Comments on: Deer Gardening by Linda Campbell

By: Anna

Anna — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 12:51:25 +0000

We live out in the middle of nowhere, and the deer eat us alive. I got my husband to make me a homemade deer deterrent after every single veggie I owned got chomped on last year (and we tried all of the usual solutions to no avail. Although, I admit, I didn’t try many sprays — just too much effort to keep spraying as the plants grow.)

I’m not sure how suburban you are — probably wouldn’t work in suburbia — but if you’re desperate and not too close to your neighbors, you might give it a shot. We scrounged around and made ours for pennies and it’s 100% effective!

By: Jody Mellenthin

Jody Mellenthin — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:16:42 +0000

Good to see you and your wonderful progress at knitting class Linda! I just had the BEST thought – more knitting together (we have to attack those dpn sleeves) in exchange for the HELP I need to start my blog. You obviously are the ‘master’ at that- something else to add to your little bag of superior tricks! Who knew? Call me.
P.S. ‘invisible fence’ works really well, but it STINKS and is mucho expensive. Still, one cannot stand by and watch the munching!

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 10:04:11 +0000

When we moved into our house in 2005, I quickly realized all of our gardens actually belonged to the deer. I’ve been fighting a valiant fight ever since. We’ve had our best success this year. I’m attributing it to the habits of our second dog. Thanks for the spray recipe. I’m adding that to our regime.

By: Julie O' (Erin's Mom)

Julie O' (Erin's Mom) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 01:49:12 +0000

If you decide to use the coyote urine, order the powder as it is much more plesant to work with than the liquid!
BTW Susan’s phone died in Canada so she can’t tweet until she gets internet service.

By: Dragan

Dragan — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 23:40:55 +0000

Aluminum pie pans on string on stakes (shiny and clangy) works well if there’s a breeze.

By: Cindy T.

Cindy T. — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 20:52:39 +0000

Got anything that deters armadillos? I don’t have much of a deer problem .

By: Rona Thau

Rona Thau — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:29:12 +0000

awwwwwww

coyote urine…..do you leave cups out for the coyotes to pee in?

beautiful tulips and goats
xo…
r

By: Susan in Katonah

Susan in Katonah — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:32:03 +0000

There are very few plants the deer around here haven’t eaten (yet), but there are a few. To my surprise, they don’t touch gaura, a beautiful western US native plant. They haven’t eaten my unprotected herb garden, the various salvias, or the lavender border. They seem to loathe peppermint. They leave the peonies alone, mostly. My rose garden is fenced, or it would be reduced to little stubs overnight.

This year I’m trying distraction — I just planted a legume based pasture mix, (red clover, white clover and bird’s-foot trefoil) far, far away from our garden. I’m hoping it will kill two birds with one stone: lure the deer away from the shrubbery, and suppress an ever-increasing patch of that invasive Japanese grass – you know the stuff I mean?

We’ve had fewer deer hanging in the yard this summer, but we think it’s because there’s a fox family denning in our woods. Mom, Pop and the four(!) kits sun themselves on our hillside.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:00:36 +0000

Coyote urine seems to work well for me. Also, I noticed that deer vastly prefer native “weeds” to most fancy cultivated plants, so if I have a patch of say pokeweed growing somewhere, they are perfectly happy to eat that and leave my fancy-pants stuff alone.

By: Barb from Duluth

Barb from Duluth — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 12:42:58 +0000

Our neighborhood has had excellent results from “Liquid Fence”. It smells just awful when you apply it but is ordorless when dry. We live in the city and have a herd of 8 deer in the woods that run two city blocks behind all the houses.

But, a year ago some people moved into one of the houses behind us, on the other side of the woods….and their boys are in the woods all the time, crashing and banging and making boy noises….and those boys might prove to be the best deterrant of all. I haven’t seen a deer in the daytime for weeks. My tulips bloomed this year….So possibly 9 year old boys might be the answer.