Where there is enough pressure what others have done is make a less-than-the-whole-property-sized corral and limit planting of susceptible plants to within that area.

My dog keeps them out of our yard although not completely. The kids and I were impressed by a deer jumping the grape arbor - easily 6 feet high. It was a beautiful sight but I hope they don't make it a habit.

Just a ring of welded wire fence 4' tall works for me around individual trees or roses, or even around a whole bed of plants. They don't seem to be willing to jump into a small enclosed space. I just bought another 100'. It is rather expensive but works and doesn't have to be reapplied.

I've just started landscaping a 1/2 acre that's in a wooded area. One edge of the property is a deer trail - we love watching them walk through in the morning. I bought a copy of "Deerproofing Your Yard & Garden" by Rhonda Hart. I've found it very helpful in understanding why some plants are avoided by deer and what works to repel them. We can't afford to fence the entire yard, and I don't know that I want to close everything in. I've had the deer walk up to all my new shrubs, trees and perennials and then walk away leaving them untouched (I can tell by the tracks they leave at night).

We live in the cascade foothills. Deer country. We fenced 2 acres of our 5 acre property with an 8 foot high fence at a cost of $5000. Even with me supplying most of the labor still a bit pricey. But I never have to worry about deer damage.

I was concerned that it would feel like living in a compound, but the forest on the other side is growing up and into the fence and hides it pretty well.

jb

We put a deer fence around our veggie garden -- and so far have found one deer IN it and tracks from another "just passing through"!!!! The war is on here too. I have 2 water activated Scarecrows which do work but they get me too if I forget to turn them off. We have some pasture land which is chest deep in grass at the moment and there are two donkeys trying to keep it down. The other day I had 2 nut trees given to me so I thought I would plant them in the pasture by the driveway. Put them in and had a wire enclosure built for them. An hour later I found one donkey on each side of one enclosure -- not a scrap of green left anywhere on that tree, and they had managed to pull up the other tree! Why they would want that particular bit of green food when they have 10 acres of growth to choose from leaves me speechless. Today, I'm going to find some stucco wire and try to save the tree. Btw, it's a Sweet Chestnut that is an experimental one resistent to blight.

Dotty,

while reading your post regarding deer, donkeys, & experimental plants, the solution to the problem occurred to me. Bio-engineering. By splicing a few cougar genes to our most deerlicious plants we could make them immune to the ravages of both deer & donkey.

I too live with deer, even elk once in a while. The deer browse lightly here and there, but so far haven't done any serious damage. Knock on wood. An elk did take out a Korean fir by rubbing the bark off as high as 9 ft. I'm glad they are not here very often.
Here's a picture of a couple of deer I saw while standing at my front door with a cat in my arms.

Here is a link that might be useful: Deer

Nice pic botann. I see that they are not frightened by the Croc. That is one of the things I miss since the fence went up. I loved watching them browse in the field, but they just wouldn't stick to that diet.

jb

gweirdo, I like your idea for the cougar genes. Can you add a little something that gives them a taste for slugs? I'd like a true all-in-one solution for pests in the garden.

Terrific photo botann, They look like perfect garden adornments LOL! I had a few last year but knock on wood they haven't blessed me with their presence this year... only a mountain beaver and I think they are worse! Dotty, I used to have horses and they were very were always curious about anything new in their space. Good luck with the donkeys!