Try hot pepper spray. I've been spraying my azaleas and rhododendrons once a month since mid fall, and I have noticed no new deer damage since then.

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Terry

May the force be with you

Well fence around the flowers might work, But it is too late for anything now for everything that was about to bloom. I had one blooming yesterday and today half of the flower bed has been wiped out, no blooms or buds anywhere. Fences do not keep the deer out though, my veggie garden is fenced and most of my yard is also fenced, and I have had deer in my garden before. I do love watching the deer, but not at the expense of my plants. I might give the pepper spray a try, esp for the things that are coming up just in case. The neighbor doesn't even have a fence around their garden, so I am watching to see the deer in their garden

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Animals don't like the smell of fish fertiliser. Neither do i actually. So if you give the plants a weak weekly dose of fish fert, it may help. Add a cup of urine to the mix. A natural territorial marker. It can work for possums and sometimes kangaroos. (Unless there's a drought when they'll eat anything.)

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The secret is the soil.

Pagarden, do you have cats around? A couple of years ago my cats dug up a moonflower vine that I had just watered with a liquid fish fertilizer.

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Terry

May the force be with you

oh man- i didn't think of the cat "side effect" LOL. actually no though- our cats are indoor cats and i very rarely see loose cats around here.

I was told that using bar soap shavings around and in the flower bed would work, Also to get some Ivory dish soap and put 2 tablespoons full into a gallon of water and spray the plants, that I want to keep the deer away from, of course every time it rains I would need to reapply this or every few weeks if no rain...So the scent thing is the key to keeping the deer at bay.

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Leslie just came up with a though that it was too bad that you could not put a mouse trap inside the beds and scare the deer with that. I thought about it for a second and had an idea.
Try taking multiple mouse traps (the more the better) and tie them together with some thread or very light test fishing line. Set them as it is getting dark, but do not bait them. (this way you won't catch any small animals) Set the string of traps about 18 inches out from the tulips, just about where youthink the deer will be standing when they bend over to munch on your garden. Chances are they will step on one. They have hard hoves so it should not hurt them at all, but them setting off the one should startle them enough to pull his or her foot back, which would make the rest of the traps go off each with a loud snap. Do this a few nights in a row, and I bet the deer get spooked enough to not come back.

Another way of keeping them away is by using the black plastic bird netting, but don't pull it tight, leave it loose. The deer won't see it as they look thru it, and the feeling of something they can't see freaks them out.

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Mike Maier
aka
The Plant Doc

A few years ago I found this recipe:

http://www.whyy.org/91FM/ybyg/deer.html

It really works, the oasis is rather odd looking, makes a great conversation piece, but you can place it where it's not too conspicuous.

Try using the green garden posts, put them in the ground about 6 feet apart. Run fishing line or very thin wire through the pools. The deer cannot see the line or wire, when they touch it they back off. I have not lost one plant since we set this up in all of our gardens. I am new and not sure of what I am doing, this may be a duplicate message