The flowerbuds on my oakleaf hydrangea were all eaten off. Some of the phlox but not all. Some tips of shrubss but not the daylilies or hostas yet. I guess I have to start spraying or most of the garden will be down to the ground.

A friend of mine says irish spring soap in an onion bag keeps the deer away. I don't know, live near town and only have woodchucks, turkeys and weasels.
kathy

The deer seem to wander through from time to time and nibble on their favorite things. This Spring they ate most of my tulips, grazed them down nice and evenly as though I'd pruned them. Nothing since then, knock on wood.

In the past, they've also nibbled on the Phlox paniculata, False Solomon's seal, and the Hosta Royal Standard. They love just that one Hosta, they'll eat it down to stalks like it was a big salad just before it starts to bloom. So I spray that one with Deer Off, which works well.

Here's what they did to the Hosta in August '05 -
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Have to second Terrene's mention of Deer Off. Plain and simple, this stuff works. Home Depot, $32/gal. I've sprayed everything in all gardens 3 times since early May (after their free buffet) and since spraying haven't lost anything. A woman invented this mixture in her kitchen and it is now sold through Havahart. It works on deer, bunnies, squirrels, and I think a few cats (including my own) are offended by it - good. I think one gallon should help my 1/2 acre for the year - a good investment.

Jane

terrene, I had the same thing happen two years ago. They walked right by about a half dozen other hostas and took one close to my house right down to the ground. Corunum, I thank you for the suggestions. I am off to Home Depot ASAP! I have also tried human hair in net bags and Irish Spring and both work for a while. You just have to mix it up to keep those varmints guessing!

Those darn deer have for years chomped down my Krossa Regal, Sum and Substance, and various other hostas! They have bitten off many shoots on my clematis, daylilies, columbines, and rosebushes. They destroy everything. My DH works nights and gets home anywhere between 2am-3am. Almost every night they are having their midnight snack in our yard. They aren't even scared of the car or of my DH. At first I thought, Oh, well they are so adorable, but now I am so upset w/those doe-eyed darlings. The only flowers they don't eat are my beloved daffs, thank God. I have tried Irish Spring, coyote urine, human urine, dog hair, human hair, sprays, etc. to no avail. I understand they are very territorial and creatures of habit and they do follow the same patch up my driveway into my yard for the past 10 years. We can't fence them out because our property is too large and surrounded on three sides by deep woods. I even bought 2 of those silly looking owls. I just wish they would go eat my next door neighbors hostas for a change. They never, ever touch hers!

Thanks for letting me vent-

suebot in CT

Oh dear Suebot, that sounds horrible. Sounds like you really need fencing, a German Shepherd, or a gun. I know that these aren't practical solutions in some cases. I would be so discouraged to watch my gardens be devoured!

My garden typically gets deer browsing very early in the growing season - this year about 3/4 of my tulips were partly or mostly eaten. They also love the euonymus and some of the azaleas. Fortunately, they seem to stop visiting after early May. I suspect that this is because my house is not right next to woods - the nearest patch of woods is several lots away. My guess is that in the late winter-early spring, when food is scarce in the woods, they come out into people's yards more often and venture further from the woods, but when more starts growing in the woods, they stay there more. I hope that the deer keep restricting their raids to the early spring!

Last year the deer chose a white and green hosta on which to feast but didn't touch an all green one 4 feet away. This year I bought the deer repellant at Agway but the green and white hosta got nibbled a bit as well as a couple of tulip leaves. After spraying the perimeter of the small garden, there was no more damage. Last year somebody browsed on young tomato plants which recovered. This year there doesn't seem to be any attempt on the tomatos. I know the deer are around since we've seen them during the day. Last year we let some winter rye grow in a former corn field. We've seen the deer in the winter rye so maybe that is much tastier for them ... although my husband thins they are after the clover in the field. The spray is certainly stinky, some combination of animal urine.

I live in the woods in NH and the deer are so bad that all of our beds are incarcerated behind deer fencing. We lost about $1000 worth of plants one year and I love my plants - not really into shooting living things, so fencing was the only effective option. Not the prettiest solution, but at least it protects my plants and it's the only thing out there that we've found actually does what is says.

Here is a link that might be useful: Where I bought my deer fencing