What can keep deer from eating plants and trees?

Marilyn B
by Marilyn B
Space is open - deer eating everything except holly and butterfly bushes.
  17 answers
  • 360 Sod (Donna Dixson) 360 Sod (Donna Dixson) on Feb 07, 2012
    hi Marilyn, there have been several people on hometalk ask that same very question. If you type in *deer deterent* into the search box at the top of the home page you will find many ideas and suggestions. Walter Reeves has been recommending baby formula (I believe that is in one of the discussion threads)
  • Shoot them! Deer will eat everything in site if food supply is limited. So even plants that are deer resistant, can come under attack from time to time. They make sensors that turn on when deer enters into yard. These can be connected to all sorts of things. Noise machines, Lights, lawn sprinklers. Any sudden surprise that can be thought up will spook them enough to drive them away. Here is a U tube video showing one of the many types that are available. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JN7_-keIGfM Just remember, nothing works if you do not keep moving this around. Once the deer get used to this they will come back and enjoy the bath. But moving it around every few days make the deer less likely to become used to it.
  • Douglas Hunt Douglas Hunt on Feb 08, 2012
    If they are hungry, the answer really is nothing. (Except andromeda, I've never seen them touch that.) I've even had them eat holly and juniper. You can try scent-based deterrents, but you need to switch them up so the deer don't become acclimated to the smell.
  • Erica Glasener Erica Glasener on Feb 08, 2012
    Marilyn, Walter Reeves, hometalk panelist has great advice on his website about how to deal with deer, including sprays, fences, etc.
  • I Have had some success with moth balls in women's short stockings hung from trees on the perimeter.
  • 360 Sod (Donna Dixson) 360 Sod (Donna Dixson) on Feb 08, 2012
    mm that sounds like an attractive addition to your landscape design Hoffner :)
  • David S David S on Feb 08, 2012
    FOLKS ......IF HUNGRY..... DEER WILL EAT ANYTHING !!! I'VE TRIED MOTHBALLS AND I THOUGHT MY NEIGHBORS WOULD RUN ME OUTA TOWN . LOTIONS , POTIONS , PROBES , MOTH BALLS , ON DOWN THE LIST ......THEY WILL EAT ANYTHING .......PERIOD !!!
  • We hide it in the trees or shrubs, but it works as good as anything I have found got the trick from a Florida cracker citrus farmer
  • Antonio G Antonio G on Feb 09, 2012
    It might sound dumb butWhy don't your try putting feeders on opposite side of your trees or any plants you want not to be eatin . It work for me they go to the feeders and maybe once they had a snack on my flowers
  • AA Marble & Granite, LLC AA Marble & Granite, LLC on Feb 09, 2012
    Dog hair. Works great. See if you can get some from the dog grooming salon or cut your own. We had 2 Weeping Willows and a very hairy dog. We tried everything, it's been 3 years and now the trees are almost 20' tall and no more deer! Hoohrah! Just lay it around the trunks.
  • Antonio, While your idea of trying to move them by feeding them somewhere else may sound good. This will only bring more to the yard. You simply cannot supply enough food to keep them from foraging elsewhere in the yard. Besides depending upon where you live, this may be against the law. The more food that is available the more they will come to seek it out.
  • David S David S on Feb 09, 2012
    IT WOULD BE DIFFICULT TO FEED MY DEER AND SATISFY THEIR APPETITES .....WHEN I SEE THEM IN THE BACK OF MY YARD THERE ARE NORMALLY 5 OF THEM . OF COURSE I DON'T SEE THEM IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NITE WHEN THEY ARE ALL OVER THE FRONT AND BACKYARDS . I'VE EVEN PUT A FAKE CORN STALK WITH DRIED EARS OF CORN . AS I LOOK OUT MY OFFICE WINDOW , I SEE ONLY 1 EAR IS MISSING .....THESE WERE PLACED THERE 2 WEEKS AGO . I GUESS THEY WOULD RATHER EAT PLANTS AND WHAT MY NEIGHBOR FEEDS THEM .
  • Deer don't usually eat ornamental grasses. They also don't usually eat herbs or plants that have a strong fragrance such as sage, lemon balm, monarda, or Russian sage. They don't generally like plants with thorns or "prickles" either, roses being the exception. Some of the prickly flowers and shrubs they avoid are cleome, barberry, and purple coneflower. If the deer are hungry enough, there isn't much that they won't nibble on (that you want growing in your yard anyway). The only really sure fire way is to fence the area off with one tall enough that the deer can't jump it. Other things I have heard people say works is things like having the family dog urinate near the area, spreading some used cat litter in the area or putting little pouches of human hair around the area. The idea is that the deer will smell this and stay away.
  • Roma Frank Roma Frank on Mar 24, 2015
    If you cut slivers of Irish Spring soap around the area you want the deer to stay out of it will help tremendously. I lived out in the country and they would come into my yard all the time to eat the crab apples from my trees. I put the Irish spring around my garden and flowers I didn't want them to get and they left them alone. !!
  • BS BS on Apr 25, 2015
    As David said, hungry deer will eat anything, and none of the home remedies work. Irish Spring, moth balls, human hair. I tried it all. The deer, and possibly rabbits, were undeterred. The only thing that worked for me was a product called Liquid Fence. It is a bit pricey, but it saved my garden from being an all you can eat buffet for deer. BTW, everything I planted was supposedly deer resistant. Without Liquid Fence, the only things deer didn't eat were Shasta daisy, Russian sage, and artemesia. Russian sage and artemesia have that camphor like scent that I guess deer don't like. I have no idea why they avoided the Shasta daisies. Anyway, if you really want to declare your yard off limits to deer, check it Liquid Fence.
  • Mimi Haywood Mimi Haywood on Apr 25, 2015
    I live in the mountains and have steady flow of deer daily, I also I like to garden and trial and error have taught me what to plant . Deer do not like the Oder of most herbs and do not like plants with fuzzy leaves, I grow echinacea, Russian sage, autumn sage, Mullin, zinnias,yarrow, hollyhock,catmint and other fuzzy, rough surface oderific plants without deer problems. Everything else I grow behind a five foot plaster wall in raise beds as my mountain soil is not conducive to growing a garden.
  • Johnchip Johnchip on Dec 04, 2015
    Deer, the bane of the gardener. Soap, urine, store bought repellants, none will work if you deer are hungry, and they always are. Either a large dog or enjoy your plants that are local grown that they do not like. Evergreens and butterfly bushes are nice home companions.