I have used Deer Off by Havahart. Also good for squirrels and rabbits. It does not wash off. I started using it after 12 of my newly planted hostas met with fate....of the deer. They have not bothered any since.

Myself and my neighbor use Hinder,workes great.
I started late in the year spraying,next spring i will start earlier,but from what i did use,it worked very well.
Carol

ikea,
plan on a multitude of games to annoy your deer.
This is the first year in which I have not lost a single hosta, except a few leaves on the far side of a hosta that were missed by the spray. Here is what I did:
1. Homemade spray: Mix 1 egg, 1 tbsp garlic powder, 1 tbsp ground Cayenne pepper, 1 tbsp vinegar, 1 tbsp Murphy's Oil soap in a blender with 2 cups of water. Place in 2 Gal pressure sprayer and add water until 3/4 full. Apply every 2-3 weeks.
2. Place packets of Green Screen all around your potted plants, including your nursery area.
3. By mid May start planting Gladiola bulbs throughout your garden. The will start blooming by the end of June. Lightly dust each blossom cluster with ground cayenne pepper. Use a small brush, dip it into the Cayenne, tap the brush against the rim of the container. Also treat lillys and other flowers your deer might display a liking for.
4. Install motion activated lights or similar motion activated gadgets.
5. Get a bottle of cuyote urine. Use small plastic containers from old 35mm films, pill bottles, drill or punch several holes through the shell. Place 3 cotton balls inside and use tie-wraps to hang them up on trees and bushes. Squirt one eye dropper full into each capsle.
Now sit back and enjoy. I see deer marching around in several of my neighbors yards. For awhile they came around checking, nipping of a few hosta blooms, let them enjoy!!!
By the end of August I got lazy and stopped spraying alltogether, even collected the Cuyote pots, when we had a picnic, but no more deer!
Manfred

Hi Manfred, will the cayenne pepper discolor the blooms? I grow lilies and roses primarily for cut flowers.

I've had no deer around (we live by a lake/river) since I started making my own Liquid Fence like Manfred. I blend 2-3 eggs, spoonful minced garlic, and some dish soap (as a surfactant)and fill up an old milk jug w/ water .Let sit in sun for at least a week to brew. Spray once a month w/ 1 gal sprayer -no deer- no rabbits- no stray dogs.
Peggy

I use BOMBXXX they are literally land minds!! I buy them from my local military base. I dont have any deer left and my freezer is full of that nasty deer meat!! Bambi for dinner tonight anyone?

LOL really just a joke here!! there are no deer in ferndale. but the ones that are brought back by hunters. or are at the detroit zoo. but on the other hand 10 miles down the road my parents deal with them all year long!!

Paul

PS sorry, just have to rant!! well not really by some of my other posts or I just had a bad day and being really stupid, which is probably what happened, or just commenting about something that i dont know anything about)! Did I tell you that my castor bean is over 10 feet tall?? just messin here!

Hmmm, tough question on Liquid Fence or Bobbex. I think I would have to go with Remington and 12 gauge. Deer do NOT have a right to our yards! If they climbed trees I would not like them as much as I don't like squirrels (I can't say I hate squirrels anymore, after reading the end of the thread I started on that subject!!! I just really, really dislike them.)

Now, just how big would a S&S grow if it were planted on top of Bambi????

Ikea re "will the cayenne pepper discolor the blooms"
I have not noticed any discoloration. One of my "Manfred's Delight", the one sitting in full sun has been showing tiny brown spots late in the season, about the size of a grain of rice. In two other locations, half shade and full shade the same plant had no signs of discoloration.
Here is my reason why Manfred's deer spray is superior, it is cheap! You can spray each week if you like. With Liquid Fence on the other hand at $30 for a pint of concentrate you sit back after your first application and wait and wait until another half dozen hostas bite the dust for a time to spray again.
On my Honebells I missed the bottom row of leaves on the far side and Bamby was right there to chomp it down. That gives me the desired feedback, that my stuff works.
Manfred

I have used liquid fence for years. It works well for me. I Spray it every two weeks more often if we get alot of heavy rain.Deer still walk through my yard but they leave the Hostas and other plants alone..