Best ways to stop deer from eating your plants
Best ways to stop deer from eating your plants
Tired of having deer eat your plants?
Watch as David Wilson for Garden Splendor takes us into his garden to give some tips, tricks and suggestions for coping with deer……
More at: www.gardensplendor.com
The thing to remember about animals is that we share the world with them. They eat things because they are hungry and not because they are pest. Fishing line is very cruel and damaging to nature. Without nature human beings do not survive. We are destroying nature
I always wondered why older gardens in the U.S. never included yews. It dawned on me when I started planting yews in my backyard near the woods and surveying the resultant deer damage that the early Euro-Americans quickly learned that if they planted yews they were planting crops for deer. I use the Tomcat spray that they sell at the large hardware stores. It is effective if you are adamant about spraying as soon as it stops raining. I think that eventually they learn to avoid your yard because when I see them now they’re not in my yard but at the edge of the woods. Groundhogs likewise are a big problem and I see them eating the grass at the bottom of the yard. A few days ago a big one came up to the patio and looked everything over but attacked nothing, just walked away. Last year it was such a problem that I’d actually come out and find them up in the flower pots on the patio, eating the plants.
or the asbestos in it
There are absolutely no plants or flowers that deer will not eat. And there is absolutely no way to keep them from devouring them.
I have 2 dogs & that doesn’t keep the deer out of my yard
Uh oh. I just bought a holly. Deer here leave things alone in the summer, but mid-fall through early spring, my shrubs, trees, and plants tremble in fear.
Eat the deer.
https://youtu.be/Fu5a4Wyz0wM
THIS GUY IS A MORON IRISH SPRING SOAP DOES NOT WORK 5 CASES & DEERS ARE STILL EATING
Good Tips, ThankU
The best deterrent is a dog.
It causes cancer on female plants
Is Morgan a Springer Spaniel? She looks like mine!
Thank you !
Great tips. Thank you.
"Work really well" or ""work well," not "work good." Other than that, thank you very much.
Can I suggest that when you comb your dog that you save the fur that comes off and use it as a border around the plants you’re trying to protect.
Commercial deer repellent burned the leaves on my plants and some died. I washed the survivors by spraying them well with water and most are recovering. I now use cayenne pepper sprinkled on the leaves. The Irish Spring soap did not work at all, neither did lemon peel. I’m also am dealing with feral cats pooping, digging and laying in my vegetable and flower bed. Since I have been using cayenne pepper they have been staying away. I also spray occasionally with dish soap, water and the pepper, just to change it up for insurance.
Which way do I go! I’m totally confused
I just tried left over coffee and the grounds as I saw recommended on YouTube. It does nothing the Deere eat the plants and enjoy there coffee with it. 
The spray is meant for the trashcan when you are from where im from. You have to spray it every time it rains.
. Damn deer want to eat my plants im ready to turn them into sausage! Lol
I used plastic netting around a favourite tree. After a windy rain storm, I found a little woodpecker had tried to escape the weather on the sheltered side of the tree and became entangled in the net. A dead bird turned me off using any plastic netting or filament in my yard and I’d hate to see a deer with a plastic filament cutting off its leg or strangling it.
If only the deer had spoken out earlier, before we destroyed so much forest with suburban sprawl.
Now they’re stuck living in our garbage.
I am gradually training my pup, Leah, to encourage the deer to exit our area and last night I heard her barking in the wee hours and then she marched inside with a successful expression. Perhaps she is on the job for real now. But I will be adding some fishing line this week to add to my protection.
Can you can Morgan and send her to me ?
Has anyone tried cinnamon? I have a problem with deer actually eating the bulbs off my lilies! I almost cried when I saw it.
All the seniors around here feed the deer, and they have no fear of humans or dogs. I’ve had to start gardening indoors if I want any kind of food crops. I’ve got a solution but gunshots in the middle of town is bound to upset the same nuisance people feeding the deer and causing the problem.
One other comment; I’ve used the plastic mesh to cover plants, and although it stops them from feeding on the plants, it’s almost impossible to keep the plant from growing into it without tearing up the new growth when you try to move the mesh above the new growth, so you’re left with no choice but letting the plant grow within a tangled mess of plastic netting. I have a holly that’s going to have a mess of the stuff at its center for the rest of its life (the deer may not like mature holly but they will eat the tender new growth). I may possibly use the mesh to wrap some plants during winter while they’re not growing to prevent winter feeding.
I noticed you started with those variegated Hostas. Those are currently my deer’s fav – they leave the other Hostas alone.
Very good info, thanks.
I’ve had decent success with using portable fencing to enclose a small area, such as a bed of day lilies. I had read that deer are reluctant to jump into a small, enclosed area, because they’re not sure they’ll be able to get back out. Although I haven’t tried it, I have read that using double fencing, or a fence combined with a hedge, will deter deer from jumping over. The theory is that they have a poor sense of depth perception, and jumping over two rows of something means they have to jump both high and wide, which is difficult for them.
I love your dialect. Your voice is so pleasant! Thank you for these tips!
These are great tips. Spraying does work if you are religious about it and switch off brands every once in a while. It is expensive and time consuming. I am investing in stakes and netting . Throwing netting over plants is not effective because the plant grows into the netting and it doesn’t look good. I have bought a variety of sizes of metal stakes and have covered individual plants by making a tent over the top and staking at the bottom, connecting the netting to the stakes with zip ties. And, I am also going to enclose larger areas with taller black stakes from Lowe’s. I bought deer netting, heavier than bird netting, 7 x 100 feet, and am going to enclose some whole areas where I have too many plants they devour. It is expensive and time consuming to spray. I am digging out some plants that are just too difficult to keep, and not in areas easy to enclose, like hosta and lilies. They ate the flowers off the lilies long ago, and are now eating the flowing green leaves to the ground. I am putting in allium instead. Here is what they have not eaten. Spirea, butterfly bush (Pugster Blue is a nice dwarf), caryopteris, dwarf crape Myrtle, St. John’s wart. They have eaten my sedum, hydrangea, hosta, lilies. I did plant Supertunia petunias and the rabbits have nibbled them but the deer haven’t touched them. Lots of prolific color. No deadheading. Bubble Gum is relentless. Hopefully, between the digging out, time consuming and expensive to replace, and covering or enclosing, they will be deterred. Anyone want a sprayer?
I liked all of your ideas. Your best idea is Morgan. I hope she gets compensated well for the excellent job she is doing. She is beautiful. Thank you my friend and happy gardening to you!
You can also brew up a "tea" made from hot peppers. Make sure you brew it outside on a grill, you’re not going to have a good day if you try to do it inside… just sayin’. Strain it through a coffee filter or cheese cloth, and use a garden sprayer to apply it. DON’T apply it once vegetables or fruit start to grow, unless you want your edibles with a hot pepper flavor. If the animals come around early, they’ll lose interest before your veggies start to grow. You’ll have to reapply it occasionally, and it will not deter most insects. Most every mammal and rodent doesn’t like hot peppers.
Yes dogs barking and peeing, marking their territory works, BUT, I mark my territory too, catch my own urine and pour it about! Greens up the grass and keep the deer at bay!
I have a groundhog problem, not deer thankfully but it seems to me that animals in general avoid certain plants and prefer others. So my personal experience is that animals like tender leaves so choose thick leaved plants and strong scented and thorny plants. My garden this year has been a mix of roses, geraniums, catmint, russian sage, coleus, caladium, persian shield, impatiens, yarrow, succulents, etc. The groundhog did not get the memo that I was changing things around and would still try to take a nibble now and then. I tell you I pitied him finally when I saw he ate one rose, thorns and all, left some teeth marks in my succulents, and then left.
I think about a couple of half starved Dobermans as a deterrent when the deer eat with impunity.
Talcum powder
Thank you for the information
Get a pack of Wolves.
Shoot em
I have group of seer in my neighborhood and i just discovered 30 minutes ago that they ate everything in my garden. This is the reason why i am fully supportive of hunting.
Shotgun is also effective; deer seem to be repulsed by them. Bambi ate all my carrot seed heads and 20’ of pole beans…
Pee. Mark your territory like other animals do. Daily. The plants will appreciate the extra (free) nitrogen as you work your way around the gardens over the days. Like never letting cold clean water down the drain while waiting for hot, you water a different houseplant daily or use for plants near your doorways. It is just good habits which make a difference. I never lose a hosta or rose or anything to deer. But they are here all the time because my 7 gardens & huge lawns are encircled by 3 acres of forest. They live deep in my woods & basically use my yard to go to the neighbouring gardens. Some people hold themselves in such high regard that they won’t pee in a pitcher or porta potty that pharmacies sell.
In an exceptionally cold winter and there’s not much around for food they will eat saw briars because they remain green and keep nutrients up in the plant when dormant. Think I would rather eat barbed wire than saw briars myself. Lot less painful. lol
.30-06… didn’t see this option in this vid…
I got a tip about Milorganite so I looked into it and it looks effective. I’ll be using it this summer.
I have a Great Suggestion Move to the city, there homes are in the woods ,its not fair there life is about survival humans are always taking over all there habitat and making them out to be a nuisance when in truth they’re just trying to survive
Thank you!
Not enough men…ecological disaster
Fish line fence is the most effective way to keep the little devils from eating your vegetable garden!