Asked on Sep 15, 2018

Help! Deer are eating our garden, what to do?

Barbara Kieru
by Barbara Kieru

Could you recommend some flowering plants we live in the Northeast it’s a new area to us and a lot of deer !!

This runs along the side of our driveway. Any help you could give me would be wonderful. It’s definitely lacking

  10 answers
  • Ann Ann on Sep 15, 2018

    I’m sorry, I have deer too. I’m in The woods, so there are a lot of them. I’ve tried absolutely everything from spraying deer away (very stinky), Irish spring soap, running fishing line around perimeter of gardens, using coyote or fox piss (yes, you can buy it!), hanging disposable metal pie plates, used my own pee, used cat turds from litter box (supposedly, deer can smell that you and your pets are meat eaters and be fearful of a predator). These things might work for a day or two, but the deer figure it out quickly. I saw a deer actually dunk down to run under my fishing line! So, the only sure way to keep them out is a very tall fence. They can jump over 6 foot fences, ask google for height to keep them out. I’m sorry, wish that there was a better option. I did not try electric fences, but think that they would figure that one out too.

  • Ann Ann on Sep 15, 2018

    I’m sorry after my deer rant, maybe you were asking for deer resistant plants? Rosemary, daddodils, Solomon’s seal, catmint, ask google for more options.

  • Shirley Hearn Shirley Hearn on Sep 15, 2018

    I bought this on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011A87Y7W/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and although it doesn't get good reviews there it works for me. The deer run right past my yard and don't stop until they get out of range. It is motion triggered. It doesn't deter other animals but apparently the deer don't like. It runs on battery or direct current. We have ours plugged into an outlet and the only drawback there is when the electricity goes off the unit has to be reset. Once this summer I failed to reset it after the power had been off and the deer found my flowers and nipped the tops off every one of them. After being reset the deer didn't return and my plants recovered. Hope this helps.

  • Mary Mary on Sep 15, 2018

    I also have a problem with deer. They will eat anything if hungry enough but over the years I've discovered that there are some plants that they do tend to leave alone. Like Ann, I've tried multiple deterrents, with little success.


    I see you have a few things in your bed that they haven't gobbled up. You may want to double down on those and just plant more of the same. :) I have found that the deer will eat most annual flowering plants, so I tend to focus more on plants with interesting or colorful foliage, including ornamental grasses.


    In my yard, in Virginia, the deer tend to stay away from camellias, canna lilies, daffodils, herbs, including pineapple sage, salvia leucantha, other salvias, thyme, and plants with a fuzzy leaf (lamb's ear, lychnis).


    Good luck!

  • Lynn TG Lynn TG on Sep 15, 2018

    Hellebore (Lenten roses) - they hate them. Also if you have a dog, clip their hair (or go to a Petsmart type place and ask for dog hair) and throw it about your gardens. Used cat litter can work, too. Deer rarely come near our yard.

  • Bill Bill on Sep 15, 2018

    This has worked for me. I found that the deer tend to drag their feet, after watching their footprints in the snow. If you get chicken wire, at least that is what we called it, and lay it down in front of your flowers, the deer will not cross the wire as their hoofs hit the wire and stop. The nice thing is that you can't really see the wire as it is lying in the grass and sorta hidden. Good luck!

  • Noni Noni on Sep 15, 2018

    Deer have walked through our yards for years (ever since we built in their territory), and this is the first season I grew a garden. On this site, I found ideas for deer-repellant spray that is so simple and effective: beaten egg in water, spray on area. I used store-bought egg-beaters (so I wouldn't have to strain the eggs to prevent nozzel getting plugged. About 1 egg to a gallon.) I used a gallon milk carton. Let this covered mix stand in a nice warm place for a day or two or three until it's horriffic stink develops, then spray...I have raised beds, so sprayed only on the wood, not on the plants. One spray did the trick for the entire growing season. Note: It didn't repell the chipmunks who kindly hid (planted) their little stashes of sunflower seeds, so I had lots of 'volunteer' sunflowers amid both vegetables and flower/herbs.

  • Barbara M. Jackson Barbara M. Jackson on Oct 20, 2018

    Try hanging discarded human hair in small swatches of panty hose. Make a few of these and hang them in out of he way places. Humans are scary to them, of course I can understand why...bj

  • Carol Carol on Oct 20, 2018

    Try Liquid Fence. Must be applied on very young plant. I have only used on hosta plants. I tried it on adultplants and it didn’t deter the deer. I apply it to my hosta when the points are an inch or two out of the ground.

  • Michelle Leslie Michelle Leslie on Jun 14, 2021

    So sorry to hear that Barbara, here's a really great article that has all kinds of useful tips on keeping deer away - https://www.tipsbulletin.com/homemade-deer-repellent/