Irish Spring Deer Repellent?

16 years ago

Has anyone here used this trick? I'm hearing about "stringing it up", on the forum about deer repellent & everyone seems to swear by it. I am having difficult expanding my garden because the dang deer are eating my Hostas... fortunately, I have close to a billion Undulata Albomarginata, so I put those out in front, but they are working their way into the prize Hosta! HELP!

Featured Answer

jdgman

16 years ago

I've used Irish spring for several years. I use my fleco pruners to cut it into small pieces and put it around the crown of the plants right on the ground. It lasts all season and the leaves cover the bright green soap. It also cleans my pruners at the same time!

Another trick I have been using is collecting the wire frames from Christmas wreathes. After removing the old pine you will notice the ring has wire "barbs" every few inches. I place these barb side up around my favorite plants. It seems to help with the deer and the rabbits both.

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Comments (7)

keanaz5a
16 years ago
I haven't tried it for Hosta because the deer don't seem interested in mine. That could be because mine are up closer to the house, though. I have tried it for our strawberry plants, though. This spring they ate them to the ground. I heard about the Irish Spring thing and tried it. They quit eating the strawberries. I can't say for sure if it was because of the Irish Spring or if by that time there was something more palatable for them to eat.
ptilda
Original Author
16 years ago
My Hostas are RIGHT at the front door, and they just march right up there!
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alexis717_df
16 years ago
Here's what I used to do when I had a major deer problem.. I would drill a hole through a bar of irish spring and put a string through it and hang from a stick in strategic places throughout the gardens. I also put a bar in a 5 gallon bucket and filled the bucket with water and let it sit. When the bar was mostly disolved I would take some of the water and put it in a spray bottle and go around and spritz my plants. Reapply after each rain. This method worked very well for me. Maybe you could just do one or the other and it would still work. I just got tired of them eating everything to the ground so I did both.

Alexis
sue_in_nova_scotia
16 years ago
Yes I use this method as well. I start before the deers come in March and cut the soap up into tiny pieces and sprinkle them every where, they keep going. I also use the soaking a bar in water method for later in the season when the chunks of soap would be unsightly.
ptilda
Original Author
16 years ago
As unsightly as little soap pieces might seem, it's a heck of a lot better than how my "sacrificial" hostas look now! I have a row of common Undulata Albomarginata Hosta surrounding my more prized Hostas, hoping the deer eat them first & leave the others alone. They DO eat the "sacrificial Hostas", but are moving their way closer to my "babies", so I have to do something!
ptilda
Original Author
16 years ago
I went to the Family Dollar & got 7 bars of Irish Spring for $3.00. Gave 3 bars to my sister, to help save what is left of her vegetable garden, and broke the other 4 bars up & put them all around my Hosta garden. Those buggers got within 3 feet of my house eating the buds of the Hosta!

I will let you know how it works out.