Deer and my plants.

Latrisha B
by Latrisha B
While I love the lil animals (some not so lil') does anybody know what deters deer from tulips, etc...spring summer plants...they are killing my gardens. I have tried irish spring, deer-off and moth balls. Nothing seems to work???
  19 answers
  • Donna McCrummen Donna McCrummen on Nov 06, 2011
    Nothing works Latrisha - at least not to my satisfaction. I put up a fence.
  • 3po3 3po3 on Nov 06, 2011
    You can search for "deer" above and get some other tips, but I think your best bet is to plant based on the deers' tastes, and more to the point, distastes. Here is a good primer on plants that deter deer: http://www.networx.com/article/deer-resistant-plants
  • ten foot fences and shotguns are what we use
  • Walter Reeves Walter Reeves on Nov 06, 2011
    I agree that smell repellents do not work consistently enough to recommend them. Steve's advice is good but also consider the fencing options I have on my website.
  • You can never say it will work with deer but we have been running 80lb Monofilament fishing string at 1&1/2, 3 and 5 foot off the\ground around the perimeter of the area we are trying to keep deer out of, they cant see it and it scares them when they hit it, also old Florida cracker citrus growers will use moth balls in knee high stockings place around the perimeter as well. You can also search the University in your areas web sites the usually have a list of deer resistant plant material.
  • Douglas Hunt Douglas Hunt on Nov 07, 2011
    If you have a significant deer population, I think there's almost no chance you're going to see a tulip: they're like a popsicle on a summer day for deer. A scent-based spray might work, but you have to reapply frequently keeping up with the tulips' growth rate.
  • Samm C Samm C on Nov 07, 2011
    NOOOOOOO Don't kill Bambi and it's parents. Fence idea is good. I lived in a house where we could walk out the back door and deer would just watch us. Never found a way to stop them eating the plants, noise didn't do it. I did read somewhere that you could use fox urine, you can buy on the internet.
  • Mary M Mary M on Nov 07, 2011
    Consider daffodils. Deer don't eat them and with our climate you will have greater success of year to year blooms.
  • Mike and Anne Mike and Anne on Nov 07, 2011
    Deer may not "eat" dafffodils but they "taste" them in my yard. The monofilament works for a while. When they break through put the filament back up and add some pieces of aluminum foil to distract them for a few days. There are some single strand electric fences that have worked for some gardeners in our area. The trick with using any of the repellents seems to be "bait and switch". Use one product for a couple of weeks - and after a rain change to a new product.
  • I'm with Steve, only I'd use a bow. Thinning the herd is a healthy and responsible method of controlling deer on your property (within the law) , can help prevent vehicular accidents on nearby roads, and the spread of cervid diseases. The meat is healthy and very tasty and you don't ever have to worry about killing them all off, there are too many in the state presently. All you want to do is let them know that the area isn't 'safe' for feeding.
  • 3po3 3po3 on Nov 10, 2011
    Not sure how serious you are, but is that legal, White Pine?
  • Paul M Paul M on Nov 11, 2011
    .223, .308, 30-06, or any other high powered rifle will permanently solve your problem. <(^_^)> Seriously we put up an electric fence to protect our garden after doing research and finding out that nothing really works well for deer repellant. The fence has done its job and we had no deer invasion at all. That may not be practical in your case but that is the only thing I know of that will really work. If you try that you need to get 7000 volts or higher to get their attention.
  • If you have the proper license and you obey the local ordinances (each city, and I'm sure to some extent subdivision has their own set of rules) bow hunting on your own property is legal. I have hunted subdivisions under development (within 5 miles of my house in suburban Atlanta) with the owners permission before, and there are people that advertise their services protecting landscaping from four-legged grazing threats. The difference is the bow. Firearms hunting in a subdivision will get you some time behind bars to reconsider your actions, for sure. By all means, make sure you're within the law.
  • Margaret H Margaret H on Nov 11, 2011
    Margaret--I went to the Hdw stor to buy clover or rye grass seed to cover my tomato beds for winter to nourish them, the clerk sold me Parsnip seeds in stead----will that work? They are up and very healthy looking.
  • 3po3 3po3 on Nov 11, 2011
    Very interesting, White Pine. Thanks for the response (and apologies to Latrisha for going somewhat off-topic.
  • Douglas Hunt Douglas Hunt on Nov 12, 2011
    @Margaret: Please re-post your question as a new question using the "post" box at the top of the page. More people will see your question that way and you'll get better responses.
  • Madeline C Madeline C on Nov 17, 2011
    I wish we had the distributorship for a product called 'spray away' sold by Havaheart.. It is a motion sensitive oscillating hard water spray that will hit anything in it's radius for 5 seconds and keeps going until the object is out of it's zone. We put 1 on each end of our rose garden and have not lost a bud since we installed it. It is connected to a garden hose and we put the hose on a timer (only to go on at night) so that anyone who comes up our driveway during the day won't get hit. Believe me guys this works! You can adjust the radius for smaller or larger areas. No more spraying--ever!!
  • Douglas Hunt Douglas Hunt on Nov 18, 2011
    That is great news for the deer-besieged, Madeline.
  • Gregory D Gregory D on Nov 27, 2011
    go to the zoo and get some lion urine to spray at the base..