Deer Problems

I am looking for any ideas for my poor perennial garden. I would love the name of any deer resistant plants or any ideas for discouraging the deer from enjoying my garden other than a 6 foot electric fence.

Thanks,

Kelly

Reply to
KHEIKILA
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Dogs. No, really; I live WAY out in the county . . . all my neighbors are plagued by deer. I, OTOH, own four sighthounds, including two borzoi, and nary a deer wanders into my yard [the tree rats stay away, too; but, oddly enough, not the bunnies]. Other than that, I have never found a really good way to keep deer out; and, given enough incentive, they'll eat ANYTHING.

Chris Owens

Reply to
Chris Owens

Chris,

Out of curiosity, are your dogs primarily indoor or outdoor dogs? I wonder if the deer do not come near you b/c the dogs are in the yard, or b/c of the smells your dogs have left behind when they go outside to relieve themselves, play, etc..

Heidi

Chris Owens wrote:

Reply to
Heidi

They're both . . . sighthounds need LOTS of exercise; they do hot laps around the yard for about 10 minutes every hour, then spend the rest of the time languishing on the furniture and trying to convince Mommy to pet them . . . they're sprinters, not endurance runners. OTOH, we have a dog yard . . . because I like the interior of my house, and my plantings, just the way they are, thank you. So, all this running about only occurs on one part -- about 1/4 acre -- of the property. But, we are talking about dogs that were specifically bred to run down and kill game -- the Borzois for things like deer and elk; the Whippets for small game. So, maybe there's something about them that sets off primal warnings in the deer . . . I know for certain that there's something that sets off primal 'lunch' in the dogs when they SEE deer. :)

Chris Owens

Reply to
Chris Owens

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Reply to
dr-solo

Only a proper physical barrier is 100% deer proof. But, you can up your odds by planting mostly stuff the deer don't like to eat, mixing in a few things they would eat here and there. Mostly, try to keep the deer resistant plants to the front, and the more tasty morsels to the back/middle. Spray the non-resistant plants with deer repellents religiously - you'll have to experiment a bit to see what works for you.

For me, the plants the deer don't eat mostly have fairly aromatic foliage. The list includes Monarda, Salvia, Russian Sage, Yarrow, Japanese anemone, various ferns, Veronicas, Nepeta, Agastache, Coreopsis, etc.

Suja

Reply to
Suja

The spring before last I planted a cherry tree in an area "frequented" by my dog on a daily basis. They ate it down to the stem with my dog barking into their ear 5 feet away at the window.

Just like with nearly all wildlife, the only thing that motivates them to leave is a direct fear of mortality...if a dog hasn't killed, chased or injured any of them in their lifetimes, then it is not a threat.

Dan

Reply to
dstvns

Ingrid, Borzois are the second-largest breed of dogs in existence. Elf, who is a VERY large Borzoi, stands 36" at the shoulder. Pippin is 'only' 32" . . . big isn't a problem. ;>

Chris Owens

Reply to
Chris Owens

discouraging the deer from enjoying my garden other than a 6 foot electric fence.>>

I'm a big fan of the electric fence, but a bit lower than 3 foot seems to work best. A single strand of wire at nose height works very well. I don't think they can see that single thin wire, but they very quickly seem to learn that grazing in your garden is a most shocking experience. Works for me. If you made it 6 foot high and very obvious, they might try to jump over it.

Dave

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Reply to
DavesVideo

Kim, be careful with this, your neighbors might not be all that enchanted.

Chris Owens

Reply to
Chris Owens

I had to resort to a 10 foot fence around my veggie garden to keep the deer out. I'm also counting on some hunters to help this fall. Sue in Mi. Zone 5 (with TONS of deer.)

Reply to
SAS567

Here in Pennsylvania, an electric fence will work in area new to deer. However if you put an electric fence around an area the deer are accustomed to using, they will either nock it down or jump over it. I know a number of people who tried electric fences and they all gave up.

Reply to
Stephen M. Henning

Deer are no idiots. They know that a dog yapping in a window is not a threat. They learn to differentiate valid threats from invalid threats. Unfortunately, that doggie in the window is not a valid threat.

Reply to
Stephen M. Henning

"Remembering to turn on the scarecrow," I pictured a robot that goose-steps around the garden reciting in a robotic voice the poems of Robert Service.

-paghat the ratgirl

Reply to
paghat

Wolf -scent- would be much more effective; puts the primal fear of death in them.

Back when people still trapped wolves, it was possible to buy wolf scent; I don't know if it available anymore.

J. Del Col

Reply to
J. Del Col

I just found a source of wolf scent Nine dollars gets you a pint of wolf urine. If anything is going to rattle Bambi, wolf urine ought to do it.

J. Del Col

Reply to
J. Del Col

Pippin is very intelligent. She learns most things on one trial. Elf, unfortunately, was abused as a puppy and has a neurological problem. He's very loveable, but mentally swift would NEVER describe him. Other Borzois I known / owned were also typically quite bright; they look like incredible goofs because of the 'Borzoi grin' . . . their jaw shape makes them look like they're always smiling. The 'smart' is a sighthound [which includes Afghans and Whippets] trait; these are dogs that were bred to find and run down game. They typically hunted with people on horses. And, for some reason we don't know, were also allowed into the family tents -- all sighthounds are descended from desert-bred salukis and greyhounds -- so, they had to be able to distinguish clearly between 'prey' and 'horse' and 'kid'. They are enormously gentle and trustworthy with children; I've seen a barely-able-to-walk toddler drag Pippin around by the ear, with nary a complaint. And, my youngest nephew used to use the Whippets' ears as pacifiers, to their mutual delight.

Of course, there are some downsides to the breeds: They HAVE to be able to run; if you don't have somewhere that they can belt flat-out, they aren't going to be happy. They do better in packs; they come to people for affection, but want to play with each other, so it's better to own more than one. They are STUBBORN. They are sneak-thieves. And, they're very expensive . . . the vet and food bills are HUGE.

And, yes, the extended family also views them as bright.

Chris Owens

Reply to
Chris Owens

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can't agree with you on the assessment, Steve. I'm going on the second year with a fine, two strand aluminum wire electric fence around my yard (top wire 3 1/2', bottom 1 1/2') and have nothing but praises for the results. For the first 3-4 month I had to make a weekly tour around my yard to check and mend occasional breaks. I've only had to do that monthly this past summer, and often the breaks were caused by a neighbor's dog chasing the deer when they invaded her territory. I had to contend with an invasion of deer this past spring when the lilies and tulips were blooming. They found that I didn't have an electric wire across the front. I remedied that with a single strand across their access area and took care of the problem.

Deer don't expend more energy than necessary. They won't jump over a fence when they can crawl through. If they can't see or sense a fence and get unexpectedly shocked, they learn to avoid the shock area. Those who tried the electric fence weren't persistent enough. A low electric fence really works... :-)

John

Reply to
B & J

I think you can both be right. Deer are clever & will take out your fence if that's where the choice food items are & they can't be found elsewhere, & really can jump amazingly high if the reward for doing so is sufficient. But they'll also follow the path of least resistance if there's plenty to eat everywhere.

-paghat the ratgirl

Reply to
paghat

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