How to deer proof your garden

Melanie Mathieson
Gardening Guru

It may surprise you to know that deer can be a problem for not only the rural gardener but also the urban gardener as well. Deer are very abundant throughout the rural area of the Rainy River district but they are also frequent visitors to many gardens right within the town of Fort Frances. The main priority within a deer’s day is to eat, sleep, and not get captured, with much emphasis on the time spent eating. It is because of this, that a garden full of perennials or vegetables can become a gourmet delight for any deer.
Deer are creatures of habit and therefore will return to the same places for food over and over. Deer are also very curious and will often move toward a sound to investigate before fleeing. Even with these characteristics in mind there are some creative and safe deterrents that you can use in your own yard and garden to send the deer on their way to someone else’s garden. Deer can easily destroy a vegetable garden or your perennial bed in no time with some sneaky grazing. Not only are green leafy plants vulnerable but deer will also browse on your trees and shrubs. Most often the damage is done in the early light of day or the evening hours and you are not aware that you have a deer problem until it is too late.
With some careful planning and persistence you can outsmart the deer and protect your yard and garden in an effective and friendly way. With some advance planning and layout of your garden you can create natural barriers of “deer offensive” plants around your already established perennial beds or each year when you plant your vegetable garden. While some plants are like candy to deer, they do not eat every leafy green plant available to them. There are many plants that deer will avoid and these can be used effectively to create natural barriers around plants that are more desirable to the deer. As a general rule of thumb, deer do not like most herb species and the more aromatic they are the more offensive they are to deer. Herbs like rosemary, sage, mints, chives and especially garlic and onions are extremely displeasing to deer. Not only are most of these herbs effective against deer but other pests and insects as well, so make these plants your border plantings around your garden and you will establish a natural “pest fence” that is also very useful to you as well. Perennials and annuals that are drought tolerant tend to be ignored by deer. Drought tolerant plants tend to have tough and fibrous stems and leaves. Often these plants have silvery or whitish hue to the foliage. Examples of these plants are silver mound, ornamental grasses, lamb’s ear, slavia. There are many other drought tolerant plants that can be used to create a very aesthetic garden whether you have a deer problem, so consult a plant guide for other suggestions. You can also solve a low moisture problem and combat deer at the same time and remember drought tolerant plants are low maintenance so they may the solution to all of your gardening problems. Deer also did like annuals and perennials with flowers that have an unpleasant odour. Zinnias and marigolds come to mind immediately, as well as other plants with coarse fuzzy, bristly or spiny textures, like black-eyed Susans, perennial phlox and poppies. Deer love spring bulbs like tulips but did you know daffodils are poisonous to deer? Rhubarb is also poisonous. Deer will eat the flowers off of roses but they will not walk though the bushes to gain access to other parts of the garden. So with substitutions or using thorny or spiny bushes as natural fencing you can create some great deer barriers. Raspberry bushes can be a great natural fencing all around your yard or vegetable garden.
Deer are easily spooked by humans and dogs. They have a keen senses and sudden movements will send them scurrying. Human scent is a great deterrent but you must be consistent about keeping it fresh after a rain. Many gardeners swear by hanging bars of heavily scented soap in netting or nylons around their yard to keep deer at bay. Soap must be replaced once it dissolves from the rain. Keep the wrappers on and you will get extra mileage out of the bars. Hanging bags of human hair or dog hair can also work the same way but do not last as long as soap and must be replaced frequently after heavy rains. Your local hairdresser or dog groomer would be happy to supply you with some hair for this purpose. You will want to hang these bags of scent at least three feet off of the ground so they are in the deer’s line of scent. There are also deer repellents available on the market and can be effective but labour intensive to keep applying after the rains. If you do not like commercial repellents you can make your own. Plain old dish soap will taste awful to a deer and you can spray this on foliage. In order to keep your plants from burning you must use this recipe. Mix one gallon of water with one tablespoon of dish soap ( sunlight is best), mix well and apply to foliage. This can be used on trees and shrubs as well. If you want to enhance the foulness of the solution you can mix in one tablespoon of hot pepper sauce and/or a few cloves of pureed garlic. Less is more with this concoction, because over use will burn the foliage of your plants and it is effective against other pests too. Bone meal is made from ground bones from slaughter houses and is marketed as a plant fertilizer. Bone meal smells like rotten meat and will deter most garden pests including deer. Sprinkle on top of the soil of your garden, replacing after each rain, and you will be deterring deer and adding nutrients at the same time. Remember that the foul smell may attract dogs, raccoons and bears so this may not work in your situation. Another inexpensive and effective deterrent for deer is fabric softener sheets. These can be hung like the bags of soap throughout the garden. They are lightweight and inexpensive but also must be replaced as their scent wears away. Some people also swear by hanging “white tails” in their garden. White tails can be made by ripping white rags into tail like shapes and hanging from trees, shrubs or stakes, at a height of about three feet. When the wind catches these, the deer perceive these as real white tails signaling danger and flee.
I also mentioned deer are spooked by dogs. It is illegal to allow your dog to chase deer but they can still effectively work your property to keep deer at bay. The barking of a dog is enough to tell deer to steer clear, but your can use the scent of your dog to repel deer as well. Spend some time with your dog in the yard to spread around the scent, encourage your dog to make territory with its urine around the perimeter of your property. While I do not condone letting dog feces pile up on your property a few strategically placed piles are enough to signal a deer to move on. The hair from your dog after a good brushing can be put to good use by either hanging in a net bag or scatter at the edge of your garden.
There are many electronic or motioned sensored gizmos on the market for deterring garden pests. While these can be expensive some are very effective. Before making a large financial investment try a good old fashioned scarecrow first. Two secrets to success, make sure parts of the scarecrow body moves in the wind and move the scarecrow around your garden occasionally, as deer will get used to it if it is in the same position all the time. Some gardeners use noise makers as scarecrows. I have heard they are effective for a while but then the deer will get used to the sounds and become comfortable being in the presence of the sound. If you want to try music or the radio you might want to make sure you have plenty of variety to change the tone so the deer do not get used to the same music.
Deterring deer can become quite a game and use up some of your gardening time. Many gardeners just give up and the deer keep coming so many resort to building a fence. Fences can be effective or ineffective depending on your situation. If you are investing in a fence make sure it is high enough, does not have any holes deer can squeeze through like near the gate and is sunk into the ground. Deer have been known to crawl under a fence, clear a seven foot jump and even squeezed though a 12 inch opening in a fence. While a fence is a large financial investment some gardeners have found that it is the only solution.
I have offered more than a few suggestions to deter deer from your yard and garden. I hope that they prove successful for you. Remember persistence is the key and maintaining your deterrents will signal to the deer to move on to some place that is less of a challenge.