they are conifers .... just fyi ... and the post below is in that forum ...

an arb is an arb .. though your variety is different from the one spoken of ... nbd ...

ken

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/4499222/will-thuja-green-giants-regrow-after-deer-browsing-etc?n=9

I have decent luck hanging soap from the trees in pantyhose.

Whats happening is the deer see a big wide field with a bright tasty green tree in the middle of it so the come by and snack.

Getting an outside dog can help quite a bit also.

We to have found that deer like our camellias. We have found that milorganite is the best thing to keep deer away. It has to periodically be refreshed but is relatively cheap. It is also a good fertilizer so it is a win win situation.

I have success using the repellants for euonymus, applied every two to three weeks. Perhaps if you do this your deer will eventually 'remember' that they stink. But with deer, there are no guarantees.

Thank you for your comments and suggestions. In my neighborhood we can't have a fence in the front yard nor outside dogs. I forgot to mention that I have also tried irish spring soap shavings and have even placed entire soap bars . I will try what "krnuttle" suggested and see how that goes.

I have had luck with both spraying Plantskydd and sprinkling the indian cooking spice asafetida. But, as gardengal said, they have to be reapplied regularly, and after anything more than a light rain, and alternated so that they don't become accustomed to one scent.

Try getting some bird netting and drape it over the trees, then stake the bottoms about a foot away -- so that the netting is actually a bit away from the leaves (deer will push it in to get bits of greenery that poke through). This should discourage them but not be visible from a short distance away.

The black bird netting is a good idea. I had to do that for rabbits on a couple things, and you can hardly notice it from a small distance.

If you are near any kind of deer trail and they have free access to your yard, it may be a losing battle. Plants like arborvitae and hosta are just too darn tempting. And arborvitae do not bounce back well... a couple feedings can disfigure the plant for good. I live on a deer trail and have found that the repellents are not sustainable in high traffic. Even if you stay on it, they will either get used to it or nail you in winter. The one piece of obvious deer food I grow is oak leaf hydrangea. They bounce back pretty well from browsings.

In Europe they've been using sheep fat for a long time. If you don't want to use deer fencing Trico is new to the US and has some bonuses compared to the regular repellents. It lasts 6 months rather than 3 weeks, and is good through the winter, when lack of other food drives deer to snack on your plants.

I have found the best way to handle deer is to provide them plenty of food to eat. Five years ago we had several azalea planted in the yard. The did not start to "grow" until the root system was such that they could produce enough vegetation to satisfy the deer and to start to put on height. After they reached that point they have grown into the large sprawling azaleas we thought we bought about 9 years ago.