Ooooh!!! Those darn deer!! I feel for you!
Carol

Relentless creatures... :-O

Won't wrought iron fences keep them away?

They are soooo beautiful.

andrea

I feel for you. It is a serious public health issue here because of Lyme disease. Not to mention the havoc they wreck on the local eco-system. Now it is fall in Northern Jersey, and the season of abundance is winding down. The two herds that make daily trip to my backyard wonder closer and closer to the house to feed, and sometimes put up quite a show for my 2 year old, who does not get to play in the backyard as we fear for ticks/Lyme disease. These deer don't seem be bothered by humans even if you stand just feet from them.

The buffet line IS open...here in Georgia. The buffet is open year round. Knock out roses, hydrangeas, even monkey grass and Deer tolerant plants. And the bunnies eat at the buffet also. Fences do not help...maybe if they are 12 feet tall. Any suggestions ! Thanks.

Alpinesmom -- I use a combo of "defenses" for my front yard where I grow roses, which seems to have worked this season. Not sure which one does the trick or whether this is just pure luck.

6 feet-tall fence (does not work as deer jump over it; town does not allow taller fense for front yard)

2. Repellex (a tablet that is feed to the roses early in the season, which is supposed to make the foliage taste like hot pepper to deer and other critters. Available online or at Home Depot)

Milogranite (human sewage based "organic" fertilizer; supposed to smell bad to deer. Liberal application everywhere a couple of times during the growing season).

Lavenders, lots and lots of laveders. I have about 8 varieties now, and 3 dozens of clumps.

Shreds of cloths with Vicks rub, used a few times earlier during the season.

Irish Spring soaps, a half dozens sticked on top of the fence.

Human urine. Yes, I pee in my front yard from time to time.

So far, I have been able to fend off those darn things from the fenced area, while their damages are seen everywhere else in my yard. However, I know that it takes only one hungery deer to be ignore all these unpleasantness and ruin my roses. Fingers crossed.

I gave up fighting deer for the backyard, and it is all they can eat.Two kinds of plant that the deer have NEVER touched in my backyard where they roam free: floxglove (because of the toxicity) and lavender (smell, oil and texture). Also, poenies, although I read from this forum that at least one person's poenies got browsed. I saw Russian Sage and Catmint are are grown everywhere by landscaper, and I have never seen signs of deer damage. I don't have space to grow those myself.

Good luck with whatever you do. The consensus seems to be that the best way to go is a fence that is tall enough.

Thank you farmer duck! Good advice. Will give them a try. :)

Dang, where's my shotgun?!! LOL

Luckily, the varmints haven't gotten in my yard much this yr. I've seen them around a few times tho. Maybe the dumb dog actually is keeping them out!!

I like the Vicks rub idea, but I don't want to smear it on the tomatoes--ha. Still, I'll try it elsewhere. Irish Spring doesn't do a thing here. Yes, urine...specifically, my cat's clumped "pee balls" placed in light weight cheap bowls do work. You just can't put them everywhere is the problem, and if you have lots of rain, it gets messy. I've tried encircling a rose with a lot of bamboo stakes lying on the ground. They make the ground unstable for the deer, and they don't seem to bother those roses with the stakes around them. Finally, there are plants that "my deer" have never bothered: boxwood, Russian sage, catmint, lavender, rudbeckia, coneflower, artemisia, penstemon, morning glory, and a bunch more. Tomatoes, roses, euonymous, and dianthus have been their main focus. I just ordered "Deer Scram". Does anyone like the way this stuff works? Diane

I tried Deer Scram around my peaches and nectarines. Absolute waste of money there. I use electric fences around the roses and have had no problems with deer when I keep them on regularly. In years past when they were not on regularly I had some problems with them getting in somehow. I think they have to be trained from early spring.

Oh phooey. That Deer Scram is sooo expensive ($30 for six pounds). I'd rather buy roses. Where we're situated, I don't think an electric fence would work or be allowed. We're out in the hills, but I have close neighbors just on the sides of us. The backyard is wide open to an undeveloped draw where the deer enter the yard. In front, we're open to undeveloped hills, but deer don't use this entrance as much. Diane