This is the first year I've experienced this. I'm assuming it's because the weather has been so dry that normal food sources for the deer are no longer appetizing.

Are there any effective home remedies for keeping the deer out of my garden?

 

I've grown tomatoes for years without a problem. I put a small rabbit fence around the garden and that was enough. Last year, just as my first tomatoes of the sason were ready to pick the deer got into them and what they didn't eat they trampled. This year I have a 6' fence.

 

Since I dislike tomatoes and therefore have never planted them, I cannot address this specifically. That said, I do have some flowers and I always plant marigolds among them to keep the deer away.

I have heard of people putting sprinklers on motion sensors and having some success with that but it sounds like a lot of work to me.

 

Mitch - LMAO, my tomatoes had marigolds planted among them. I had heard the same thing about marigolds and have been planting them in my garden for years. Maybe the deer last year were just too hungry.

 

Last year the deer ate every bit of my garden this year I made a scarecrow, set out hand soap and put up several of those windmill like spinning things, I had intended to put up an electric fence around my garden but I never did get it extended down that far. So far, so good The deer have looked but not entered my garden. Last year they were eating the plants before they were 6" tall.

 

At our local Agway (farm supply store) they sell a rabbit and deer repellant. It's a spray, comes in a small bottle, that smells like lion pee, has eggs in it too. Works really good, won't wash off. I know of some people that have made their own repellant, you might try a web search.

 

We live adjacent to the US National Forest, so wildlife is abundant. We have almost 10 acres with 53 blueberry bushes, 40 fruit trees, 4 grape arbors, 1 kiwi arbor and a garden area. In the 12 years we have lived here I have NEVER seen a deer! Of course I have dogs. Every year, we plant corn, peas, etc. just to have the bear decimate everything just as it gets ripe. He was here first.

 

Larry, I'm maybe 1/2 mile from a national forest. For years I seen deer cross every road in the area but it was probably 10-12 yrs before I saw the 1st deer on my property. In the last few yrs I see them every week, bear not so often. There is a game trail just below where my dog is chained up - they drive him crazy

 

I have but a couple of acres, live in a developed area in CT and I literally have deer in my yard almost every evening, sometimes as many as a dozen. From August through early spring I see deer every day. If I can figure out how I'll post some pictures.

We also have coyote, foxes, hawks, racoons, turkey (I once had nearly 50 on my lawn) , quail, pheasant, rabbit and squirrel (not so many since I bought a pellet gun). No bear yet, and that's OK with me.

Edited to add woodchucks, racoons and skunks.

 

Here are a couple of visitors. They become tomato eater in the summer.

Taken from my deck when we were ground feeding birds.

 

Here's one to make the deer hunters antsy. Taken from my deck, he's chasing a hot doe and could not have cared less about me. He's also not the biggest one to visit. I have a picture of his grand daddy somewhere. A high and wide near perfect 13 pt. Only a 3" drop tine on one side kept him from being perfect.

 

First, I tired locating plants near the house or in "difficult" locations and interspersing plants like marigolds but the deer, opossum and groundhogs soon found them. Sprays worked moderately well for a while and surprisingly a bit of beer (or your favorite beverage) and peeing about the yard & garden also worked to some extent.

Next I went to electric fencing. One line of wire strung at 3ft and another at 12in and 6in did quite well at keeping the critters out but it faltered during extreme drought and it was ugly.

Finally I built a proper raised bed garden with proper fencing. By far the most expensive option and it has been the most effective and requires the least maintenance from year to year.

 

I grow my tomatoes in 6' high cages (6x6-10/10 wire) and hang a few chunks of Irish spring soap from the wire and not had a problem after the first year and it is now year 7. The deer still walk by once or twice a day and never go near the tomatoes now. - It must be the foul smelling soap.

Dick

 

I was having a problem with the deer eating my coneflowers, blueberries, tomatoes,cantaloupe,etc, and generally trampling all over my yard, so after some research i decided to try one of the suggestions which was to use irish spring soap. My wife and i used a grater and shaved a lot of irish spring soap and took some old stockings and filled some and hung then strategically around the yard and close to the blueberries. I'm happy to say we actually got several quarts of blueberries this year whereas we did not get a single berry last year. We sprinkled some shavings around the flowers they were eating and those have not been touched either.