Help the deer are taking over my garden

[Daisy8s]

Our dogs are our best deterrents. I have a deer path about 30 feet from my garden. It's a busy highway with lots of deer coming and going from dusk to dawn. They graze on ornamental plants I have planted near the path but they have never entered my garden, even though my fence is only 4 feet high.

I've never tried any formal kind of deterrent so I have to believe my dogs are doing the trick--and they're inside the house at night, just barking several times each night. Every once in awhile their barking ratchets up a notch and I let them out and then something goes scurrying away.

I have overturned plastic milk crates over squash/pumpkin hills and those grew successfully protected from both chickens and deer (they were planted right next to the deer highway, outside the fence). I have also used stakes and chicken wire to make very narrow ovals around new fruit trees. The deer had been eating the tops off--the new green shoots--but after the chicken wire required them to put their heads down inside the oval they stopped doing that and the fruit trees grew well.

 

[CurtisCr79]

We had similiar issues when we first started our garden. Got so bad we thought the neighbors were stealing from us. We had a tomatoe plant full of almost ripe fruit (What made it worse was we had to wait so long to get the first set to ripen) and the next morning every one of them was gone. Ended up catching a deer in the garden a couple day later, she stomped on all of our squash and was eating it.

I ended up scaring them away by peeing in the yard, since I am the good neighbor I am I would wait for it to get dark and walked the perimiter of the garden peeing here and there. After about a week, no more deer problems.

Good Luck!

 

[Silver Silkie]

Either get a greenhouse, build an eight foot high fence or get a guard dog. These are pretty much the only ways you can get rid of them. Where I live we have deers all over our property and we have a small greenhouse.

 

[bobrunn]

Hello I just recently started my garden a few months back and the deer have found it. I have it partially fenced don't have the finance's to finish it. Just got all my tater's out and was thinking of pulling the rest of the fence over to get more coverage. They have eaten the tops to all my beans, the blooms are still on them along with the bottom leaves, they have taken out one cucumber plant but they have not touched my squash, mater's and corn. I have a lit up scarecrow in the garden that I have been re-positioning often, I had the hubby and son pee out there along the line of the garden that worked for one night but them it poured all day the next day, I tried aftershave last night but that didn't work, I have onions and garlic out there but that's not keeping them away. I am willing to try anything to keep them out so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

 

[bobrunn]

Hi. I found what works for me is a motion activated sprinkler called the crow. I use it around my raised garden beds, and it definatley works. You hook up your garden hose to it, and point it in the direction you want. Its noise alone scares deer, and other critters. It only goes off for a few seconds once it detects motion. Check it out online. Hope I helped.

 

[Quailsong]

I've heard of people hanging soap - believe it's Zest they use. Human hair. Dirty underwear laid on bushes. Aluminum pie tins and CD discs strung up and hanging from everywhere.

I live in the woods and I can tell you that maybe one deer or two might be deterred from such but they'll get used to whatever you put out there and will still get into your garden.

A dog is good, the odor of the dog deters them. BEST is a fence. I know you said you couldn't afford to finish the one you started but I'm thinking of a temporary fence of the green metal spikes and either plastic poultry netting or deer netting. Deer netting is hard to work with, you need two people, but it's effective. I use it on top of my run to keep hawks out.

You could do a temp fence that can be removed at the end of the season for a lot less than a real fence.

I use Irish Spring soap with good results.

OP - Change things up. New smells (soap, perfume, garlic, move it about), new sounds (radio 24/7 - diff locations each day), new sights (pie plates, CDs, banners, etc). The more you change things, the less likely deer are to come back. Your place is too random for them to feel safe.

And uh, get a 7' fence when you can afford it. (though some deer can still jump it..)

 

[Homestead girl]

Yep Irish Spring the Deer hate it, My Dad has used it for the past six years . You can stand on his porch and watch the deer just walk right by his garden and never touch.
Can't say I blame them that stuff stinks .
Oh and it lasts along time even when it gets rained on

Hope you try it.
Good Luck

 

[Quailsong]

Yep Irish Spring the Deer hate it, My Dad has used it for the past six years . You can stand on his porch and watch the deer just walk right by his garden and never touch.
Can't say I blame them that stuff stinks .
Oh and it lasts along time even when it gets rained on

Hope you try it.
Good Luck

Haha I totally agree. I sometimes wonder how many people buy it to use for themselves, or for the deer. I've heard it so often recommended for the latter. I wonder what a survey would say, and if it'd make the company blush.

 

[cstronks]

I'm an Irish Spring fan lol...to each his own I guess. Most people like it where I come from...pretty popular scent in the college dorm. But anyways, it is an awesome deterrent for deer in gardens. Almost has an invisible fence effect.

 

[lauraurig]

This sounds weird but works....human pee. So next have all the men in ur family pick a corner and just go lol. Making sure not to hit ur plants lol. Seriously works!