Protecting shrub plantings and shrub screen questions

[Fetz]

Just ordered the shrubs for my spring habitat project - planting a 107yd long screen along one of my back fields. I'll be using:

Gray Dogwood
American Hazelnut
Chickasaw Plum
Blackhaw Viburnum

My big question is how to protect these until they get established. I have used tree tubes with great success but not appropriate here since I want to encourage thicket development. Has anyone here ever use t-posts and a couple strands of wire with success? I would prefer not to have to cage each plant individually, both for financial and logistical reasons.

Any other advice on the planting, these species of shrubs in particular, etc is also welcome. I frost seeded a tallgrass prairie mix from Hoksey Native Seeds this winter and this will make the eastern border. I am also planning to put down PFQF's "wildlife firebreak" seed in around and next to the planting to serve as a walking path, a buffer between the prairie and the shrubs, and eventually as an actual firebreak once the prairie is well established.

 

[Turkey Creek]

Can't speak to all your varieties, but here in eastern KS, deer don't typically browse Gray Dogwood, they will browse the hell out of plums on my place (American or Chickasaw), I don't feel like they would browse Blackhaw that heavily, but no personal experience with it. I am doing almost the identical thing as you this year. 103 yard visual barrier for deer and habitat for quail. I am going to run the white electrical fence tape (I like the tape as it is more visually obvious to the deer) down them and over them for a couple years as an experiment. I am planting mostly dogwoods this year, wanted to put in a row of Nannyberry as well by some jackwipe bought out every single stem from IL shortly after they opened their tree sales today. I wish they would crack down on those people who just buy to resell. Most shrubs are prolific resprouters after a fire, so nothing wrong with the way your doing it, but they will most likely be thicker if you run fire through them every few years or mow them off.

 

[Fetz]

Can't speak to all your varieties, but here in eastern KS, deer don't typically browse Gray Dogwood, they will browse the hell out of plums on my place (American or Chickasaw), I don't feel like they would browse Blackhaw that heavily, but no personal experience with it. I am doing almost the identical thing as you this year. 103 yard visual barrier for deer and habitat for quail. I am going to run the white electrical fence tape (I like the tape as it is more visually obvious to the deer) down them and over them for a couple years as an experiment. I am planting mostly dogwoods this year, wanted to put in a row of Nannyberry as well by some jackwipe bought out every single stem from IL shortly after they opened their tree sales today. I wish they would crack down on those people who just buy to resell. Most shrubs are prolific resprouters after a fire, so nothing wrong with the way your doing it, but they will most likely be thicker if you run fire through them every few years or mow them off.

That's where i have ordered all my stuff from. I can't believe how quick some of those species go. I checked last night and i think they had 20k persimmon, sold out by 3pm today.

 

[Farmsteader]

Using an electric fence has been very effective for me. I used aluminum wire and it does work pretty good. I have had a few incidents where deer hit the fence and stretched out the wire, but it is easily fixed by twisting the slack together. Once the deer learn they seem to leave it alone. I did just buy a roll of the tape and will see how it works out.
I have one fencer set up on a 100 foot row of 25 hybrid chestnuts that has been working for two years. The energizer stopped working last year mid summer and so far the deer are still avoiding the area. I've been having a problem finding a reliable DC fencer.
Last year I planted 20 ROD, 20 gray dog wood, 10 nannyberry and 10 American plum. This time I broke it up into two fence enclosures and used only one energizer. I ran some insulated wire underground about 30 feet and made another enclosure. I'm planning on adding on another encloser this spring with some highbush cranberries, ninebark and new jersey tea. This energizer is a Cyclops DC 5 joule. It might be a bit over kill for what I'm doing but it does pack a punch. I had a nick in my insulated buried wire and I could actually hear the arcing when it was 4 inches under the ground. The only problem now is I'm going to have upgrade my 30 watt solar panel to 50 watts due to draining the battery after about a week in winter with the short days.

Cyclops​

 

[Brian662]

I've seen folks use snow fence or similar zip tied to t-posts, it seems like that works for a screen application that isn't super wide. The deer must not like to have that smaller landing area to jump into, at least that's my theory.

Here is a video showing the fence they chose to use.

 

[Turkey Creek]

They also typically wont jump something they can't see through or over as well. I have seen guys use landscape fabric attached to posts in that manner. Here the wind is too strong though it would just shred it in short order.