After reading the list of ingredients in DeerFence and following the advice of JardineraTX, I am spraying with a combination of a couple eggs, a couple tablespoons of tabasco, and lots of garlic mixed with enough water to make about a gallon. I suggest using a hand blender before adding all the water to get a nice mixture.

My results are in the preliminary stage though. I started spraying about a month ago when the deer de-budded MANY of my roses. For two weeks after that, I had no deer activity. This weekend, a deer visited, tasted two roses, and no more. (Hopefully this was a result of the flavor of the spray.) I am also using other tactics. When I have time, I will sprinkle cat box stuff around the outer perimeter of the furthest gardens. A couple times a week, we leave a radio playing classical music on out in different places in the garden (try taking a walk just before bed and when it's dark, with the music, the flowers, and the moonlight, it's pretty wonderful -- also check for deer). I also leave little obstacles about to spook them: a watering can in front of a plant with one choice bud, a bushel basket in the center of a path, etc. I continue to plant many fragrant herbs too. Others use hair trimmings, urine, etc.

I am trying this homemade version of the DeerFence because many many people who use it on a regular schedule, like once a week and after a rain, have had success -- as my primary method. And all the other methods as backup and to keep the deer on their toes. I don't expect it to be 100% effective but as long as I don't experience the major damage I had recently, I'll consider it a success.

I am hoping that real diligence with the spray and intentional sporadic-ness with the other methods will be effective all year long.

Hi Gracin: I remember Kim Rupert (Roseseek) talked about the deer avoided going into the path planted with a bunch of rosemary.

I have rosemary, it's not as strong as Russian Sage .... that Sage is very potent in scent. If you can throw some cut Russian Sage branches on your rose bush, that will repel deer.

Below is a link to the list of plants that repel deer. Russian Sage and Lavender is in that group. I have Lavender, can't smell much, won't recommend that! The link also recommends pink yarrow .... extremely invasive here, I don't recommend yarrow, the yellow yarrow is less invasive, but it smells like a rotten corpse.

Here is a link that might be useful: Deer repellant plants

This got posted twice. So I deleted it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Deer repellant plants

This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Tue, May 28, 13 at 13:02

Sidos - House,
thanks for the great recommendations. I plan on trying them all
(except the radio - roses are too far from the house and I know I would trip over the extension cord)

Straw, that post was worth posting twice. I almost fell over laughing at the part about Yellow yarrow smelling like a rotten corpse. I just wasn't expecting that.

I also plan to get some more plants that repel deer.

I recently bought a rosemary plant for the pretty growth habit. I thought it would make a nice companion plant. Little did I know that it would be a guard as well as a companion.

Thank you both, I'll keep you posted. :>)

Gracin

Sidos: I'm curious about the DeerFence stuff you mentioned, but can't find anything about it online. What's included on the list of ingredients you examined? Is it a homemade concoction, or is it available commercially?

There are lots of previous discussions re: deer, here. Do a search.

You might consider the motion sensor sprinkler repellant. (see link below) You set the hose to just a trickle so the pressure builds but not to the level of bursting the hose and causing flooding. When tripped, the rain bird shoots out noise and a stream of cold water, scaring whatever triggers it. YOU have to remember it's there so you're not the one it hits. I know people for whom it has been effective. It might be worth considering. Good luck! Kim

Here is a link that might be useful: Motion sensor deer repellant

If it's just grazing, you might also try basil plants. I found out that the deer were avoiding my globe basil that smells strong in our heat, so I used to move a big potted one around to the roses they'd tested! It worked for the roses.

It didn't keep the deer away from the tomatoes later, so it depends on how badly they want to eat what's by it, apparently.

I'm definitely going to get that scare sprinkler at some point! I have fruit trees that are going to be deer magnets once they get old enough.

I hear wolves are useful. ):-)
Sorry. I love deer. I really do!
It's getting late....

Carol

Windeaux and Gracein,

I made a mistake: the commercial product is called Liquid Fence, not Deer Fence. Sorry!

Here is the link to their website:
http://www.liquidfence.com/pump-and-spray.html

And here is a link to the MSDS data:
http://pro.liquidfence.com/tech/

The ingredients listed are:
putrescent egg solids
garlic powder
sodium laurel sulfate
xanthum gum
potassium sorbate
water

It's expensive and since the main ingredients are common pantry items that cost very little, I opted to make my own from scratch and added the tabasco/chili based on recipes other people suffering from deer use.

I am so sorry for any confusion I caused. I am a dummy :)

Hi Sidos-House: You are not a dummy, I make mistakes like that. One time I told my husband I miss the myrrh scent of Mary Magdalene rose, so I bought "Frankinstein" instead of "Frankincense" essence oil.

My husband laughed, "Yeah, baby Jesus won't like that when the 3 wise men bring him Frankinstein monster.

You got me laughing, Sidos_House, when I thought "Deer Fence" means lining up deers side-by-side to prevent more deer coming ... just kidding!

Thanks, Strawberry! That was a cute story :)

I hope the recipe (or the, um, Liquid Fence) works for people who haven't come across the information before, which I found by researching the GW forums and reading positive results by many, but not all, people. For me, so far so good, but too soon to be tooting a horn very loudly.

After trying stuff for years in terms of mixtures.. I find just mixing eggs and spraying every week or two will work, dont overdue it as it can actually bleach the plants lol..

I also use a radio/light sensor as well as stringing different heights of wire in the tree lines..

I have no love for deer, none at all, not only are they rats with longer legs, they carry the deer mite and spread our most potent desease in maine (of commonality anwyays, Lymes desease, we do have rare cases of Tripe E which is worse, but we are talking about 1-2 cases a year of that vs hundreds and hundreds of lymes, which almost killed my Dad about 8 years ago now and infected one of my daughters when she was 4)

Death to bambi.. I would make a sign up if I thought the deer could read it.

Silverkelt

I KNOW people who have set these up to deter the deer in their gardens at the beach, and who FORGOT they would trigger them when they walked out into the garden. Don't believe the instructions and turn the water on with any real pressure. WHEN the hose splits, you don't want the water running with any real force for the many hours it will take you to notice. All you need is a trickle of water. That will pressurize the hose and permit the sprinkler to shoot out its three second stream. Believe me, it is totally sufficient! Kim

Hot Pepper Wax works for Taxus which deer love. When I bought the concentrated form, which is cheaper, I did not notice that it was labelled for insects but it works as well as that labelled for deer. It lasts through some rain too. I guess because of the wax. I have not used it on the roses as the nibbling has been minimal...so far.

Cath

Deer did major damage to my neighbor's tomato plants yesterday. Plus they jumped over the fence, crashed into my peach tree, and broke one large branch off. Deer can jump over 5 feet fence easily. They ate some young leaves from my 2 rose bushes.

They didn't eat my tomato plants, since I surrounded them with daffodils (poisonous to deer). I checked out the book by Peter Schneider, "Right Roses, Right Place" ... he grows 1,200 roses in his Ohio garden. He described how an egg-wash with garlic didn't work, so he bought lots of Bounce fabric softener sheet, and hung them on rose bush with clips.

I'm saving ALL the used "Bounce" sheets from the dryer, so I can soak them with cheap perfume, or the Frankincense essence oil that I don't care for. Hanging used sheets is cheaper than buying brand new "Bounce", plus less chemicals that way.

This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Tue, Jun 11, 13 at 22:01

Blood meal works for a while (nothing except an 8 ft fence works when the deer are hungry in winter).

I saw the sweetest baby deer with its mother in a neighboring garden a few days ago, it was so young it could hardly walk. I still gritted my teeth. I suppose the roe was giving it an educational tour of the local smorgasbord.

We use Deer Repellent Packs. Very effective and much easier to use than spray-ons.
The packs are weather resistant and last up to 90 days without reapplication.
You can read more about why they work and how many you would need here: www.DeerRepellentPacks.com

Here is a link that might be useful: Natural Deer Repellent

Thank you, coachr, for that tip ... the price is reasonable and lasts long.

It rained last night, the deer ate more of one thornless bush, but left the rest with thorns alone. Very thorny Evelyn is not eaten at all. I'm going to try that deer repellent packs for rainy weather.

I am a bit curious why the past 2 years using horse manure, I had zero deer. Until this year, I haven't gotten horse manure yet ... too much rain, plus my experiments with fertilizers. I saw a deer last night at 12:30 pm eating my roses.

Some people said horse manure deter deer, some say it doesn't matter. Here's MariJean Andersen 10/7/2008 5:29:47 PM

"I have found that manures and urine do not deter deer. I've seen deer grazing in pastures with horses. The only thing that has worked for me is hanging aluminum pie plates around the perimeter and between some of the plants. We've watched deer graze on the lawn around the garden but never go into it."

Birds were eating fruits from my cherry tree, so I hung those "American on-line" floppy disc on the tree. The shiny reflecting surfaces kept the birds away ... esp. when the wind made windmills out of those discs.

I doubt the presence or absence of horse manure in your garden had any effect on whether or not deer grazed there. There is nothing about a horse or its excrement that would trigger a deer's instincts to beware of a "predator". They are repelled by coyote (and human) urine because they instinctively know if that animal has urinated somewhere, its marking its territory and that is somewhere the deer does NOT want to be for fear of being chased and eaten.

If you mulched with manure for two years and had no deer, then haven't yet this year and the deer are back, look for other reasons. Perhaps there was enough food in places easier for them to get to in previous years. If things are drying out or being cut down, they may find it necessary to graze areas they haven't felt safe being in before. Perhaps there were obstacles preventing them from easy access to your garden which are no longer there. If there were fences, walls or hedges which kept them from getting to where you are easily, but which have been removed, they can more easily wander in to your area. Usually, animals will feed where its convenient and they feel safest. Stress them with reduced food or water, and they are forced to go where they usually haven't felt safe, where they feel more exposed and vulnerable.

There are very likely several reasons why they didn't graze your garden during the years you had manure on the ground which aren't there right now. The manure is not what has kept them away. Kim

I found a study of Deer Repellents by Illinois Walnut Council on many products: Here's the rating:

Durapel: made from Benzyl Diethyl and Ammonium Benzoate, worked best in all 3 applications, zero damage.

Deer Away (capsaicin and lemon spray): cause burnt death to one tree, plus deer damage.

Deer Away powder (putrid egg solids): good, no damage.

Deer Chaser (citrus pouches that last for 1 year): excellent.

Deer Off (putrid egg, garlic, capsaicin): excellent.

Plantskydd: from Sweden with blood meal & fatty acids: didn't work well, deer damage

Deer No-No (mixed fatty acids): good, no deer damage.

Hot pepper Wax, Coyote urine, and Garlic clips: didn't work, all had severe deer damage. There was another study on corn field by an airport that reported the same deer damage on Coyote urine versus a control.

Surprisingly the cheapest method of 50 cents of a Dial Bar soap, drill a hole and hang one bar from each tree with fishing line: worked well, zero deer damage. See link below for the study:

Here is a link that might be useful: Deer Repellent Study by Illinois Walnut Council

I checked on the customer reviews of the products listed by Illinois Walnut Council, and the one with the most customer satisfaction, 4-star rating out of 131 reviews, is Deer Chaser-citrus-pouch, or Deer No-no (6 pouches) with citrus scent, works for 1 year.

See the picture below, it's expensive, so I'll try the cheap method of hanging a bar of soap first. LAST YEAR I put a bar of soap next to my young roses. At midnight I heard a hacking, vomiting sound, and found bits of soap all over the garden in the morning. I'm pretty sure that bar of Irish Spring soap scared the deer from my garden last year, rather than the horse manure.

Here is a link that might be useful: Picture of citrus pouches to keep deer away

The site "Ask.com" summarized the Illinois Walnut Council's study. Here's an excerpt from the below link:

" Three of the most popular include Dial soap, eggs and garlic. The Walnut Council tested two of these methods. They discovered that hanging bars of Dial soap around your yard by fishing line will scare deer off. Presumably they are afraid of the human scent. The Council also found that hanging cloves of garlic around your yard will actually attract more hungry deer. You can also try mixing one raw egg with a gallon of water and spraying the mix all over the yard. Deer are said to be disgusted by the scent of egg. "

Here is a link that might be useful: Summary of Illinois W. C's study on deer repellent

Deer were devouring my neighbor's baby orange grove. He hung CD's by wire to each tree. They blew in the breeze and reflected the sun. He also tied Irish Spring to each tree. It helped enough that the trees finally got big enough the deer don't bother them.

Thank you, Floridarose, for that confirmation ... hanging CD's by string kept the birds from eating fruits on my cherry tree. It's interesting when the wind swirls those CD's around. Deer come to eat my roses after midnight, not sure if they can see those CD's.

I found a Connecticut study of 22 deer repellents from Mother Earth News. Here are some excerpts:

"After surveying 22 studies of deer repellents and then conducting their own controlled study at two different locations, researchers at Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station concluded that egg-based repellents worked better than predator urines and blood-based products. ...

The sulfurous smell given off by the putrefied egg mimics the smell of rotting meat, giving deer the impression there is a predator in the vicinity,” says Scott Williams, an assistant scientist for the Connecticut Department of Forestry and Horticulture.

Of the 10 commercial deer repellents tested in the Connecticut study, Bobbex (fish meal, hot pepper, putrid eggs, dried blood, wintergreen oil and more) performed best, achieving 93 percent protection compared with the 100 percent protection of a fence. Soap-based Hinder was the runner-up, with 83 percent protection. Both products were applied every two weeks according to label directions. Hinder, though a little less effective, was less expensive and easier to use. ...

Williams says. “One home remedy involves mixing four or five eggs and 4 tablespoons hot pepper sauce with a gallon of water, and applying it with a sprayer.” Plan to reapply every 10 to 14 days."

See the link below for the Connecticut study:

Here is a link that might be useful: Which deer repellents work best?

So far, the bags of used kitty litter near the roses seem to be working. I saw one young deer walk toward the roses,
sniff the air, and quickly move 20' away. That was the only sighting I've had in about a week. I don't see any damage, and my Tausendshon has tons of pretty, new growth. They had pretty much stripped it clean before the bag of kitty litter frightened or disgusted them.

Thanks for all the research you did , Straw. I think I'll try the bars of soap next.

Thank you, Gracin, for the report of your success with kitty litter. I went and got horse manure today (first time for this year) ... that stuff reeks of horse urine. That explained why for 2 years of horse manure, zero deer .... until this year I didn't get horse manure thanks to our wet weather.

After the 1st night of deer damage, I clipped Bounce sheets to rose bushes and doused them with cheap perfume .... it reeked more than soap even! That didn't work.

The 2nd night of deer damage, I sprinkled garlic powder on rose bush. That didn't work. Last night I saw the deer eating my rose bush, we had a staring contest ... I should had gone out to chase it away, but it was bigger than me.

Tonight I have triple protection: The horse manure is so stinky that I can't smell the Irish spring soaps, which I put in plastic dish, in case it rains. I also made an eggwash: beat 2 eggs with 3 cups of water, plus some cloves and dried pepper flakes ... it was too thin. I used a silicon barbecue brush to paint that on 8 rose bushes. It took less than 10 minutes. I could not smell the egg either, the horse manure reeks.

I should had used 2 eggs with 2 cups of water ... would be less drippy when I brushed the leaves. Using a large barbecue brush was faster than spraying. I'll report on the result tomorrow.

I found 4 reports of success with horse manure to repel deer, if they are not desperate for food. Here's one report:

"Just fyi...we've found that horse manure used on the garden works really well for deterring deer. My Mom and I had a market garden for years on our 40 acre farm, without benefit of deer fencing. We would occasionally see deer prints in the garden, but never really any nibbling damage. Then, 20 years later, we had neighbors move in nearby and had their fenced gardens regularly pillaged by deer. We wondered at the difference. Later, I ran across an article in Organic Gardening magazine, and one fellow made the comment that he'd fertilized his asparagus bed with cow, but ran out half way down the bed and had to finish out with horse manure. Well, as the shoots came up, the ones on the cow side were all eaten by the deer, but not a one on the horse side was touched! Wow! Eureka! That was our answer! So, if at all possible, top-dress with well composted horse manure! ;) Comment by catherine ��" Monday afternoon, September 13th, 2010 "

See link below:

Here is a link that might be useful: Backyard deer deterrents

This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Tue, Jun 11, 13 at 22:14

This morning I checked for deer damage, ZERO ... didn't see any deer past midnight either. Here are the results:

1) South side. Damage for 3 days, but none last night with new horse manure, soap in dish, and egg-pepper-wash.

2) North side, horse manure left over from last year, and new manure yesterday - no damage for the past years.

3) East side, steep hill with brick border - deer are too lazy to climb up the hill, and over the bricks - no damage for the past years. No horse manure.

4) West side, roses plus pot ghetto (14 pots) - raised brick border, deer are too lazy to climb in there. It's a closed quarter with big air conditioner. No damage whatsoever.

The 2 studies are right, deer are lazy creatures. I should had blocked the narrow path from my neighbor's fence with a bird bath. That explains why hanging CD's work for some people, both for blockage and to scare them when the discs flip in the wind.

I had no deer damage for 12 years, and neither this year, until the PAST 3 NIGHTS. Why? my neighbor told me she gave away her 4 cats, since her house is sold. Recently my garden doesn't stink up with cat's pee & poop. Cat's waste is 10 times more stinky than horse manure.

The intensity and amount of odor matter. Four cats can really stink up my garden, versus a tiny amount of coyote urine sold at $30. That load of horse manure I got was HUGE, the odor was overwhelming ... I could not smell the Irish Spring Soap, nor the egg wash.

I realize that garlic failed in both the Illinois and Connecticut studies, since garlic masked the odor of what really works: rotten eggs. That's why the most effective repellent in Connecticut study, Bobbex, doesn't have garlic. Bobbex is fish meal, hot pepper, putrid eggs, dried blood, wintergreen oil and more. Bobbex performed best, achieving 93 percent protection compared with the 100 percent protection of a fence.

The dingoes ate my roses!

This post was edited by bellegallica_zone9 on Wed, Jun 12, 13 at 13:00

Strawberryhill - How often did you put horse manure on your roses?

Hi JennCling: For the past 2 years: I put horse manure twice a year for my zone 5a: mid-summer, then late fall before frost.

The Irish Soap in a dish is NOT working. I put a few pots in full-sun next to Irish Soap... deer came and ate roses in those pots.

My husband sent me links to "Deer Stopper" and "Deer Shocker" products ... wish me luck in convincing him to put a fence that link to the neighbor's fences.

It takes a long time to document and claim success. Not so long for failure.

We've starting installing deer fencing.

Hi Sidos: Same here too, I called my village for a fence permit ... I also got my neighbor's permission to hook up a fence to his. I'm waiting for estimate from a fencing company. I found a recipe below to postpone the deer's snacking:

"A simple mixture is 20 percent whole eggs to 80 percent water. Another egg recipe comes from the Institute of Ecosystem Studies and includes 1 egg mixed with 1/2 cup whole milk, 1 tablespoon cooking oil and 1 tablespoon dishwashing soap in a gallon of water. For an even more effective concoction, add 1 tablespoon each of hot sauce and oil of rosemary."

Deer also HATE peppermint scent. I put a peppermint bush next to 4 Austins in the front ... none were eaten, even before I put horse manure. Folks complain that "Liquid Fence" stinks like a dead body, but "Deer Out" product smells pleasant like peppermint, and keeps deer away. See link below for "Deer Out" product:

Peppermint and spearmint are invasive, best kept in pots, so they don't spread in the ground.

Here is a link that might be useful: Deer-out product that smells like peppermint

This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Wed, Jun 19, 13 at 22:18

I was wondering why deer doesn't want to walk through my rocky stone path to eat my roses there. Some wooden planks on the ground can serve as a foot-barrier, see the below from "plants for difficult place" forum:

•Posted by marquest z5 PA "I know this is old but maybe it will help. I tried using the theory and laid my barrier like a plank. Their hooves will go down between the holes they have trouble walking, It has to be up off the ground about a foot. You cannot lay it flat on the ground it has to be raised. I watched them step on it trip and fall. One went limping away the others followed. If you have ever gotten your heel or shoe caught down in a grate you understand this method."

*** deer never eat my Mom's garden either, she had 5-acres in Michigan, which she planted a border of garlic, chives, and mint around her garden. This was also posted as effective on a website. Another poster on how deer doesn't like the mint scent:

•Posted by penny1947 z6 WNY "I don't have a problem with deer at all since I started planting salvias and agastaches which are in the mint family. Deer will only go for plants in the mint family if they are really desperate for food."

***** and an organic recipe for deer repellant *****

jean_mdc z 4/5 NY "Organic Deer Repellant

1 egg, 1 cup milk, 1 T. liquid detergent, 1 to 2 T. cooking oil, 2 T. oil of rosemary or concentrated mint juice

Beat egg, add other ingredients and strain into a 1 gal container. Add water to fill the container. Spray once a week on the plants the deer like to eat."

Below link "Squidoo" stated that deer doesn't like to climb hill, that explains why my hilly-bed of roses were not eaten. It also stated, " Chives and mint are great choices. They keep the deer away and are great in cooking."

Other physical distractions people listed: 1) Hang CD's on a post in front of the plant. 2) String fishing line around prized plants. 3) put chicken wire (the types with round holes at the base of plant) ... deer doesn't like to step on something that tangle their feet.

Here is a link that might be useful: Squidoo on how to keep deer away

This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Wed, Jun 19, 13 at 22:09

All deer are different, but what works for me (most of the time) is to plant the roses against the house, have fairly deep (6'?) beds and put lots of daisies, peonies, lavender and other herbs in front of the roses.

The deer can't reach the roses from behind and they don't like the herbs and other flowers. And, they make a nice combination in the summer :)

Deer (in our area) also won't eat lilacs, butterfly bush, cat mint, coneflowers, bee balm, sweet woodruff, daffodils, hyacinths and iris. They will eat tulips, but if you just have a few deer...plant the daffodils and hyacinths in front and just sprinkle a few tulips in the middle of the beds. By the time they try the daffodils and hyacinths...they don't nibble on the tulips. This wouldn't work if the bed is all tulips or tulips are in front....or you have so many deer, they'll eat anything. Hope that helps!

The basic rule of thumb is rabbits and deer won't eat poisonous plants. They also tend to avoid very dry, very fuzzy, very scratchy and highly scented plants. Dry and fuzzy things get gummy in their mouths and require water to wash them down. They're eating the plants as much for the water as they are for nutrition. They avoid highly scented plants because it "jams their radar". They all rely upon their senses of smell to detect danger. Highly scented plants, not the flowers but the actual foliage, over power their ability to smell and they can't tell if there are coyotes or other predators in the area so they tend to avoid being so close to them to retain their ability to smell danger.

Of course, a highly stressed animal is going to be willing to take more risks and eat things they normally wouldn't. And, they can't read, so are often not familiar with what is often on the "do not eat" lists. Sunset Western Garden book for a long time stated deer won't eat agapanthus, but they will gnaw off all the opening flower clusters, leaving them looking as if Ophelia Addams lives at your house.

They tend also to avoid areas with the strong scent of blood as that 'tells' them a kill has occurred and Nature avoids death. Urine from predators can repel them because that indicates their predator has been marking its territory, and they know invading that territory can often result in them being dinner. The commercial and home repellants often work because of the "radar jamming" effects.

They tend also to avoid areas where they feel too exposed, particularly where they don't have a fast, easy escape route or where they can easily become trapped. Given their choice, they will usually eat things easily accessed via their entrance and more hidden from view. Increasing stress results in them foraging deeper and deeper into normally considered unsafe areas and their taking greater risks to find food.

Using the raised boards or sticks as Strawberryhill suggested is like a cattle guard. Cows see the parallel lines on the ground and instinctively know they can get their hooves caught in them, so they avoid them. Deer need something they fear will trip them or injure them. They can jump a seven foot fence because they can jump high for short distances. They can't and usually won't try jumping two shorter fences placed four or five feet apart from one another. While they can go up high for a short distance, they can't jump long distances without a good running start.

The trick is finding which combination works well in your situation and for long periods. They can quickly learn your repellant efforts have no teeth behind them, like the plastic owls on poles with rabbits. If the owls don't actually fly at them, chasing them, the rabbits will quickly learn they can continue grazing right under them with no consequences.

So far, the best repellant I've found for all of them are the motion sensor sprinklers. You have to get them set just right to protect the area against the varmint you have to repel, and you have to constantly remember YOU are a "varmint" when seen by the motion detector. It's the surprise of the noise and being hit with a strong, fast stream of cold water when violating the area that keeps that system working against the rabbits and deer. Motion activated lighting works for a short time, but has no "teeth" behind them, so they quickly become accustomed to them and ignore the light. They never ignore a noisy rain bird full of strong, cold water. Get hit with it once and neither will you!

The real trick for safety with the motion sensor sprinkler is not to turn the hose on strongly. Too strong and it may cause the hose to burst, resulting in wasting a lot of water and causing flooding should you not find the problem for hours after it occurs. Turning the hose on to a trickle usually allows the pressure to build when needed for that strong, thirty second noisy blast of water. If the hose bursts before the pressure is needed, you shouldn't waste much water at a trickle. Normally, all it takes is one blast an evening to keep the deer out unless you have herds of them to contend with. Kim

Thank you, Kim, for those great ideas. Peter Schneider in his book, "Right rose, Right place", mentioned that the birds like to play with his motion-sensor sprinkler to get a free bath! We got so much rain here that I gave away my sprinklers 12 years ago once our grass was established. However, the sprinklers would be great for dry climate.

I have some broken birch tree branches, which I place in front of the rose beds. Lavender_lass is right about placing the offensive plants in front (chives, mint), and place the roses deep in the bed so deer can't access.

Last night my husband put up posts, then put strings to block that 19' entry into the garden. IT WORKED! My pot ghetto is in front, before the string-maze. I sprinkled mint leaves on the pots for the past nights, none eaten.

This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Sat, Jun 22, 13 at 11:09

No deer for the past nights of blocking the 19' entrance with strings ... I used brown-twine, and looked for more strings. My 10-years old gave me the $1 spool of yarn. I doubled up the yarn for thickness, and strung MORE between the trees to block the deer. That's cheaper than the $850 quote for a partial fence.

I wanted to thread the brown twine through a bunch of CD's ... then hang them in front of roses. But blocking the entrance to the garden with strings was good enough.

Folks report good results, such as putting string at 3' to block their neck, then another at 1 foot to block their ankles. Below is the link of using fish-line to string around the garden.

An excerpt from Texas Hill Country Garden: "You can also create a barrier to a small garden by using fishing line (50 lb test or more) or a similar monofilament material. In general, deer will not jump over anything they can’t see. Several strands of the line at a height of two to three feet around a small bed will actually keep a deer from jumping into the area. The line must be far enough from the plants that the deer can’t reach their head over and eat what is within their reach. This type of fence is very effective. "

Here is a link that might be useful: Use fishing-line to keep deer out

This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Sat, Jun 29, 13 at 23:27

Fresh mint works wonder! One week with no deer eating my thornless roses in the front, which I sprinkled with fresh mint leaves, torn up.

But deer ate a few tomatoes in front, which I didn't sprinkle mint on. There's one tomatoe next to the Russian Sage bush that's not eaten whatsoever.

My mint patch is bare now, so I used curry powder sprinkled on tomatoes & roses. The curry powder I bought from Ethnic store (Indian) is super-strong and cheap, $1 which will last a few weeks. That stuff reeks more than mint, garlic, and Russian Sage. Folks report success with curry powder to deter deer.

The egg-wash worked best, I brushed egg with a large barbecue brush ... that was 2 weeks ago on some roses. We had constant rain, deer left those roses alone to eat my tomatoes. The egg-wash lasts longer than the mint leaves.

Here's a report by saintjodi: "NOTHING works but the egg recipe. I use 4 cups of water to 1 cup of egg beaters and no more deer eating on my roses, maple trees and etc. Works even after it rains. Believe me I have tried everything and this is the ONLY recipe you will need. You can use raw eggs as well but I found it so easy with the egg beaters because you are suppose to remove the white membrane of the egg to mix it. Just remember its a 20 to 80 percent ratio eggs to water. Its suppose to last 3 months even in the rain."

I found a West Virginia University document on how to construct a fence with wires ... it stated that deer often go UNDER A FENCE first, and rarely jump over, unless it's an open area. The link below recommends three wires at 10, 20, and 30 inches off the ground.

Here is a link that might be useful: West Virginia University on deer and wire-fencing

This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Sat, Jun 29, 13 at 23:19