My backyard has no fence and wide open. Many wild animal come and eat whatever I grow.
Is it a good idea to plant fig tree 1 ft apart along my property line? This requires about 800 fig trees.

I've seen something similar in California but made of inedible figs. I assume the animals will have a feast with your 800 trees during the entire summer! The squirrels would be the raccoon size.
I can see a "pick your own fig" business for your in the future if you go ahead with this, $1/lb and people will keep coming back:)

I think 1 foot apart may be a little close.  I'm probably not the best to ask/comment since I grow everything in containers, but if you want fig production, I think you'll need to be closer to something like 6' apart.  I may have just saved you 650 trees! :D

Jimmy...instead of a fig fence, why not install a regular fence around the property...I just got done installing a 6' high white vinyl fence back in March...and it has solved a lot of problems, eg.  no cats, no squirrels, no groung hogs, no teenagers leaving beer cans on my property...the only things even looking at my fig trees is me and the birds...plus we have a nice closed in back yard for my granddaughter to run around in safety. 

Good suggestion!  You could always espalier the figs along the fence, too!

Nice idea Figaro...also we get so much more use out of the yard since we fenced it in.

There is gas pipeline easement run through the middle of the property. Need a lot of paperwork to get permit to have anything on top of the easement. If I want to bring electric or water across it, everything has to go under these gas pipeline, which is 6 ft underground. 
I planted almost 100 fruit trees 8 yrs ago. Only 1/3 survived and they are only 2 ft high!. Because they are constantly eaten by deer. So my purpose is not fig production, but to let it grow very close. Just don't know if this is a solution for deer.

It's a neat idea, but I don't think fig trees would keep animals out of your yard.  It might actually attract more of them.

Have you looked into horse panels?  The kind that people use for portable corrals?  You can cover each panel with any type fencing you like.  they come in different lengths, up to 12 long.  You could simply place posts ten or 12 feet apart and bolt panels to the posts, which would give you a solid, but easily removable fence.

Just a thought.

LEAD in the form of bullets works the best with deer.

I would plant evergreens instead.  I have arborvitae green giants and a couple leyland cyprus trees the deer don't touch.  They grow up to 3 feet per year and stay green year round.  They'll reach over 40' tall when mature.

Your best bet, in Northern NJ, is probably jujubes (giant thorns suitable for stabbing, thick bramble) for big pests like deer.  Smaller pest have to be deterred with open spaces for hawks and more...intensive measures.  You could also try pawpaws, since the leaves, at best, probably tastes pretty nasty to nibblers.  Figs are way too edible.  You're pretty cold for anything that can really deter munching mammals.

Here's a link to something more informative...  http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Multifunctional+Living+Fences.html

Deer don't have binocular vision; they can't judge depth when looking to jump a fence. To deter deer, you need to make them think twice about scaling the fence. So, place a long slanted cover at least a foot wide running the length of the fence. It can even be chicken wire. A wildlife biologist told us this...and it works!

Finally, my little trees are strong enough and weather cool off to 80s. So I planted the first batch this afternoon. 40 little tree in ground now. They are 1 ft apart, which covers 40 ft or my property line. Will plant more tomorrow.

Due to cold winters in the past two years, they dies back. And deer chew them in winter. So the Fig fence regrow each spring and only reach 4 ft tall.

Ah. Thank you for the update. So it has become a self-renewing fence. Were your other plants at least attacked less since the figs act as a meal buffer?

Hi,
Thanks for the update ... but a little pic :) ...
I would have mixed some holly trees with the figtrees.
The holly will provide shelter in the winter, acting as a wind barrier, and deer won't come to rub against ...
Holly is just a bit slow to start going .

Did you plant that many figtrees ?

I you make a fence out of living plants, do it for some other reason besides keeping animals out because that won't work.  Something to consider about a pipeline easement.  If the pipeline is bigger than a local distribution line, it will be illegal for the pipeline company to let you put trees on the right of way in the first place.  They are required by federal law to inspect their whole system of pipelines from the air every month or two, and they can not let you put anything on that easement that prevents them from seeing the ground from the air.  It will be easier to get permission for a fence than for trees.  The PL company will have to remove the trees as soon as they are big enough to obscure visibility of the ground.  God bless.

Marcus

Ah, I see that you have already planted your fence some time ago.  LOL  Well, don't be surprise if when your trees get about six to eight ft high that the pipeline come along with a brush shredder or, just spray the ROW with a broadleaf herbicide from an airplane.  God bless

Marcus

I did not plant on the pipeline easement area. This fence is to separate my yard from my neighbor's.

Do you get many figs that ripen from the fence?