![]() If the border is too wide for the deer to reach comfortably, two feet or more, it is effective. This has only worked for me when I’ve created a fairly wide border around the plant I’m trying to protect. Of the three planted in this corner of the yard, 1 has been grazed back to the stems by hungry deer.Ĥ. This is only in the ground for a month from a 1 gal. Oackleaf Hydrangea, “Snow Queen”, is known to be highly resistant to grazing by deer. Wind chimes hanging in a tree near a deer path, a radio left playing in a garden, children playing, and a squeaky wind driven whirligig can all make cautious deer avoid an area. The sealed container protects the moth balls packets from rain and prevents them from leaching into your soil.ģ. Drop in two or three moth ball packs, close the container, and hang it in or near the plant you want to protect. Make 2 additional holes in the bottom or top of the container to hold a loop of wire or twine for a hanger. ![]() Punch holes into a lidded plastic container, like a yogurt cup. Moth balls are also good protection against deer, rabbits, and squirrels. The cat litter didn’t break down, and left a huge and nasty mess. Some people use shavings from a bar of soap, and the previous owners of my property left piles of used kitty litter all over the back yard. Concoctions made with putrescent eggs, bovine blood, garlic, and hot pepper seem to be effective. Ĭoffee grounds, left out in a closed container for several days, can be sprinkled around beds you wish to protect. These products, and other organic garden products are available at The Homestead Garden Center in James City Co. This is an excellent fertilizer and gives the plants lots of resistance to various infections and infestations. A dilute solution used as a foliar feed also offers protection, until it’s washed off in a heavy rain. This is an organic, water soluble fertilizer made from fish emulsion and sea weed. Some gardeners buy blood meal, an organic fertilizer, and sprinkle this over whole beds of plants to discourage deer, rabbits, and other small mammals.Īnother good product is Neptune’s Harvest. I also spray this concoction at access points to my yard where I think deer may be coming in. I use Plant Skydd spray on particularly tasty treats like rose buds and Hosta leaves. My friend brings home bags of human hair from her hair appointments, and sprinkles this around her garden to keep deer away from large areas. Like us, deer use their sense of smell to decide whether or not to eat something. I’ve grown cherry tomatoes in hanging baskets and grown beans and eggplant on a second story deck.Ģ. Parents understand this principle, and can come up with creative solutions. This might mean pruning up branches of fruiting and flowering trees so deer can’t reach them, or it might mean growing your tomatoes in pots on a deck the deer can’t access. Here is a list of strategies my friends and I have used with success in our gardens:ġ. This bed of Dusty Miller, Coreopsis, Sage, Echinacea, and Stachys Byzantina was enlarged this year to protect a little Camellia bush in the center. Old timers call our azaleas “lollipop bushes” because the bases of them are so badly eaten, and only the parts the deer can’t reach freely flower. Seeing wire cages around shrubs in so many yards in our new neighborhood should have been a clue to the problem. And some plants, like lantana, Artemisia, Hellebores, and Vinca taste so bad the deer just leave them alone.Ī quick survey of the neighborhood is sometimes enough to get a wealth of data about which plants are growing well in lots of yards, which plants are pathetically nibbled, and which are largely absent. You can shield plants to a certain extent by growing smelly herbs like lavenders, rosemary, basil, mints, and sages around them. Products such as Plant Skydd and Liquid Fence are pricey, but they protect your plants while until the plants get established. They dislike the smell of putrescent eggs, moldy coffee grounds, cow’s blood, and most herbs. The best defense against the deer is an olfactory defense. You might see them browsing in your garden, or even on a low porch or deck. It must be renewed every few weeks and after a heavy rain.īesides finding shredded leaves and bitten off stems, you might also notice hoof prints in soft ground or little piles of deer scat as calling cards of their presence in your yard. Plant Skydd is an organic product which can safely be sprayed on edible plants to keep deer away. A tomato, grown out in the garden, grazed by deer.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |