Birdgardner, put a few drops of Dawn in your homemade solution - it will help the product to stick.

I LOVE Deer Scram. However, I don't put it down as instructed 'cause I think that's wasteful. I sprinkle over the plants from which I want the deer to stay away. Admittedly, when I first started to use Deer Scram I did put down two lines across a deer path and it did seem to keep them from using that path - but that was an experiment and now I use the sprinkle method. You also don't get the smell with the "sprinkle" method.

I find it works about 6 weeks. There is a lot of new growth on the native shrubs back in the wet area of my property where I have used Deer Scram and the wild currents have blooms and berries - they used to be eaten to the ground by the deer but are now left alone.

On shrubs, I use Deer Stopper on anything tall - up to 4 or 5 feet. That, too, seems to work for several weeks.

Tea, how much Deer Scram would you sprinkle on a hosta, or a columbine? Do you sprinkle it on the leaves or the soil?

There is something called Vapor Gard, a pine oil antitranspirant, that costs $55 a gallon as a concentrate, good for 20:1 dilution, that you can mix with a hot sauce, or my home-made cayenne-mint oil mix, I suppose, to make it last as a spray.

So if I ordered that, and it worked, I'd have enough for years.

Birdgardner, I sprinkle it on the leaves and get it down inside the plant. The columbines outside the fence here have not been touched at all - of course, the stuff doesn't stick to or in the columbine leaves as it does with hosta so it's on the ground amongst those plants.

Yesterday, I noticed that the darned deer had managed to get under netting I'd put around one spice bush and ate the new growth down to stubs but a spice bush on the other side of the path on which I'd used Deer Scram was untouched.

I've never used the homemade egg stuff (although I've thought about trying it) but I have heard that it has to be strained through a very fine strainer to prevent the clogging. Have you tired that?

It must have to be a very fine strainer because I've clogged every sprayer I've ever put eggs in. Maybe powdered eggs?

On the other hand, what I managed to spray before clogging the sprayer worked and stuck because of the egg.

Ok I just bought "deer scram" too, and sprinkled it around my highest risk plants. smells like... beef bullion cubes! so far i like the "scatter once and don't curse yourself out if it rains that afternoon" approach of deer scram. i couldn't help thinking though, that maybe the $3 boxes of dried blood i got from walmart last year for my compost pile might work just as well and cost a whole lot less.... ......

for foliar sprays, i guess i am partial to "deer solution" and other similar nice-smelling minty products that contain some sort of fragrant oil. but like birdgardner says, paying $30 for a 1% solution of cinnamon oil really sucks. especially when it rains off and on all week.

among products i hate: "liquid fence" for obvious reasons. and "deer out" - the rotten eggs smell like crap and stain my flowers, hate it.

Kitova, I have used dried blood alone and it does work. However, it gives the plants a big nitrogen push and I'm not sure that's good on a "regular" basis.

WeÂve been using DEER OUT deer repellent here in New Jersey for about 6 years and all as I have to say is that we have the absolute nicest gardens in our areaÂThe stuff is truly amazing, We see upwards to 20 deer a day coming thru our property but they will not take a biteÂWhy would anyone use a repellent with ground up Beef, Meat or blood or animal partsÂThatÂs disgustingÂThis DEER OUT smells kinda like a peppermint pattyÂI guess the Deer donÂt eat peppermint pattiesÂ

Here is a link that might be useful: www.DeerOut.com

Deer Out is very long lasting here in Central NJ. I bought the concentrate at Bardy's Farms in Warren Township if you don't want to order from the internet. The peppermint spray is much easier to use then deer netting.

I have used liquid fence with good success also have used Bobex. The liquid fence is smellier than the other and seems to last longer.

That said, a real fence does alot to keep them from wandering around. They seem to lazy to jump even 6ft of mesh fencing even though the deer could easily clear it.