I think netting would be horrendous to maintain for a fast growing plant like dahlias. Is your area for dahlias so large that you couldn't apply a spray at intervals? Liquid Fence works well out here- never lost a single bloom to deer and they are a constant presence. They might have more to eat hear year round than in PA though.

How about a good watchdog?

... or a watch lion. :)

Or a recipe for venison stew. Steve in Baltimore County

LOL stew. Our 'watch cats' get eaten by even bigger watchful cats here- so sad :(

Really, we are on the deer's doorstep and they've never nibbled a bloom or even much of a leaf off a dahlia. They will snack away on blueberries and raspberries 3-4 ft away, but dahlias, no.

I know others have horrible deer problems so I consider myself lucky except for the deforestation of the phlox and sedum one year. That year I sprayed Liquid Fence on all as regularly as I could.

Oh man I am going to my deer attorney, you want to make stew out of me, have me attacked by big kities. Now you want to keep me from a good meal. This is too much. No more deer hunting season or we will all run through the middle of main street and disrup traffic.

BUSY,
You might check with local game dept, but here, lethal options are available for marauding deer doing property damage.

Our game dept here has recommended electric fence. Put strips of tin foil, about 2" x 8" on the electric wire, (with charger off, of course, hehe), fasten securely. Coat the bottom 2 or 3 inches with peanut butter on both sides. Deer LOVE peanut butter, and lick that into their mouth and start to chew on it. Well, they get a BIG surprise, (provided you've turned the fence back ON after you put the foil on it), and tend to stay away.

Submitted FWIW.
Bluelytes

My family has grown dahlias for 40+ years and have never had one eaten on by a deer. In the past couple years deer are either getting braver or hungrier because of loosing some of their land and they've started eating other things in the garden but not dahlias. I wouldn't worry too much about it. In the garden with the asters, sweat peas, etc. I put up that black plastic deer fencing 7' high with 10' metal posts, that seems to work.
Good Luck

Well, just was out today since the snow pack has melted.
Gees, 2 more hoof rips in the pool cover, and I surely will not have to prune my mature ground covers, they are eaten to the ground!
If I hear one more neighbor tell me they saw the 4 girls in the yard, I am getting a 22. Yes, I need to call the game commission, I know we can shoot out of season for crop damage but I don't know about in a safety/house zone.
I have lamented to plant and see what happens, as I have no other area for all these Dahlia tubers.
Planning on using a liquid type deer fence, until this area is ammended for a few years I don't want to erect, then tear down fence for the big tractors plowing for me.

Who would have known that first year overwintering tubers, at last check I have at least 90% that have survived.
Omgosh, there are bags and boxes of them..going to bring up one clump and pot up to see if I can find eyes, I still can't find eyes on these, with or without my glasses! lol.

Fill in the pool with well-drained soil and plant dahlias there! What you save on heating and chemicals, you can spend on new varieties! My neighbor delights in sending me photos of all the deer visiting their yard- bucks, twin fawns, does nibbling begonias or asters and drinking from their fountain. They're cute to a point. I prefer a big barking dog to a rifle as a deterrent, but I'd get something bigger than a .22 if you mean business.

Congratulations on good storage. If you give your dahlia clump some light and room temps and you will get some life showing in mere days. At least on the ones that had eyes to begin with, as a clump surely should.

You know, it's funny I tell the bucks to stay away and they listen, it's the girls that want to play!
Trust me i have thought many a time to have the pool filled in, I don't heat it too much $$ it's 22/40ft.
If I didn't have the nightly visitors for socialization it would be filled fer sure.
I have a signal here, if the torches are lit, dinner is being served, pool is open. It's not unusual when it is very hot to have waves of people in and out, particularly on the weekends.
Ok, going to move some of the clumps up in the south facing wondow, I suprised myself on the storage......now if I could only keep a rosemary tree alive...grrrr, tis the only plant I have issues with.

Dear Busy:

I am late in responding and I hate to say this but this year my deer HAVE started eating my dahlias. Perhaps we have a greater deer crowding problem along with less cayote than other regions but that's whats happening here. So I will second Poochellas suggestion to spray!

Lucinda

The deer in CT eat everything except a few bushes and my Dahlias. I did not lose one from deer. I lost two from a mole problem, but the owl fixed that. The deer ate the sunflowers 4 feet away.