Oh man, that just SUCKS!! Was all this in just one night? If so, I wonder if the blame lies elsewhere -- malicious kids or neighbors. Otherwise, it seems like it woul have to have been a herd of them or something.

I t may not have been one night. I have 5 different gardens and am still putting in over 40 plants (only 5 left). So I don't visit everything every day. But there are herds and my next door neighbor saw a mom nursing a fawn the other day and at 8 am last week, there was a young deer hanging out in my back yard. (The back is not planted so eat all the weeds you want, deer).

I've been gardening in this space for over 20 years and they ate things they've never eaten.

That’s terrible and so very disappointing when that happens to our gardens! And if you’re spraying that shows how hard you work to grow your gardens. I’m a nature lover, but sometimes they make it difficult. And they ate things that are said to be resistant to deer. Don’t they know that? My deer like the flower buds and pulling out my tomato plants, but you got hit hard! Sorry this happened, and I hope they go elsewhere and won’t be back for another 20 years. But that’s most likely wishful thinking.

It is very, very annoying. Plus the constant threat of lyme disease makes me a non deer lover.

Im sorry . i really am. what a loss. Hard not to attribute intention to them and personalize it. keep us updated,please.

I hear you!

Especially the “ usually don’t eat” part. In my old Neo just a few miles away from my new house, whole herds of deer came through but they NEVER touched the coneflowers or Rudbeckia. Of course if I played daredevil with hosta or hydrangeas ( which I usually only grew in containers by a fenced deck area), I had only myself to blame when those got chomped. But in the new place, which has more challenging soils and slopes, I was counting on coneflowers especially, various types including some more native ones, and being able to propagate & grow some from seed & mix with sedges and other things. Also the Rudbeckia. But they’re eating those !!

Am I limited to junipers and strong herbs? What is another candidate for some cheerful drought- tolerant flowers?
If they eat the groundcover geraniums , I’m so toasted.

Nothing eats lamb's ear and lavender (although at this point, I should never say never). And of course foxglove because that is poisonous. I personally find that "Deer Solution" works, it comes in two scents and deer seem to hate it. I am now spending a half hour spraying pretty much everything in my garden.

Are y'all in drought conditions? I find deer damage to be worse in very dry years.

@a2zmom_Z6_NJ I am so sorry for you! When things like this happen it makes it so challenging to be a gardener who uses nature / animal safe practices. I can understand a bit of your feeling of shock and dismay at your discovery of all that damage. Reading it brought back a vivid memory from years back at my prior home. A neighbor a few homes away had just had a major landscaping reno job done for their mid sized front yard. It was really pretty with new planting beds, lawn & new hardscape installed. One morning a week or so after project completion I saw my neighbor sitting on her curb and crying. Her entire front lawn & all the planting beds looked like an excavator had run through them. Just overnight a mole - or, looked like a herd of them - had tunneled under all of the turf & plantings. Giant mounds of soil, long rows of tunnels & overturned plants everywhere! Total devastation. I sat down & cried with her! I had never, and have never since, seen such mole damage. So, that’s why I said I can imagine your shock and dismay. My guess is that your garden looks as lovely and luscious to the roving deer as it does to the local humans. I hope with a lot of judicious pruning & some time passing, the damage will be a distant memory.

You are ambitious considering your non-stop challenges. We are recovering here after a herd of 21 spent the winter foraging an everything and anything left above the snow fall. Blessedly come spring they disperse and spread out finding more abundant grazing. Fencing, bags of coyote urine hanging from branches, liquid fence, basil and other herbs have been successful for some, not for others. They are creatures of habit so if you can get them deterred early it helps also.

I’m so sorry, I know from experience how discouraging this is!!! I live in an area of intense deer pressure - my property backs to a tributary of a major river and we have 25+ deer moving through our yard on any given night. I use Bobbex deer repellent and spray liberally once a week; additional times after a heavy rain. The stuff works!

That said, your comment about every bud being eaten off your yarrow had me thinking about the groundhog damage I sustained last year; my yarrow was eaten to the ground!! Could you perhaps be dealing with a groundhog? I’d rather deal with two dozen deer than a single persistent groundhog; they are relentless and undeterred by sprays, fox urine granules, or even barking dogs.

Plantskyd works

you need to spray foliage they can teach

i wonder if perhaps you could modify your gardening plans by just letting the wrecked garden recover and protecting the others.

dont plant anything new; word is out about the salad bar.

buy a variety good deer repellant. skip the the Irish spring and gentle person stuff. Dont waste time and money on homemade remedies. this is war!

as i remember people have liked bobbex, liquid fence and plantskydd.

Go for it!

@cecily 7A That's agood point about drought conditions. It's raining now, but we had no rain April, May and most of June. Climate change is a whole different challenge for us gardeners.

@KW PNW Z8 I think that's the most heart breaking gardening story I've ever heard. I would cry also. And then I would find a way to murder them all.

@arcy_gw Normally, as long as I spray the deer fav's I'm ok. The tick situation though is very real and very scary. I had lyme disease in 2020, luckily I made a full recovery. My gardening clothes are now permanently bonded to a tick repellant, I use this site https://www.insectshield.com/.

@lovemycorgi z5b SE michigan I also thought it might be a groundhog. There used to be one living all the way in the back of my property but I haven't seen him in a number of years. I really, really hope I do not have a groundhog.

@Marie Tulin Boston burbs z 6a I use a product called Deer Stopper and that has always worked for me. They are actually based in NJ so I guess they are testing on the local herds. Unfortunately, with so many plants to spray, I went through quite a bit of the concentrate.

I feel your heartbreak and anger! I back up to a woods, and a neighbor two doors down feeds the deer all winter. Of course, you know what happens come spring.

I've had tick issues, so when i walk the dog in the woods, I only wear permathrin-sprayed clothes. I won't go out there without long sleeves, long pants, socks, etc., and even wear a lightweight hooded sweatshirt when I won't faint from the heat.

That is good advice above about spraying new plants, I had never taken that into consideration.

Years ago someone said something about start spraying the repellants really early before the fawns start browsing on your stuff -- if you deter the fawns right out of the gate, the nightly "rounds" isn't imprinted in their brains, i.e. they won't want to come back as they grow, they'll mentally cross you off their list. Makes sense to me, and that's what I try to do. But there is still always some damage here and there. I also use the Deer Stopper (or Animal Stopper, I've found them interchangeable) -- it's good stuff and smells pleasant to us humans. It is good to rotate, though, so I'll also use Liquid Fence occasionally.

I'm fortunate in that I border state parkland, so while there are a lot of deer they have so much room to roam and other things to find to eat that I don't have too much damage.

The rabbits got some of my things this year though -- didn't spray the Geranium magnificum and a couple clumps got nibbled. I haven't seen what looks like rabbit damage since the geraniums got chewed off so I'm blaming the rabbits but it might have been the deer. I think rabbits might live under my deck because the dog is always sniffing around under there, animals typically don't eat where they sleep so as long as they don't destroy my stuff we can co-exist peacefully, and their droppings will make my garden lusher.

Rabbits go in cycles whetre I am. Their numbers swell, then the hawks move in and the numbers drop again. They tend to be more enamored of my clover filled lawn.

I went through a half gallon of deep dray on Sunday spraying everything thoroughly. Monday nigh it poured here (an inch in an hour) and at one point I saw a young deer in front of my garden. I opened the door and he ran off. This morning not one daylily bud was eaten so success!

Sigh. It’s so discouraging to lose everything like that. So far the deer have eaten nearly all of the hostas in my farthest garden and now have moved on to browsing my blackberry plants. The rabbits have eaten most of the liatris this year, and I just chased one right after I caught him biting off one of my snowpea plants. Things are just getting started. :)

@party_music50 I am so sorry to hear that. It really is discouraging.

Deers are a real problem here. The pest issue is getting worst each year: ticks, japanese beatles… We never harvest much from our fruit trees though deers are not the only consumers.

I’m always willing to share with nature!

I'm so sorry! Deer can be a real problem. Is there any chance you could put in deer fencing? I too am in zone 6 NJ, with plenty of deer pressure. It's true that they don't read the manuals, and they will eat things like salvia that they're not supposed to like (the only thing of mine they've never touched is peonies, but I'm sure there are cases where they do). Anyway, for years I managed with spraying, but ultimately decided it would be more cost effective and better for my sanity in the long run to put in deer fencing. It just makes all the difference in the world. I know it's not always an option for everybody, but if it is (even to fence a portion of your property) do consider it! The expense upfront is high but it's so worth it!

I can't put in fencing - this is my fromt yard and I am not going to fence that. My back has three huge maple trees so no gardening happening back there.