Arlene Wright-Correll

• email: askarlene@scrtc.com

• http://www.learn-america.com

by Arlene Correll

All of us have tried various things to deter those pesky creatures and it seems that no single method works for every deer in every area, and what works today may not work in a couple of weeks. Here are some ideas to help you reclaim your garden.

BARRIERS
If the deer are picking at a few choice plants, enclose them in hardware cloth. Barriers should be 4 feet high and a couple of feet from the plant.

FENCES 

Electric fencing is the most effective way to keep the deer out of the garden, but this may not be practical for many home gardeners, especially if children play nearby. We have electric fence that is about 5 ft. high and they jump them easily.  Conventional fencing should be 8 feet high to offer adequate protection. The fences least likely to be jumped are those made of a solid material such as wood or stone. A deer can't see what's on the other side of a solid barrier, and is not likely to make the jump.

REPELLENTS
Several types of homemade repellents have been tried with varying success. Here are a few that show promise:

Hang soap bars from the branches of trees or nail them to stakes driven into the ground 15 feet apart. The soap bars should be about 4 feet from the ground.

Put handfuls of human hair in bags made of net, mesh or cheesecloth. Hang the bags three feet above the ground and 3 feet apart.( Remember the 3 cronies in the Dennis Quaid movie, “The Rookie”?  They put human hair clippings from the local barbershop all around the baseball diamond in order to keep the deer from eating the new grass that they kept planting there.)  It may work and for those of you who do home barbering, this is a way to recycle those hair clippings.

Spray trees and crops with a mixture made of 5 quarts of water and 5 eggs. This much solution should treat about 1/4 acre. Spray the plants thoroughly and repeat after a rain.

Combinations of the following make effective repellents:

blood meal
bone meal
exotic animal manure (consult your local zoo)
hot sauce
garlic oil

Dilute your mixture with water, experimenting to find the most effective strength. Soak rags in the mixture and hang them around areas that need protection. Alternatively, you can soak string in the mixture, then fence off the area with the saturated string. Change your mixture often so that the deer don't learn that the nasty smell can lead to a good meal.  This type of thing does not have much esthetic value to the appearance of your landscape, but saving your crops might make it worth it.

I have a friend that takes himself and his boys out many times a week and they urinate in the area that marks the places they want to keep away the deer.

There are several products on the market that effectively repel deer. Make sure the one you choose is safe around pets, children and food crops. It's a good idea to change products from time to time. 

I also read about the “sonic” sound alarms that go off when deer come into your sacred space.  Expensive! However, they might be effective.

Those of you who have dogs that roam your acreage, might find that a deterrent to the deer.

We try to plant a lot of perennials around in our “sacred” areas that are deer deterrent.  That way they come back year after year and multiply thus giving us beauty and a little protection.