Yes, yes and a decided yes.Alfalfa, corn and soybeans take a real beating from the deer whew I work at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Maryland.

My home garden in Silver Spring also takes big hits from the deer.

Deer eat almost everything here. I put in an electric fence around my garden. It's either that or a 7'-8' high deer fence. For small areas you can use 4' high rabbit fencing, but it has to be narrow enough bed so that the deer won't be tempted to jump in.

I have deer that spend several hours a day on my property and I only have about 1/2 acre. The only thing that works is to plant things they hate to eat. They don't eat daffodils, alliums, ornamental grass, hyacinth, buddleia, daphne and salvia. I put up a 8' tall deer fence and they jumped over it. I took it down since it was ugly and didn't work.

I can vouch that my 4' baited electric deer fence really does work, because inside I grow all the deer's favorite treats like hostas and roses.

I'm almost afraid the say this...I don't have problems with deer and I live in a rural area. However there is an open field on 2 sides of me and my closest neighbor has dogs. I do see deer on ocassion but (knock wood) haven't had a serious problem. (knock wood again;)

I think having a meadow where they can eat, and a 6' fence for the rest with a dog inside (yellow lab) seems to work. I must say though, now in the snow they'll probably nibble a l;ittle in the front. My neighbors let their dogs out several times a day, that helps too. I am sure delicious crops are problematic, no matter what you do.

I haven't posted here in a while (a year or so). Here's my experience with deer--I live in a rural area on over 6 acres with a 14 acre field next door and 4 dogs. I still get deer damage. My dogs are house dogs and so are in every night from 9:30pm to 5 am, so the deer eat when the dogs aren't around. I have a million bunnies too so sometimes it's hard to know which animal's eating what. I have used Deer Off with some effectiveness as long as I am careful to apply it frequently, and esp after a rain. I've thought about using an electric fence or something I saw recently in Gardener's Supply catalogue--these stakes that emit electricity and teach the deer to stay away. Anyone here used anything like that?

Like GardenGranma I would agree that a meadow (on two sides of the house) has helped here. Most of what I have planted between the meadows and the hundreds of acres of park woods beyond the meadows have been eaten. As for the list KidHorn posted, I would add Rose of Sharon as they do not seem to have bothered that. I'm sure that the mild winter has also helped.

Les

They don't eat bamboo either which of course is really a grass.

G'Day!

- For deer-proof plants, Search "poisenous." (Hmm. It would probably help if you spelled it correctly...) The whole reason some plants make poisenous compoounds is to avoid being eaten.

- Lupins, belladonna, wolfbane, aremitis (sp?), rhubarb, milkweed, and such.

- Deer fencing can be ugly; would it look nicer to use it as a terllis and smother it with vines?

- Most deer repelents work for a while, but not for long. Novelty is a key factor; rotate between several repellants.

- Has anyone tried one of those motion-detector triggered water sprayers they sell for scaring birds? Do they work on deer?

- We have deer, groundhogs, and rabbits. Alas, no more dog to run 'em off. Sigh. Somehow, i just don't think the cat is up to the job. (Can't you just see a medium-size all-black American shorthair bounding accross the pasture, persuing a herd of deer?)

- Happy gardening,
-vlad

Variety of deterrents and dogged persistence are most successful from middle spring untill early winter while the deer are not really desperate. I have used moth balls and onion sets and occasional mist light spray of deer off or tree guard to protect my impatiens and hostas, etc...My acre sports wind chimes, reflective owls. metal black cats, irish spring, creosote(daubed here and there on trees),milorganite(spelling?)and other organic fertilizers, a windmill, and a prism windmill a cluster of six solar lamps all blinking red, white, and blue (thru the night)....All of which in combinations seems to work well enough to make it worth while...This year I am going to try the wireless deer fence, and my own arrangement of window/door alarms (that blast at 100 decibles)....etc.,etc, etc....

Hi.
I need to buy a birthday present for my Mom. She's a crazy gardener who is always complaining about the deer. I've researched two wireless deer fences and I'm asking to see which is the better one. Can anyone tell the major differences between the Havahart Electronic Deer Fence and the Wireless Deer Fence? I would sincerely appreciate it. Maya

I live in the woods, and there are lots of deer here. I've never had them eat a plant, though one nibbled my winterberries last year. They don't even eat the plants that are supposed to be deer candy. I am not complaining, though I attribute it to an ample supply of food for them in the woods.

Okay, I am surrounded by deer 24/7 & have yet to have any deer damage whatsoever to my large veggie garden - which, by the way, is completely unfenced.

My secret? Everything except my tall caged tomatoes is covered with lightweight row covers. I do uncover crops that need pollinating every morning & recover them in late afternoon, but everything that doesn't need that - like beets, carrots, lettuce, Asian greens, etc., just stay covered.

Apparently the deer - oh, & also my resident groundhog who actually lives IN the garden, lol! - don't like messing with those lightweight, moving, white covers.

Folks....try egg spray...just beat up 6 eggs, strain to get the stringy stuff out and add to a gallon of water in a sprayer. Spray the perimeter or give a shot to each plant and the deer will leave them along..........and it is very cost effective...ie. cheap. I have seen the spray mentioned using only one egg/gal..but the stronger likely lasts longer and works better....I assume it is the hydrogen sulfide smell that they do not like but I am not at all certain of that...all I know is that it does work....now obviously nothing works and no plant is safe from a starving deer. I actually have a 10-12 foot high fence around my entire porperty and it does a fairly good job...my problem is when a deer walks in when the gate is open and then essentially becomes stuck in side.....or a doe drops a fawn in side..then nothing keeps her out...so the egg spray then protects the azaleas and other stuff. I am also careful to protect the trunk of all young trees...as we always plant them out by themselves and they are targets for the bucks in the fall.......good luck...

I live adjacent to a national park and in the past five years the deer population has exploded. Herds wander at will through my yard and are not afraid of my dogs or of people (except me because I hoop and holler and chase them -- but they still just stare at me until I get within about five feet!) I have tried both odor and taste controls and they will work for awhile and then become ineffective. I use deer fence around the vegetable garden and they leave that alone, but everything else including things they allegedly don't like get eaten to the ground. This year I will put deer fence around the whole property and also try Deer Plotsaver (see their website) also available from Gardeners. I still plan to fence the vegetable garden to keep out the woodchuck and because it will kill me to come out one morning to raised beds filled with inch high vegetation. Overpopulation of deer + increased subruban development = gardening nightmare.

I really laughed loud last night, when five deer came to explore my bidfeeders in the front yard -- snow was on the ground and I guess they were hungry. I opened the door and made some noise and they were gone. So I asked my husband to plow some of the meadow so that they can get to the grass. I hope that helps.

I planted about 1/3 of my large veggie garden in clover one year and the deer had a feast on it and left the veggies alone. I had seen some research from farmers that used clover as a strip around their fields and they had lessened the deer damage dramatically. Of course, this only works if you can plant a large enough area to keep them happy. Otherwise it will simply attract them from neighboring areas to your plantings.