Deer Repelling Tips
It's not your imagination-the deer population is exploding! Increasing land development continually shrinks their natural habitat, but the deer population has not diminished. Instead, deer have adapted beautifully to living among humans, protected from hunters and feasting on our landscapes; so much so that the deer population in some areas now averages 200 per square mile!
So how is a hard-working gardener to protect what's yours? It's challenging, but not impossible. Here are a few tips for success.
- Be consistent. Repelling deer once will not keep them away. They will be back another time, to see if conditions have improved. And if they find your plants unprotected, they'll stay and dine. You must be as persistant as a hungry deer.
- Be unpredictable. That's sounds like the opposite of the last tip, but it isn't. Use different techniques, to keep deer from becoming accustomed to the repellent. Switch from an egg based product to a dried blood. Add a noise maker or decoy. Deer don't want to be startled or surprised- so surprise them!
- Double up your efforts. Use a spray repellent and a decoy, or a noisemaker and a repellent. The more senses you can offend or confuse, the more frightened or uneasy deer will feel in your space.
- Start early in the season. Begin protecting your plants as soon as they have new growth. If you can keep deer from discovering your plants, it will be easier than breaking them of the habit of stopping by.
- Plant deer resistant varieties.
Some plants deer will avoid:
Ageratum, Dusty Miller, Snapdragon, astilbe, begonia,bleeding heart, daffodil, foxglove, lavender, poppy, peony, shasta daisy, Barberry, Spirea and American Holly for a start.
On the other hand, deer love:
cosmos, petunias, impatiens, hosta, azaleas, clematis, and lilies.
