Asked on Jul 7, 2018

How do you keep deer away from eating plants.

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( ie hydrangea, flowers)

8 answers

Oliva
on Jul 7, 2018

Liquid Fence concentrate. Apply with spray bottle or garden sprayer. Drench all plant surfaces 1x/week for 1st 1-2 months, then 1x/month, thereafter. It smells for few hours, then dissapates. Apply in eve. or early A.M. Can be applied with 1 hour of rain. Reapply if rain is excessive. Deer are attracted to young growth, usu. Occurring in Spring, or after fertilizing. They love hydrangea, Arborvitae, hosta, day lilies, tulips, euonymous, red twig dogwood, nine bark, etc. They avoid alliums, monarda, wormwood, marigolds, rosemary, lavender, iris, Green Giants, zinnias, verbena, etc.

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Jacquie Longacre
on Jul 7, 2018

The easiest way is to sprinkle foot powder on them. It will have to be reapplied after rain or heavy dew. Or you can get a spray on repellant at any nursery or garden shop. It stinks for awhile, but it works also. Medicated foot powder is in expensive from a dollar store.

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Debbie Fields
on Jul 7, 2018

If you plant the edge with highly aromatic plants, such as marigolds or lavender it may help to mask the scent of the yummy young leaves on your more attractive plants. Also, I have a friend who swears by Lifebuoy soap. She drills a hole through each bar and then uses a bit of twine to hang them from low branches around her garden. I haven't personally tried this method.

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Barbara Perlot Borofsky
on Jul 8, 2018

Thanks for the advice!

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Redcatcec
on Jul 8, 2018

Hi Barbera,

Try planting sage, deer don't like the taste of that.

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Bklyn Cowgirl
on Jul 8, 2018

Shotgun!

Just kidding, sort of. I went out to lunch/shopping with a friend yesterday and came back 3 hours later to find that my beautiful, bumper crop of hosta flowers had all been sheared off as if someone had taken shears to them. There are homemade sprays that you can make using garlic, hot pepper, garlic and peppermint but you have to use better than a dollar store spray bottle or it will clog by the second spray. I found that out the hard way yesterday. I'm on my way now to HD to get some ready made. Good luck.

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Sue
on Jul 13, 2018

You can use shaved bar soap. Any brand seems to work. Place it in the stalk and stem crotch of the plant. It has worked for me.

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Barbara Perlot Borofsky
on Jul 13, 2018

Hoping it was a deer, now not sure as caught bunnies eating close to my hydrangea too. 🤣 Ugh! Hope they bloom eventually.

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How do you keep deer away from eating plants.

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