cherry trees as well as rhododendrons, mountain laurel, rose bushes, impatiens, pansies, daisies, lilies, tulips, and black-eyed susans. While no plant species is completely immune to deer browsing, plants such as daffodils, marigolds, lily of the valley, honeysuckle, common lilac, forsythia, common boxwood, American holly, Norway spruce, wisteria, and American bittersweet are their least favorite food items, and generally will not tempt them to your property.

Research has shown that the majority of ticks found on a property are located in close proximity to a lawn’s perimeter (ecotone) with woodlands, stone walls, shady perennial beds, and garden plantings. Thus, perimeter spraying of these particular areas with a pesticide that kills ticks, can prove an important component of any landscape management plan.

The most common tick control agents used today for perimeter spraying are synthetic pyrethroids such as permethrin, befenthrin, and cyfluthrin. Pyrethroids are organic compounds synthesized to be similar to the pyrethrin insecticide produced naturally by chrysanthemum flowers. When sprayed onto your property, these compounds do not leach through the soil, but are broken down over several days within the top few inches. Pyrethroids can however, prove toxic to fish in small ponds or streams, so caution must be used when spraying in close proximity to water bodies.

If you do not like the idea of spraying your property with a synthetic chemical, there are natural organic spray alternatives available that work about as well as the chemicals. One such organic compound is cedar oil, and another (Essentria IC3) is a mixture of rosemary oil, geraniol, and peppermint oil. You should spray three times a year, including the middle of May and the middle of June to kill the nymph deer ticks, and then again the middle of October to kill the adult deer ticks.

Hardscape and xeriscape landscaping practices are also beneficial to employ as part of your landscape management plan. Hardscape landscaping practices make greater use of hard surfaces (as opposed to vegetated surfaces), such as flagstone patios, brick or gravel walkways, wooden decks, and other similar features where family members may congregate. Xeriscape landscaping incorporates plants in the landscape that require less water, creating a drier environment hostile to high humidity loving ticks.

In summary all of these practices, taken in total as part of an integrated tick landscape management plan, will benefit you and your family. Being aware of your surroundings and smart about your landscaping practices can help you make your property safer from ticks, and give you some peace of mind as you enjoy the use of your land.

In Bucks County PA we actually have one of the densest deer populations in the entire state. Deer are in almost every town in the county. Once deer enter your property they look to eat a variety of items including: wild crabapple, sumac, honeysuckle, grasses, greenbrier, clover, dogwoods, acorns, but they will eat just about anything. They will also eat “browse” material, meaning ends of twigs or small branches of trees that they don’t normally consume. Not only do deer cause a great destruction to your landscape but they can also spread Lyme disease by carrying infected ticks onto your property. To avoid both of these problems, you should implement a deer management system and include deer fencing and deer grates.

Deer fencing is made of a poly-coated web material. The color and grid-like space of the fencing makes it virtually invisible, blending in with the aesthetics of your property. When installed by Peter Benz Landscaping, this fencing system is strong enough to discourage deer and other harmful pests from entering your property. Deer fencing is a long-term and cost-effective solution to any deer invasion and will protect your property for many years. In addition to the fencing we can also install deer grates to allow the passage of people and cars, but not deer. The grates are made of hollow slats and can be used in place of, or addition to, a driveway gate.

No matter if you are looking to protect only a small portion of your property or the entire landscape, installing deer fencing and deer grates can be extremely beneficial. Fencing is really the only deer-proofing method there is because no other tactic offers complete control, keeping deer off your property.

Peter Benz Landscaping has years of experience in landscape design as well as fence installation so we are able to naturally blend any deer fencing into your property. We can install fencing on any size property from residential gardens to commercial orchards. Contact us to learn more.

Make sure you and your family are aware of the following symptoms Lyme disease may cause and contact your physician right away if you notice any sign.

Early Symptoms: These can occur within a month after being infected with Lyme disease.

• Rash: This is the most vital and obvious symptom associated with Lyme disease.  A small, red bump may appear at the site of the tick bite, although a red bump associated with a tick bite doesn’t necessarily mean it’s Lyme disease. But, if the redness increases over the next few days, forming a bulls-eye pattern it is a serious sign of a Lyme disease infection. Some people may develop this rash in several different places on their body.

• Flu-like Symptoms: You want to keep an eye out for feelings like: fever, chills, fatigue, body aches and a headache (usually associated with the bulls-eye rash).

Later Symptoms:  Several weeks to months after being infected you may notice some of these symptoms.

• Joint Problems: You may notice outbreaks of severe joint pain and swelling, especially in your knees. The pain can shift back and forth between different joints.

• Neurological Problems: Some serious issues may occur weeks, months or even years after you have been infected. These issues may be inflammation of your brain membranes (meningitis), temporary paralysis of one side of your face (Bell’s palsy), numbness or weakness of your limbs and impaired muscle movement.

Don’t let anyone in your family come in contact with any infected deer ticks. By taking advantage of tick control services, you can avoid the dangers and threats of Lyme disease. Contact Peter Benz Landscaping to have one of our experienced tick control technicians install the right tools to decrease the population and prevent the spread of Lyme disease on and around your Bucks County property.