Deer Problem

Good morning, I know this isnt in the right board I just didnt know where to post it, an all things board would be good.

Anyway, my deer problem is this, I have tulips and a few other flowers coming up (along with the 6 inches of snow we just got) an when I opened the curtain this morning I noticed the deers where by the porch by my flowers, [img]images/smiley_icons/mecry.gif[/img] needless to say I was not happy. Please dont get me wrong I love the deers they a beautiful animals but I dont want them to eat my flowers. I hung up dog hair and kitten hair and my hair in a stockings out there but I guess that didnt work. Does anyone know of somthing I can put out there to stop them from coming, I dont want to use any chemicals, I want something (sort of like an old wives tale) that I could use that would not hurt the deer or the flowers.

Thank you for your help

Patricia [img]images/smiley_icons/1luvu.gif[/img]

I don't know of anything besides good old chicken wire. My friend lives out in the middle of the woods and that's what she has to put up around and on top of her flowers to keep them away.

Hi, I worked at a nursery for a few years. We always had people coming in and asking this. We sold some deterrents, one of which is called Skoot. I heard that it actually did work.



We had other methods tested on the apple trees that were sold there: bloodmeal (smelly), human hair, bamboo fountain, tin plates hanging from the trees, etc., etc. I heard that they only worked temporarily.



I was talking to a lady in town on Saturday, and she said that her daughter used Irish Spring soap. She grated 2 bars worth around her "fairly large" garden. I guess it kept them at bay for the summer. Worth a try.



We have a great deterrent that is foolproof...2 large dogs! [img]images/smiley_icons/lol2.gif[/img] [img]images/smiley_icons/lol2.gif[/img] [img]images/smiley_icons/lol2.gif[/img]

[img]images/smiley_icons/thumb.gif[/img] I was going to tell you about the human hair too!! You can go to any barber or hair dresser to get it for free!! Also something we use for squirls and skunks is cyan pepper!! We have been using it for years!! It doesn't hurt the garden, but most animals smell before they eat anything, so when the pepper goes up their nose, they just don't come back!! You must sprinkle it every time after a heavy dew or rain!! And please watch your own eyes when doing it!! Don't do it in the wind!!



Good luck!!



[img]images/smiley_icons/1luvu.gif[/img]

We used to live in a high deer populated area and were told to spray our gardens with (would you believe) egg whites. It worked, but if you water a lot of have a couple good rains, you'll need to re-do it. Also, you might want to try putting up some decorative posts and surround your tulips with fishing line. It's invisible from the street and it "freaks" the deer into leaving your garden alone because they can't see the barrier.

Thank you all for the help. Let me tell you what happened last night, my boyfriend gets home from work, we are talking about our day and he see across the road four deers and here them come into the back yard, they go to the woods and stop and come back almost to the back porch, the one picks up one of our big sweet william plant and eats it, well need less to say I was not happy [img]images/smiley_icons/mecry.gif[/img] we chanced them away into the woods and we could see them just standing there like they where waiting. They are becoming to comfortable. So I took the cayun pepper and some hot pepper (we grow our own hot pepper plants so have alot ground up, put that around in the front did what I could because it was winding and starting to snow again. Well this morning in the front you could see the prints and it looked to me like they walk up smell or tasted the pepper and left and went to the next batch of plants, lucky I did the whole front. Now today I have to go do it again and this time do the back because overnight they were in the back. We have alot of flower bed all over the place, over 2000 glad and hundreds of sweet williams and tulips and all other types that will come up in the summer, so I want to stop the deer before all of them come up. So now I am going to go put up some fishing line (like you suggested) and see what happens. Ok that is a long enough story for so early in the morning [img]images/smiley_icons/smlylaugh1.gif[/img]

I just wanted to thank you all for you help believe me I will be trying all of it. Going to go buy irish spring soap this weekend.

Have a great day

God bless

Patricia

On a news show a long time ago the garden feature was keeping pests out of your garden. A family that owns nurseries and ships all over the country swore by the Irish Spring soap idea to keep deer at bay. You place it in various places in little mesh bags. It literally messes up their sense of smell.