Deer Repellent

10 years ago

This doesn't pertain to me, but I know a lot of you have deer munching on your hostas.

Taken from a book entitled, The Garden, by Freeman Patterson (2003):

"If you keep a dog, preferably a female who will have a defined territory, she will usually keep deer at a respectable distance. . . If you don't have a dog, you will undoubtedly try other potential remedies, almost all of which will fail. Some, however, do work well, when they are used carefully. For example, every spring I buy about a hundred bars of the original Irish Spring soap. I put one box by every hosta plant, just as the leaf stalks are beginning to emerge from the soil. The growing leaves soon obscure the soap, and the deer never touch them. If I wait until the deer have sampled a plant or two, I will lose the battle, as the deer learn that there are goodies beyond the distinctive odor."

I remember reading a thread where someone mentioned the benefits of using Irish Spring soap. But they were not specific about the application. I hope this helps someone.

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Comments (7)

mountainy man z8 Ireland
10 years ago
I have read about this before but cannot get Irish spring Soap in Ireland lol. I have more problems with hares than deer.

I wonder what the repellant ingredient is?, is it a carbolic type soap like we had in the auld days?
Steve Massachusetts
10 years ago
Two large dogs, no deer. Actually, I think it's the males that do the trick by marking their territory. My sister never had deer until her big black lab male died last year and presto chango her Rhody got eaten to a stump and the daylilies to the ground.

Steve
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newhostalady Z6 ON, Canada
Original Author
10 years ago
Mountainy_man, I don't think that Irish Spring soap has carbolic acid in it. It is a strong smelling deodorant soap. I have even heard of people putting it in their dresser drawers to give their clothes a nice smell.

The listed ingredients are:

Fragrance(s)/perfume(s)
Glycerin
Stearic acid
2,6-Di-t-butyl-p-cresol (BHT)
Pentasodium pentetate
FD&C Green #3
D&C Green #8 (C.I. 59040)
Sodium chloride
Water
Sodium tallowate
Titanium dioxide
Coconut fatty acids
Sodium cocoate
Sodium palm kernelate
Palm kernel acid

Steve, sounds like your sister needs to get another dog!
User
10 years ago
I give the Wiki link about carbolic soap. Remember Lifebuoy?

Here is a link that might be useful: Carbolic soap
imagooch zone 6b/7a Chatham ON
10 years ago
I have also used any strong smelling soap, even a no name one and it worked in my peach trees to keep the raccoons out. I never thought to try it to deter the varmints, I don't have deer but the bunnies do like the hostas. Thanks for the suggestions. I'll try it this year,
. Anne
hostanista
10 years ago
Hmmmmm....so if one uses bars of soap spread out all over one's garden and then a rain storm happens to hit, does one's garden become a foamy wonderland?
newhostalady Z6 ON, Canada
Original Author
10 years ago
Maybe. I don't know Hostanista. But I did notice that the author stated that he "put one box" under each hosta. Maybe that's the secret---put the box, not just the soap.