Gardens are the focal point of any commercial or residential landscape. They may include exotic flowering plants and bushes, beautiful foliage, or a wide variety of fruit and vegetables. All of these are admired by passers-by including the once-shy but now very hungry deer. Here are a few gardening tips to keep deer out of your garden and allow you to focus on maintaining its beauty.
Deer love to munch on plants, flowers, fruit, and vegetables, especially when they are famished. Because their food sources are limited, the use of a fence will not necessarily keep them away. They will literally jump leaps and bounds in order to get a little snack, destroying your garden in the process.
Deer love to feast on the vegetables and fruit that humans do, so it is no surprise that they will go directly to these items in the garden. Avoid planting things like corn, lettuce, broccoli, and berries if the desire is to keep deer away. Look online for a list of trees, flowers, vegetables, and fruit that deer enjoy and remove those from your garden’s planting list. Even the Christmas tree is not safe, because a deer will enjoy a snack of Frasier fir.
If these succulent vegetables and fruit just cannot be parted with, then the use of other deterrent tactics will be necessary. Deer do not like human or animal hair, so spread some around the plants in the garden. Purchasing chemical repellents online or from the neighborhood garden shop will also do the trick. Thorny plants and those poisonous to deer such as autumn crocus, columbine, or daffodils will cause deer to nibble once then not again.
Floodlights, whistles, electric wires, flags, and sprinklers placed within the general area of the garden will also serve to deter deer from entering. If these do not do the trick, try mixing up some homemade deer deterrent and spraying it on the garden plants. Concoctions such as hot-pepper spray, soap and water, and rotten eggs and water will keep deer from chewing where these are sprayed, as will other sprays available commercially.
Distraction is always a good tactic, so plant some of the deer’s favorite munchies in an area of the yard far away from the location of the garden. However, keeping the deer from entering the garden in the first place is usually the best tactic. Fence in the garden using fencing that is at least eight feet high, extends underground, and has gaps smaller than 6×6 inches. Strategically place tree branches, thorns, or netting in order to provide obstacles for the deer to jump the fence.
Following these gardening tips to keep deer out of your garden should yield a munch-free zone for these wandering neighbors. Avoid incorporating plants and vegetables that deer find attractive and try a few deterrent tactics including fencing in the garden, and the deer should wander on their way. This will free every gardener to spend more time planting those prize-winning flowers and vegetables.
Visit our site for the best deer repellent. Find out what other gardeners are doing to keep the deer away. There are many options to protect your plants from deer. There are also deer resistant plants you can use which will keep the deer away naturally.