Deer deterrents?

[Serenity]

My new neighbor was telling me the oher day that we'll get a lot of deer from the forest across the road as the weather warms up. He said that you can wake up to 8 or 9 in your yard on an early morning!

I'd like to see them but don't want to lose all my plants to them either. A few I don't mind but I'd hate to find my garden bare one morning. Any suggestions for deterrents to keep them away from my veg and flowerbeds? Nothing that would hurt them, just that would put them off a bit.

[tater03]

One thing you can do is to avoid planting tulips. I was told that deer like the taste of tulips.

[SageMother]

You can make a fountain with a bamboo tipper. Each time the bamboo tips, it makes a clicking sound that frightens deer away.

It is called the "Deer Scarer" or "shishi odoshi" (http://www.kineticfountains.com/micro-bamboo-rocking-fountain.asp?idcategory=199)

[tater03]

I have never seen those before. Thanks for sharing that product. I will have to pass this along to my mother in law who has problems with deer on her property.

[SageMother]

I have always wondered if the deer eventually figure out that the clicking sound of the fountain, will cause them no harm!

[tater03]

You know they might but deer are pretty skittish creatures as it is so maybe it would always make them take off?

[mbtaluka]

I never checked out this product before SageMother, thats a great idea. Try to construct a strong fence which wouldn't allow them to enter in.

[Green-Moo]

I'd say that your best defense would be good strong fencing!

If you don't want to keep them out of the garden you could try just covering things that you think will be particularly attractive to them.

[SageMother]

You know they might but deer are pretty skittish creatures as it is so maybe it would always make them take off?

Very true!

I guess they wouldn't stick around long enough to figure things out! I know they will run from anyone holding a stick during deer season!

[Serenity]

Thanks for the help, everyone! The fencing I'd like to do eventually but it's a big property and that's simply cost prohibitive right now. I'd be cheaper replacing the plants. :)

SageMother, I love that fountain. Even if I didn't have deer running amok, I'd still like one of those. Beautiful. :)

[tater03]

I hear you on the fencing. It is quite expensive and you would need to have a pretty high fence. Can't deer jump pretty high?

[SageMother]

I hear you on the fencing. It is quite expensive and you would need to have a pretty high fence. Can't deer jump pretty high?

Deer can jump fairly high but it is the chance they don't make it all the way over that could be a real problem.

Deer get caught up in all sorts of things because they tend to panic. If the deer doesn't get all the way over the fence then you have to contend with getting animal control out to remove the deer.

[justontime]

My brother has a bit of a problem with deer, I'm not sure what type of deer they are. He says that the sound of dogs puts them off and they don't like movement. He has some old fertilizer sacks hung in various places around the garden, they flap and make a crackling noise if the breeze catches them. He can unhook them and put them away if he wants to enjoy the garden. He uses old Cd's hung up to scare birds (the moving reflected light bothers them) and he thinks that these deter the deer too.

[mtrent]

Bamboo really works. I have also seen mesh laid across it.

[brownthumb]

the bamboo water thing was in the movie Kill Bill, vol 1., during the fight scene between Uma Thurman and Lucy Liu

[hairycaterpillar]

Hmm. This reminds me..we have deer problems too, I remember watching a news article a few years back that said deer have an instinctive fear of lions. Lion dung has been used from safari parks and zoos to keep deer away. Apparently it is very effective.

We've tried everything. ..
can't get hold of lion dung though..

I'm thinking of making a kind of lion shaped scarecrow

[OliviaP]

You can get that Shishi Odoshi water feature here too:

http://www.primrose-london.co.uk/deer-repellent-c-24_174.html

They also do ultrasonic deer repellers too, which I think are cheaper and would take up less space in your garden. Not quite as pretty though, for sure. :D

[davidbkeegan]

This may sound gross, but sometimes you can find coyote/wolf urine. I'm not sure if it works, but I've seen it and it's supposed to scare them away and odorless.

[spurmsperm]

I think deer are pretty skittish creatures as it is so maybe it would always make them take off?

[Cody Wellard]

I have struggled with the deer for several years, our property is fenced, but deer can jump high. I now have a garden area with a 6 foot fence that the deer have never got into. I plant my vegetables, berries and all of my favorite flowers. Around my house in the open I plant plants like lavender.

[miles.o]

The water fountain is a great idea to repel deer, especially if you don't have a lot of them roaming around, eating things in your garden! A great way to continue to scare them off is to move them to different locations in your garden so they don't get used to the noise..

[Terisaccount]

I fought the battle with deer for 14 years in my last house. Deer get used to being near humans and get used to all the tricks we try: sounds, scarecrows, flashing sheet metal, big cat urine (zoos sell), Irish Spring, dryer sheets, pepper spray, 6 foot fencing, etc. My garden always lost, and I was starting to look like Bill Murray in his battle with the ground hogs. (Catty Shack) Roses (and other flowers) are deer truffles; they came for dessert and would stay for dinner, wiping out all my flowers, hydrangea, shrubs and many trees, even some described as deer proof.

I gave my roses away. With the "truffles" gone, I planted more of what they disliked such as most herbs, rhododendron, pyracantha, madrone, and needled shrubs and trees, and moved the vegetable garden to a compact rectangle on a ledge 3 feet up, completely enclosed in chicken wire.

Then I sat on the deck drinking my mint julep and enjoyed them, knowing the the ivy and periwinkle the poor starving creatures were eating will recover just fine.

[fireflies]

Bamboo really works. I have also seen mesh laid across it.

Bamboo is really great. I haven't had any issues with deer in my neighborhood since I got some.

[Charm Dreier]

I have a few ideas that no one mentioned yet in the previous posts. Motion-activated sprinkler-- starts and sprays water on them as they come near the radar. Very effective at startling them into bolting out of your garden. The other idea is deer spray. Some brands are "Liquid Fence", "Deer Off", & "Not Tonight, Deer" (which has a very funny illustration of two beer in bed on the front of the bottle). They are natural but totally nasty!!!! They are made with putrified egg solids and capsicum peppers, and usually also garlic. They stink to high heaven when you are applying them. Don't apply them in a wind since it will spray back on you and you will want to puke at how bad you smell. I think the first few days, the deer (and other munching creatures, such as rabbits) are repelled by the horrible stink, but after the stink receeds after a couple of days, they might take a bite only to realize that the plant now tastes horrible! It really works. It lasts until it rains or gets sprayed off by irrigation sprayers or the plant grows out. I generally spray some of my clients gardens once a month with the stuff.

[LIcenter]

If you have a deer problem DO NOT plant Hosta's. It's deer salad, and they will eat you out of house and yard. All the big box stores sell a black mesh plastic fence, that has one inch squares. You wouldn't think this flimsy stuff would stop them, but it does. How it works is, the deer can't see it, and have no way to know how to judge how high or wide it is, so they just back off, and move on to the neighbors house.:D

[garby8265]

If you have a deer problem DO NOT plant Hosta's. It's deer salad, and they will eat you out of house and yard. All the big box stores sell a black mesh plastic fence, that has one inch squares. You wouldn't think this flimsy stuff would stop them, but it does. How it works is, the deer can't see it, and have no way to know how to judge how high or wide it is, so they just back off, and move on to the neighbors house.:D

I've heard the same thing about hostas apparently deer absolutely love them.