I dug up my roses and moved them, but I only had four and they had just been planted. The deer ate the buds one night and most of the branches the next night. That next day, I put blueberries in their place. That night, the deer ate the blueberry bushes (almost the same size) spit them out and hasn't bothered that garden area since then.

If you are putting up an 8' deer fence, that should take care of your problem. If it's not that tall, the deer may jump over it.

I really like roses, but I'm very fond of the little doe who sometimes tries to eat them. I've found (since I only have a few areas for roses) that if I put them against the house or in front of the lilac hedge, with plenty of deer resistant herbs and perennials, she don't seem to bother the roses. I've been told this will not deter hungry deer at all, but mine isn't hungry (we're surrounded by fields and pasture) she's just bored and found a nice snack. If she'd been hungry, she would have eaten the blueberries.

The deer ate my tomatoes last year. I used bird netting and punji sticks. For some reason they left my roses alone. Perhaps our groundhogs, wabbits, and possums got POED and chased them away.

I feel your pain.

F.L.

Our pruning actually imitates what nature does via deer,etc. The story goes that once upon a time a donkey got into the vineyard and ate everything down to nubs. The vintners were beside themselves with despair until, come spring, the vines came back better than ever. We have pruning ever since. Your roses will be fine.

Thanks so much for your replies and sympathy. The fence is just about finished, so hopefully that will solve the problem.

Majenta, I sympathize. We're not rural but deer are still an issue. I've always been able to depend on Bobbex repellent to protect roses, but I pruned approximately a month ago and wasn't keeping track of new unsprayed growth - it's been a hectic month.

The roses nearest my front door got a very thorough second 'pruning' some time this week, courtesy deer. I think I'm going to cut back more and reshape today, hate to delay blooms even more but I don't seen an alternative for my own. What is so attractive about Double Delight?
If they are going to bother my roses and I haven't sprayed, they will walk past six and begin with that one....never fails.

Last year the deer ate a couple of my roses to the ground. I found a recipe online for a repellent. It is basically egg, milk, water, tabasco, a little dishsoap. They came back for a nibble, hot sauce won. Of course it has to be reapplied after rain. This fall they hit the roses again before I sprayed. I caught them and ran them off. I had my husband install four posts and fishing line around the beds a few feet out. So far, so good. The line is at 4' level, needs to be lower. I also put more repellent on the roses and the daylilies.