When people come up our non-county maintained road, they think they have gone back in time. In many ways, they have. We have a neighborhood block party. No one seems to leave before they die. The simple wire fences have mainly fallen away, and when replaced are again simple, so deer can bound over with the greatest of ease. There has been no fence between my neighbor's yard and mine for many years, and because most of the landscape is "natural", it is where the deer come to have their babies. There is an osprey nesting in one of the pines right now.
Yesterday, our neighbor put up a wood fence. He bought the lot and land a few years ago, and then, the economy fell apart and so he waited to build. He is a contractor and will put a 3500 square foot house on the lot. In that case, a fence makes sense. Boundaries are set and maintained.
This morning I rose early, while still dark, to go out and console the plants whose roots may have been traumatized by the addition of the fence. The building has been going on all week, but yesterday the last board went in. I pruned this morning, and fertilized and pulled some weeds, felt the difference. This actually is better, for us, in light of such a change in how the land will be utilized, but I wonder about the deer. Luckily, we have a far corner on the other side of our property that is protected and never used. May the deer nest there.