pieheart, I was thinking along the lines of a sturdy tomato cage kind of barrier.

Well, my plants are about six inches high now, but maybe a chicken wire domey thing? Good idea, it will give them a chance to grow some new foliage and flowers and (hopefully) reseed for next year.

Thanks, when I posted I was so discouraged. It looked like a cosmos graveyard out there. Which is appropos I guess, the previous owner actually put a pet cemetary in that area, then put a flower bed over it!

pieheart, the chicken wire dome is nothing to a deer determined to make a meal of your plant(s). A medium sized deer once cornered me against a hibiscus hedge; I would go for the welded-mesh type of cage.

Hi there,

I found this recipe on the internet and it worked for me...

Take one egg, and a cup of water. Beat with mixer until the egg and the water become one. I did it longer just to be sure. Take that mixture and combine in 1 gallon of water. Let sit for 24 hours. (I let mine sit outside) Take that mixture and pour into a spray bottle. Spray the leaves of the plants you are trying to protect.

I tested this on my Ceanothus that the deer just love. I technically planted it knowing it was deer candy so normally I don't mind them munching on it, but then they decided to munch on my new apricot tree to. With no leaves on the Apricot tree it was hard to tell if it was working so I sprayed it on the Ceanothus and it began to get bigger again...

im no expert but if there are no leaves couldnt you put a couple bamboo shoots in the ground with a piece of cloth soaked with your spray repelant tied to them

i use a cage with bird netting pinned around it.

assuming you use a spray that repels by smell too, you can also go ahead and spray on and around your denuded plant to keep the deer off.

things that have egg (bad taste) and some smelly oil (olfactory deterrent) like peppermint, rosemary, clover, or cinnamon work best imho. smelly as in smelly to deer, pleasant to humans.

i think deer out, deer solution (by natural pest solutions), deer stopper, and bobbex all have all natural ingredients featuring eggs and some smelly oil as their main ingredients.

good luck! and breathe... i feel i have (mostly) conquered my deer problem. i'm in a good place. hope you will be as well soon..

I actually moved the cosmos to inside my veggie garden. I also have flowers there and so far most of the cosmos are recovering. And I think it may have been our groundhog anyway. I see him prancing around in that corner of the yard. Fortunately he seems to like the neighbor's yard, only seems to be cutting through our yard to get to his hole. Which is on yet another neighbor's property.

Fun, fun, fun!