I live in a small city, and (at least so far!) deer are not a part of my critterproofing equation, but one of my friends who read my last blogpost about critterproofing your organic garden reminded me of how things used to be when I did live in the country. Yes, deer are definitely part of the equation here in the Northeastern US. In fact, the joke in the neighboring State of NJ is that deer have been declared the State Rodent.
Good news is that most of the things that work for deer seem to work for rabbits too!
Here are some deerproofing things you can do.
You can try deer fence, which is, I believe 8 to 10 feet high. But I’ve also watched a deer, from a standing start, wish her way over one of those 8 foot fences, much like my cats wish their way onto the tops of high places in my house, so I don’t have a lot of faith in this expensive remedy. A friend has regular fencing, then has extensions above that are electric fence, which doesn’t need as much support as a full fence, and she said it wasn’t all that expensive. She’s used christmas tree tinsel on this wiring to make it look more dense and to confuse them further. The downside is that it’s using electricity, so is not the greenest solution.
There are some repellant type things you can do that will discourage deer from an area. Some are less harmful, more affordable, or more socially acceptable than others.
If there are guys in your family, have them take a leak around your garden perimeter. This is much like other critters mark territory. However, if your garden is visible from the road, this might end up in an embarassing moment or two, or even an arrest for indecent exposure. And every time it rains, the territorial markings have to be refreshed. This does seem to slow the deer down, but it’s not foolproof. It is cheap, however.
There are commercial deer repellants. They’re expensive, and wash off every time it rains or dewfalls heavily. They do seem to work to varying degrees, but the expense is prohibitive.
Then there are the homemade repellants. The one that seemed to do the trick for me was to throw some warm water, a couple raw eggs, a few jalapeno or other VERY hot cut up peppers, and a few diced cloves of garlic in the blender and blend until liquefied enough to easily be used in a spray bottle. Apply it all around the perimeter and on the plants that are especially attractive to deer, like the bush and pole beans. This, again, needs replenishment every time there’s rain or heavy dewfall, so if you forget you might find your garden chewed down to a nub. Some other recipes for this call for milk and/or dish detergent or Dial soap to be added to the mix. Do be careful not to get this in your eyes since the capsacin from the peppers will burn like hell.
Planting garlic around the perimeter is something I do routinely, since it helps discourage a lot of critters, including deer (well, except my neighborhood squirrels, who dig it up and eat it. They can also scent a pizza box in the garbage from three blocks away!)
Another remedy suggested by a friend is this one:
Scare Deer Repellent
1 yard of old sheeting, cotton, or muslin
1/4 cup bloodmeal
1 cup of hair clippings
Cut the fabric into small 4-inch squares. Mix hair and bloodmeal together and put a tablespoon onto the center of each fabric square. Bring up the ends and tie them up with a string or rubber band. Hang these packets from the branches of the trees and shrubs, or from your fencing.
In that same vein, my grandfather used to spread bloodmeal all over the garden, and he was one of the most awesome gardeners in the world.
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