It’s planting season! You know deer are looking for easy pickings, especially after such a difficult winter in many parts of the country. Cue the Jaws theme song.  Spring was so late, it was to the point that many were at the point of severe nutritional deficiencies. Only a few broadleaf plants emerged to kick start their guts. And while I do not want to see them starve, honestly, I don’t want to feed them, either. 

As anyone who lives in deer country knows, it’s tough to keep them out short of a Jurassic Park like fencing outfit. For flowers and non-edibles a lot of people reach for some sort of deterrent to spray or pour over plants. For me, a dozen eggs whipped up in about a gallon of water did the trick to protect my tulips and early spring flowers for years. But this spring they mowed down my tulips before I could pour egg over them. A friend of mine lost all of hers even after she did. It demonstrates that even though something has worked for many years, it’s never foolproof. 

Home remedies

Outside of a complete barricade to keep them away from the desirable plants, there are a number of remedies people have tried over the years with varying success. I think all of us have heard of using Dial (or some other strong smelling) soap hung in netting around the garden. Same with human hair or even coyote urine.  All of these smells, one that is pungent and the others that smells of danger, keep them away for a while, but it usually isn’t long until the deer figure out nothing is going to hurt them. 

I used fishing line with similar results on one of my big landscaping projects in Whitefish years ago. It was like one giant spider web in between the supposedly deer resistant plants. Before long, they went through the line with impunity. 

The Scarecrow, which has long been my favorite, is the motion triggered sprinkler that shoots a blast of water at them. While I haven’t found the deer to become used to it, my problem at home is that if the faucet leaks at all (and you have to keep it on all of the time in order for the Scarecrow to trigger) it can cause water to pool under the house. That gets me in deep trouble. So I’m limited on how I can use it here, although I’ve seen it work wonders in other situations. 

Other solutions

A friend is trying out the ultrasonic animal repellent in her garden to keep the deer away from what’s left of some of her roses, as well as their apple tress. Time will tell on how effective it is, although it certainly does emit a high pitched sound. It would be difficult to be around for very long because it was very noticeable. I can see where the deer and other animals would want to avoid it. There are also flashing lights to help further startle them. I really hope this one works. It could be a good solution for a lot of people, particularly if the deer situation isn’t too horrible. 

If you don’t want to completely fence off an area or cover your flowers (which is kind of counterintuitive to the reason you plant them in the first place), give these remedies a try to see what works the best for you.