My Garden vs Deer ...ugh

[lilpig]

I am new to gardening, this is my first real try at a garden and I didnt realize how much I would love it! The pride I have taken in it has been surprising to me and my family. Last year I tried to have patio strawberry plants and a container tomato plant but neighborhood critter prevented that. I had a squirrell who thought I was his mom (He always ate it before it got to where I could pick it, he has since passed away, that is another story and it makes me sad.)

Well last night I was working in my garden, you should see it, I can't believe I didnt kill every thing I put in there . I was helping my cucumbers train and weeding you know gardening fun stuff, oh and taking pictures of course because I am a scrap booker and I will scrap book my garden. I left my garden last night happy seeing all my little wonders getting bigger everyday!

THEN, this morning ugh....DEER ,during the night they got the munchies and started nibbling in my precious garden!!!! They, have not nibbled at all this year and last night was the first time.

So now is the reason I am starting this thread, it wasnt just to vent about the hungry deer. I live in a place that is very limited what I can put up so no fences. I need help on how to protect my plants. I can not use any chemicals because I have allergies and that is why I decided to try and grow my own veggies, because the waxing and the pesticides and what nots places put on them.

Any ideas I am more then willing to try, I am just so happy to have my garden looks so beautiful and growing and to think that it could be eaten up, and not by me and my family makes me kinda sad

thank you

 

[tink15823]

You can use marigolds and queens Ann's lace both are natural repellents . Just plant them around the edge of your garden. Throw away pie plates hung so they swing in the breeze helps too. Good luck and have fun.

 

[Disneychix]

ok, this is going to sound very odd but my aunt does this as she has a HUGE deer problem and has, in the past, to replant her landscaping every year.

Try going to a hair salon and asking for some cut hair (or get some cut hair from your next haircut). Put the hair near the border of your garden. For some reason the deer will not go near the cut hair. Maybe they smell humans? I'm not sure. My aunt actually uses a doll near her garden (she's a big one 3ft) and she sort of fastens the cut hair into a wig on the doll.

 

[Marionnette]

I am new to gardening, this is my first real try at a garden and I didnt realize how much I would love it! The pride I have taken in it has been surprising to me and my family. Last year I tried to have patio strawberry plants and a container tomato plant but neighborhood critter prevented that. I had a squirrell who thought I was his mom (He always ate it before it got to where I could pick it, he has since passed away, that is another story and it makes me sad.)

Well last night I was working in my garden, you should see it, I can't believe I didnt kill every thing I put in there . I was helping my cucumbers train and weeding you know gardening fun stuff, oh and taking pictures of course because I am a scrap booker and I will scrap book my garden. I left my garden last night happy seeing all my little wonders getting bigger everyday!

THEN, this morning ugh....DEER ,during the night they got the munchies and started nibbling in my precious garden!!!! They, have not nibbled at all this year and last night was the first time.

So now is the reason I am starting this thread, it wasnt just to vent about the hungry deer. I live in a place that is very limited what I can put up so no fences. I need help on how to protect my plants. I can not use any chemicals because I have allergies and that is why I decided to try and grow my own veggies, because the waxing and the pesticides and what nots places put on them.

Any ideas I am more then willing to try, I am just so happy to have my garden looks so beautiful and growing and to think that it could be eaten up, and not by me and my family makes me kinda sad

thank you

Get a dog. And a deer rifle.

JK.


Blood meal works well to repel deer and it also fertilizes the soil. But you do need to spread it often. One good rainstorm and it washes away or soaks into the ground.

 

[minniesfriend]

We use Irish Spring soap. We cut the bars in to 4 pieces and lay them on the ground around the plants. Also, when we brush our dog (who sheds heavily), we will spread his hair throughout the bed, too.

 

[Colleen27]

There are several good natural repellents but you have to reapply often based on weather - Blood meal works to repel just about any mammal in my experience. We don't have problems with deer where we live now but still use it to keep the rabbits, squirrels, and skunk at bay. Our friends who live out in the country swear by pee and have trained their dogs to go only on the grass strip around their veggie beds. And I've heard about hair being used with some success as well.

 

[HM]

We buy a big container of Cayenne Pepper and spread it all over the plants. It does help. You do have to reapply after rain or watering.

 

[Princess Nancy]

So I know this sounds gross but Human excrement works wonders.

Have your favorite Male go tinkle around the perimeter.
We solved the problem by emptying out a dirty baby diaper!


We only had to apply once and the deer never came back!

 

[MomiTo2SwtGuys]

ok, this is going to sound very odd but my aunt does this as she has a HUGE deer problem and has, in the past, to replant her landscaping every year.

Try going to a hair salon and asking for some cut hair (or get some cut hair from your next haircut). Put the hair near the border of your garden. For some reason the deer will not go near the cut hair. Maybe they smell humans? I'm not sure. My aunt actually uses a doll near her garden (she's a big one 3ft) and she sort of fastens the cut hair into a wig on the doll.

The hair idea is exactly what I was thinking. And it works. They can smell humans on it and won't go near it.

 

[mrodgers]

12 apple trees in the yard. I have at least 6 deer in the yard at night and never have they touched the garden. They gobble up the fallen apples like crazy.

My previous vegetable gardens were larger than many of you folks' yards probably.

 

[daemom]

The hair idea is exactly what I was thinking. And it works. They can smell humans on it and won't go near it.

Hair works!!! I had some bushes that the deer were eating and I cut my boys' hair, put it in a bag and sprinkled it on the bushes--the eating stopped. I haven't done this to our garden this year because the deer and tomato worms have already gotten to it--nothing is salvageable. They came in and had a field day when we left the house for a few days during our 8 day power outage. I'm sure they were out there yelling "Par-tay"! Our dogs don't do a thing except bark--and that doesn't frighten the deer. Good luck!!

 

[libinatorsmom]

I bought and planted a beautiful lush Cherry Tree at our new house we are building I was so proud of it! a week later all the leave are gone from the deer!!!! UGH I am sooo mad!!!! and really there is nothing I can do to get them to leave it alone!!!

 

[mom2rose&john]

I have heard if you blend 1 egg, 1 cup of hot sauce and 1 quart of water. Put in a spray bottle and spritz your plants every other night or after you water or it rains. I am trying this tonight. I also do the irish spring. This is the first year we really got hit. They ate all my begonias. So now it's game on.

 

[coachr]

Sorry for the trouble the Deer have caused you and your garden. Their antics can be truly depressing after all the hard work a nice garden requires.

The best repellent available uses the Deer's keen sense of smell and ingrained instincts to avoid predators. Shake-Away's Deer and Large Animal Repellent is the only product to contain genuine Coyote Urine in granule form.

It is very discrete as it can not be seen and only requires reapplication after heavy rains and every two weeks or so.

You can purchase this product in some Ace Hardware stores or see the deer repellent page at: Critter-Repellent.com/deer/deer-repellent.php.

It comes with a satisfaction guarantee.

 

[lilpig]

Thank you everyone! I have a gardening book and none of those ideas where in there. I will let you know my success

 

[deva]

Plantskyd makes a dried powder (it is dried blood). Sprinkle around the perimeter. You can buy at a nursery. Personally I would not want to deal with hair in my garden.

 

[littleelf]

I've had great luck with Liquid Fence. It stinks like rotten pizza and lasts about a month per application. Sometimes I pay my kids to go around and spray all the trees and yummy plants so I don't have to smell it myself. The smell fades for humans within a day or so but not for deer.

I also use Milorganite fertilizer which is supposed to repel deer but I think the Liquid Fence is the real deterrent and the Milorganite is just a nice fertilizer with a little extra incentive to keep the animals away.

 

[Sadie22]

I have heard if you blend 1 egg, 1 cup of hot sauce and 1 quart of water. Put in a spray bottle and spritz your plants every other night or after you water or it rains. I am trying this tonight. I also do the irish spring. This is the first year we really got hit. They ate all my begonias. So now it's game on.

Just egg and water worked for me.

 

[MissManda]

Good luck with your deer problem. I hope that some of these remedies help.

I know that none of them really helped with my Dad and his garden. He tried the irish spring, hair, pie plates. He even put out a scarecrow and played a radio at night. No matter what he did, it didn't phase those deer. They just munched and munched until their little hearts were content. What the deer didn't eat, the rabbits finished. Mom and Dad would be at one end picking veggies and the rabbits would be on the other end eatting them. The only thing that stopped them was the 9 foot fence he built all the way around it.

I hope you have better luck!!

 

[lilpig]

My fear is that the critters will not fear anything "human smelling" so I am going for the options that are not based on that. I tried blocking and hanging plates and so when the couldn't get to what they preferred they went to something else they had left alone the night before...