My son lives in North Carolina and we planted a garden two years ago with mixed success. They had to keep it sprayed with cayenne egg garlic.
We recently planted again and the deer ate a camellia and tasted podocarpus and spitefully ripped out some salvia which they really don't like to eat. They put the motion sprinkler and have had no damage for three weeks. That is a good sign but we can't tell if it will be permanent.

Thanks stevega. We are going to try it. I think we have tried just about everything else.

We've got one of those (Scarecrow). We put it in a few months ago and it works very well still. We try to keep the plants they really like within its spray range. They don't like the sound it makes. Once they did come within spray range to eat the hostas, but only once. (Hostas are awfully tasty, and since we have about 18 deer and the neighbor feeds them every day, I still consider this a raging success).

Thanks dragonplant, I have ordered one. Will let you all know if it successful or not.

It is helpful to read this forum. Where could I purchase either the scarecrow and/or motion sprinkler? Is there a website I can go to?

Update to original message. We ordered the motion activated sprayer from Bestnest.com. It works great and the grass and shrubs are recovering nicely. The one we got is very unobtrusive in the landscape as it doesn't have the big yellow eye like the Scarecrow. We put in in a flower bed and it is hardly noticeable. We sure like ours.

I have a large garden and use electric fence. Two lines, one high, one low. Deer have depth perception issues, lines need to be about 4-5 feet apart. Also, train the deer to fear it, place peanut butter on insulators. ZAP! They learn fast.

Brian

I just moved from a heavy deer area and found that sedum worked as a natural deer deterrent. I planted sedum in front of all of the plants I wanted to shelter. My hostra, which deer apparently love, weren't touched by the deer since I started this. Sedum is great becasue it's so prolific and very hardy.

dot52...what variety of sedum did you plant and when. I have alot of Autumn joy sedum and the deer eat it just as much as anyother plant in my gardens. I also have Sedum kamtchaticum which the deer haven't eaten in the past 3 years, but eat the plants among it. I did notice that when I plant a new plant until the deer notice it it's safe but look out once they do...it's a gonner.

Have autumn sedum too and thats the only thing the deer ate of my flowers. We did have good luck with electric fence for veggies.
oakleif

Texasgal2,

I visited a nursery up in Wimberley that used these successfully. Since I'm a little behind the curve on this thread, it would be nice if you could update us!

Brad

I like the electric fence idea but it wouldn't be practical for my entire 30 acres altho I would sure like that in order to save my woods.

A tip for using water deterrents-

Deer WILL get used to anything; loud noises, water, motion, etc. Try moving your "scarecrow" every so often. Keep 'em guessing, LOL!

Texasgal2, since you're in Zone 8 the following link to deer resistant plants might help. Don't know what part of the state you're in, it's geared toward the Hill Country.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hill Country Gardens- Oh, deer!

This was another option for a fence to keep deer out of the garden.

http://gardendefender.com/

Here is a link that might be useful: http://gardendefender.com/

A 30-06 works the best. I had so many problems with deer,
that I was considering a garden on 4 in. Alluminum poles,
about 8 ft. high. That way the bear can't get to it either.
There are a million Rodedendrum plants all around my home.
They have to come on my property to eat mine. They now look like an umbrella. I tried a Garlic and egg spray.
It works if you spray every 2 days.
Good luck - LOU

If I had 30 acres we'd be eating deer meat. What do you mean by saving your woods? Isn't that their natural territory. i never heard of deer destroying the woods. Pigs on the other hand will destroy your woods very quickly.

Due to the lack of natural predators the deer in this country have become so over populated that we are in danger of losing our forests.

Hardwood seedlings are devoured as well as understory plants...no seedlings, no mature trees in the future, no trees and shrubs, no songbirds and other animals, no tree mass, no oxygen.

Too bad we can go after SUV's but not the deer, they're a more immediate threat!

We have had severe deer destruction since they became abundant in our area approximatly 8 years ago.
First, they ate all the Lady Slippers all over our side of town, in the woods and yards.
Second, lots of us came down with Lyme disease.
Third, they are now attacking our yards, our plants and flowers.

We sadly cannot shoot around here, but the most succesful repellent we have used so far is the liquid and crystal Coyote Urine. Re-apply after any rain.
Our dogs chase them off into the woods, we throw rocks at them and chase them out of our gardens, and I almost got one with my truck the other day.
But they are reproducing at such a rate that it is very alarming.

We are all so sad about the Lady Slippers, they are ALL gone and will they ever come back? Not so far they havent.
Deer are the most destructive animal I have ever come across, and its a growing problem.

Jane: I just helped these other people with a similiar deer problem.

"".....Common dog poop everybody, simple piles of dog poop.

Very scary for even the most powerful deer. You are lucky if you have a dog, the bigger the dog...the better. Otherwise, make friends with a dog lover. Most wont mind if you collect the poop on your own time. You may even want to "sneak" the dog an extra bag of food (hide it somewhere in the dog's yard so the owner wont see it; but the dog will have a feast) the extra food will obviously provide a heftier amount of each poop you collect. Win-Win.
Always wear gloves and always wash your hand and feet with very strong soap after each collection party.
The deer will look elsewhere to eat once they get the idea that they are in the area of a very smart and healthy dog.
...and your neighbor will get a lawn so clean that he can play many games with his children there without any worry of sudden surprises !!! again -- Win-Win !!!
...and you get the entire season completely deer free (no rabbits or woodchucks either....cats will likely also keep their distance, but they really don't cause major problems in most gardens)
In the winter - simply bury the poop and wait for pure and valuable compost to develop !!!

....and it's all free !!!......"

We too have been having a problem with deer. My husband has chickens and saw an ad for Nite Guard lights and we decided to try them. We used them this last growing season with much success. We have a large yard area and did not mount them on a post, but move them from shrub to fences or any other item that offers a spot to attach them to. It is necessary to have a plan to move them often as the deer will get used to them being in the same spot and figure out that they do not constitute a danger to them. They need to be at a height where the deer will see them and high enough to make them think it's a large predator. The site will give you all the details. You can check them out at www.niteguard.com

It is a fine product,with the company that manufactors it being even better mine went out after 2 years of use and they replaced it free of charge I couldnt believe it.I have better success with a similar product except it is a motion controlled light/radio combination that runs on d cell batteries not only does it work better here in my garden I dont keep spraying myself by accident.

Unless you have a very small garden area, like 10x10 save your money. For $89 you could make lots of homemade repellent,and for a little more money, you have several better choices. First start with resistant plants when posible. I have listed more than 7 deer repellent recipes that you can make yourself that will work for you. There are also tips for using repellents and charts of resistant plants. Good Luck

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

I would not recommend anyone "sneak" an extra bag of food to theirs or anyone else's dog just to generate more feces. It's unhealthy for the dog, irresponsible and, IMO unethical. While the dog might enjoy the extra food and you might reap the extra poop for your garden, without a doubt that dog will suffer the consequences from being overfed. While I agree using dog poop may help in keeping "nature" at bay (I've even hung bags of dog poop from the lower branches of my cherry trees to keep the racoons away - and it worked for a while) I wouldn't treat a dog like a poop generator. Being at the top of the food chain we are in large part responsible for the over-population of deer, rabbits, racoons etc. We took away their natural habitat, natural predators and our conservation authorities don't always know what's best in order to keep an animal population stable.

Also, you can't just bury dog poop in the yard and have compost after a winter. It needs to be mixed with untreated sawdust at a specific ratio and then heated to 140 degrees to kill pathogens contained in dog feces. Even then, it should never be used on edible crops. Better to be safe than sorry.

...do not deter the deer in my northern westchester yard even slightly. The deer eat everything right up to the edge of the dog kennel, with the dogs barking and jumping at the kennel fence. How disappointing...

I have a large Black Lab it does not help.
Electric fence around garden helps but does not save flower beds.
Lots of deer droppings, can i put them in my composter???