Deer will know the difference between live and fake plants. If you have an over populated area with deer, then they will eat any plant in site. In winter with deep snow, deer will eat bark of trees just to survive. I would say, you would be fine using fake plants and would not worry about it.

For a good repellent...

Here is a link that might be useful: Danger Zone

Do you happen to have any 4-ft welded wire mesh (2x4" holes) fencing lying around? This sounds too simple and easy, I know, but if it will keep the deer out of my lettuce, peas and corn, it should work for your wishing well.

Deer are prey animals. Deer can't see their feet. They fear foot traps, because they know if they get a foot stuck in something, they are someone's dinner.

Lay some 4-ft wire mesh flat right around your wishing well. FLAT. No posts. No gaps in the mesh. Let the grass grow through it and mow over it.

The deer will see the flowers in your wishing well and head right for it. Then a hoof will touch the wire mesh and they will stop. THEY WILL STOP. They're afraid to go further. Even if there was an open area on the other side of the wire mesh, they won't jump it because they don't know how far it extends. Even a deer knows you can't jump a canyon in two jumps.

Twice a day a small herd of deer walked through my unfenced yard. Every time, they stopped at the edge (no vertical fencing) of the wire mesh. They eyed my veggies with obvious longing. But self-preservation won. Every day from March to September.

It will work.

Sue

This fencing idea works. It works on dogs too! I kind of bend the fencing up a little and then lay it flat on the ground. It will not lay completely flat, because of the kinks I've made in it. It lays flat in some places, and 2-3 inches off soil surface in others. They hate to walk on it. It works better in a perenniel bed that has already been planted, because it's hard to plant thru the 2"x4" holes in the wire. The perenniels sprout up thru, and the fencing is sooon invisible. I have used this with success in a fenced yard with 2 dogs. Good luck.

Have you tried Foxglove? It's the one flower in my yard that the deer don't touch, probably because they are poisonous. The nice thing about Foxglove is that I let a few of the plants go to seed, and then the following year have more plants. Mine do well in shade and sun. The slugs like Foxglove though, so I use Sluggo for that problem. If it's not one problem, it's another! LOL!

Good luck!
Barbara