When Jacques Wood moved to Fox Chapel nearly four years ago, the stars weren't in line for a rose garden.

Mature trees shaded most of the 1 3/4 acres around his brick ranch-style house. And any areas that got enough sun for roses were easy pickings for the town's large herd of whitetail deer.

Then two events changed everything: the fall of a huge maple onto his house and his discovery of a book, "Deerproofing Your Yard & Garden" by Rhonda Massingham Hart (Storey Publishing, $14.95). After repairing the tree damage and removing the rest of the trunk, Mr. Wood discovered he suddenly had a perfect spot -- with all-day sun -- to grow roses.

To draw a line in the dirt against the doe-eyed bandits, he chose one of the book's more unlikely sounding strategies: two 4-foot-tall picket fences spaced 4 or 5 feet apart. Although deer can easily jump a 4-foot fence, they have poor depth perception, according to Ms. Massingham Hart, and won't jump if they can't see where they'll land.

It sounded good in theory, but would it work?

Yes, deer, it certainly does.

"Rabbits get in sometimes but no deer," Mr. Wood said. "I've never even seen one stick their head over."

Roses that have thrived within the 43-by-29-foot no-deer zone include 'Felicia,' 'Tamora,' 'Jacques Cartier' and the climber 'Sally Holmes.' To create a better barrier, Mr. Wood also planted tough rugosa roses in the space between the two fences, which were built by North American Fence of Cheswick. In three years' time, the red, pink and white rugosas have grown taller than the scalloped fences. Deer generally don't eat rugosas, and their floppy informal blooms add even more color to the garden.

Of course, deer aren't the only bane of the rose gardener. Insects and black spot have ruined or killed several of Mr. Wood's prize specimens, including 'Queen of Sweden,' 'Scepter d' Isle,' 'Ballerina' and 'Eglantyne.' Even some of the hardy David Austin English roses have succumbed.

Mr. Wood doesn't get too upset. He plants replacements among the colorful perennials that he also enjoys.

"I love roses, but I don't like them by themselves," he said.

Among the plants adding purple, gold and pastels to his rose garden are 'Kit Kat' nepata, 'Sunny Border Blue' veronica, 'Moonbeam' coreopsis, and 'Barbara Mitchell' and 'Big Bird' daylilies. Trees and shrubs include 'Wine & Roses' weigela and a red Japanese maple.

Mr. Wood focuses most of his gardening efforts on the rose garden in front of his house, while landscaper Ken Kincak of Washington, Pa., tends the hostas and other perennials that thrive on the sides and rear. It's so lush that his grandchildren say Grandpa and Grandma live in a park. Actually, it's part of the old Teats farm and still has a 200-year-old spring house to prove it.

On most of the property, the deer run -- and eat -- free. But there's no snacking on petals in the rose garden. The line from a Coleridge poem inscribed on a sundial shows these flowers are meant only for looking, not eating:

"Flowers are lovely / Love is flowerlike."