How to keep deer from eating our new trees?

[disneygirlatheart]

Hi all! I need some advice on how to keep the deer away from some new trees we have planted? Do not get me wrong I love watching them, but I also want my trees. I do not want to put out anything that will harm any animal. Just something so they do not eat the trees. Any ideas? Thanks!

 

[diznygirl]

I've heard scented soap (a friend uses Irish Spring) cut up and spread in the mulch around the trees works.

 

[FormrCastMbr]

a friend of mine insists that a solution made up of the original Irish Spring soap and water sprayed around and on plants and trees will keep animals away. You kinda just let the soap sit in the water for a while.

ETA: I guess she is not crazy...I just read the post above.

 

[oxfordcircus]

I've heard moth balls keep deer away. Also, how to put this...urea keeps them away.

 

[RangerPooh]

We've tried any different things and each only works for a short amount of time. We've done cut up Irish Spring placed into planters as well as hanging it from the arbor. We have tried urin (we were at the "I've tried everything and nothing works" phase) sprinkled around the planters. A viniger and garlic solution too.

I hope that you find something that works as I would like to know a good method to keep the deer from eating my flowers.

 

[Green Tea]

I think I sprinkled cayanne pepper on the leaves; maybe mixed it with water and sprayed it on so it would stick. Been a while, but my trees are big now, so it must have worked!

 

[Christine]

Don't ask me for "details" but my coworker sprays urine on her plants.

 

[golfgal]

You can buy wolf urine at farm stores for this purpose. It is supposed to work great. I know when I was in college they spayed wolf urine on the evergreen trees around campus so kids wouldn't cut them down for Christmas trees--worked for that.

 

[janey99]

If you have the unfortunate combination of hungry deer and plants they like, there may be no stopping them until the trees are bare. What type of trees are they and what part of the country are you in?

Jane

 

[GoofyBaseballMom26]

I've heard if you lay human hair around they won't come near. I know people who have gotten cut hair from beauty salons and laid it around their gardens to keep deer out.

 

[LakeAriel]

Garlic and red pepper keep wildlife away from my plants and flowers. For a young tree, with branches dangling, I would put wire around it for the first year..You can also provide them with cracked corn in an area away from the tree. Nothing like keeping them well fed to stop them from eating your plantings..

 

[pumba]

The fish and game wardens told our friend to put up the stinkiest soap you can find.......and hang them in the trees or on the limbs of your new trees and that should keep them out......My mother in law was a pack rat and she had a couple hundred bars of the soaps from every hotel she ever stayed in.....some stinks were enough to curl your hair.....so we gave them our soap and he said it works...

 

[ducklite]

I think I sprinkled cayanne pepper on the leaves; maybe mixed it with water and sprayed it on so it would stick. Been a while, but my trees are big now, so it must have worked!

Yup! Cayenne pepper mixed with water in a spray bottle and sprayed on the plants will repel deer and is completely harmless to animals and children. Although it might sting a bit if it gets in the eyes or mouth, it's not poisonous and will do not lasting damage in the trace amounts that might be contacted.

Anne

 

[Pigeon]

I think moving to Antarctica is the only way I'd be able to keep them from eating my plantings. Tried the soap, tried the cayenne, tried the commercial deer repellants. "Mmm--seasonings!" they responded. Our neighbor installed one of those very, very tall chain link fences to keep them out of her yard. The deer just chuckled as they sailed over the top.

 

[disneygirlatheart]

Some great ideas. I will just go down the list and see what works. I should have said I already tried moth balls. They do not work. Thanks for all the info.

 

[3boyzmom]

Hi ... they discussed this problem on the Animal Planet show, Backyard Habitat. The naturalist said what some of the other posters said ... deer hate any perfume smell, so heavily scented soap placed around plants can help. Also he used a variation on the pepper theme. Mixed onions, garlic, and hot peppers in a blender, strained and added a small amount of soap and then sparyed the leaves of the plants. Respray after rain and every couple of weeks. Hope this helps!