How To
Keep Deer Out of the Garden | 5 Non-Toxic Gardening Tips
Try these methods to keep deer out of the garden without using chemicals and or spending a lot of money.
By Shelley Wigglesworth|Jun 10 2022|
Coffee By Design | Portland, Maine
Photo Credit : Katherine KeenanPhoto Credit : Dreamstime
5 Ways to Keep Deer Out of the Garden
- The next time you get your hair trimmed, bring the hair clippings home and spread the hair around the perimeter of your garden. The human scent is said to ward off deer.
- Gardeners with pet dogs or neighbors with dogs are less likely to have deer intruders as the scent of the dog and the dog’s marking of the territory is something deer tend to avoid.
- Animal urine. The urine of deer predators may be purchased at hunting retail and supply stores. It’s important that the urine purchased is from a predator that is native to your area. Sprinkle a few drops consistently over various areas of your property. Repeat this application every two weeks or as needed to keep deer out of your garden.
- Grow ornamental plants that deer do not like to eat as companion plants near the plants that they do eat. TIP: Deer usually do not eat plants with rough, fuzzy, or prickly foliage. Or choose plants, flowers, and herbs that emit a strong odor — such as garlic, onion, sage, and marigolds. These options are all unappealing to deer. Place several of these plants or a combination of the plants in areas where deer are likely to access your garden.
- Lastly, some folks swear that installing or using a small blinking LED light-such as those used on bicycles or on pet collars for night travel will keep the deer away.
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I use Liquid Fence, that I spray weekly for the first month, then continue to spray once monthly. It really works. I buy the concentrate and dilute it myself to save some money. I have tried many other methods, but so far, this one has worked for me
I’m not a salesman but the product “Deer Out” beats everything.
If a deer is desperate all bets are off. A deer ate all the prickly foliage off my holly bush this past winter. The plant was touching the house. I was hanging out the window two feet away yelling at the deer and it didn’t stop. I’m not sure if it will come back. A physical fence of wildlife netting has worked great for my garden. I need to put a top on it or make it more than 5ft tall in a 6ft wide area. If the area is wider you need to go higher to keep them from jumping over.
Irish Spring soap. I buy the bars of soap and shred off pieces of it with a knife. Seems to be working so far!
The deer really liked my okra last year and they asked if I might plant some more this year,
I’ve used Irish spring soap in socks tied to stakes
I utilize an antidessicant such as Wiltpruf that I mix with Tabasco or other hot sauce and spray on plants about every moth or two. This is environmentally sensitive and also just burns tongues of deer and teaches them that plants don’t taste good. Typically grazing deer are repeat offenders so over time they don’t return.
I have had good luck with Irish Spring soap. (knock wood) I buy large packages of ORIGINAL Irish Spring bars at BJs. Cut each bar into 10 to 12 chunks. (Do this outside the smell is overpowering.) Sprinkle chunks throughout flower beds. Any excess can be stored in double zip lock bags. Do this early! My yard is surrounded by woods and lots of deer. So far, my hosta and other deer delicacies have survived.
Any thought as to how a 30-06 would deter deer??
Deer have depth-of-field eyesight. I staggered lawn chairs in front of my daylillies while they were blooming and once in a while rearranged the chairs. Deer never touched them!
I lay a three foot wide piece of chicken wire in front of my hostas and flower bed. It is not noticeable but the deer will not walk on it.
I need to deter groundhogs!
Another “Irish Spring” advocate, but with a soap-saving, single-application twist. You’ll need: a bar of Irish Spring, a knee-high nylon stocking, an 18-20-ounce plastic cup (we like dark green Solo brand for ease of handling and color blending), and a garden stake at least 12-inches long. Shave the soap bar into chunks to put into the knee-high, pushing them down into the toe. Cut an “X” in the bottom of the plastic cup. Invert the cup and pull the top of the knee-high up through the cup and out the top, pulling the soap-filled toe inside the cup. Tie or staple the top of the knee-high to the garden stake and insert the other end into your garden plantings. The cup hangs high enough off the ground for the soap scent to spread, but the cup-cover prevents rain from dissolving the soap (so no soapy film in the garden). In gardens like mature Hosta, the greenery grows up around the cup, making it virtually invisible. Three full summers with deer in the neighborhood but none in the garden, using just one fresh soap-cup each Spring.
Tried all of these “solutions” or folk remedies- theyndo,not work. We have blinking,lights, radio playing, whirligigs and other noise makers, andmall,it seems to attract the deer. They get good music and entertainment while they dine. The deer even walk right through backyards with dogs in them. Tried the hair and urine too, didn’t work. Haven’t tried coyote scent though. They just eat around the yucky stuff too.
Thanks for the information. Now, tell me how to keep raccoons away from my bird feeders. Karen
We live on the side of a Golf Course. We have spent a fortune trying to keep deer from eating our important foliage.
What has worked best for important bushes and foliage is “BIRD SCARE TAPE from Amazon = $13.95.
We tried everything on your list to no avail. Of course, we can’t put it near the bird feeders because it does scare away the birds ! Bobbi