10 Ways to Deal with Deer in the Garden

Make sure those pesky deer stay clear of your plants this year with these creative DIY solutions!

 

Ideally, we want to share our spaces with the wildlife around us, but sometimes they can be rather disrespectful garden guests. Deer, in particular, have a nasty habit of ravaging vegetable gardens, nibbling perennials to the ground, and damaging our fruit trees. Fortunately, this is not a new problem for gardeners, and there are many DIY ways to repel, discourage, and ultimately prevent them from harming our valuable plants! Here are a few of our favorite methods:

 

What Kind of Deer Live in Pennsylvania?

The White-Tailed deer is the only type of deer that live in Pennsylvania. They are a native species whose numbers dropped very low in the early 1800s due to unregulated hunting and loss of forest habitat. Since then, game regulations and wildlife protection areas have allowed their numbers to rebound. The lack of natural predators in the landscape, like wolves and bears, has also allowed white-tailed deer populations to expand unchecked. 

 

Why Are There Deer in My Yard?

There are many reasons why deer may be attracted to your yard. Likely, you’re growing plants that they enjoy eating, but the layout of your landscape may also be easily accessible and make them feel safe from predators. To find out for sure, simply observe their daily patterns for a couple of weeks to better understand when, how, and why they come. This information will help you create a tailor-made solution for your property. 

 

DIY Solutions for Repelling Deer in Pennsylvania 

Once you better understand what your uninvited deer guests are eating, how they’re entering and exiting your property, when they’re coming, and how much time they’re spending, you can choose the best DIY repellent methods for your unique situation. Here are a few of our favorites:

• Replace Vulnerable Plants with Deer-Resistant Ones: If the deer are making a feast of your hostas, you can try to repel them. However, it may make more sense to just remove them in favor of a different deer-resistant plant, such as anything that’s fuzzy, prickly, or strongly-scented.

• Plant Deer Repellent-Plants Around Vulnerable Ones: Like us, deer are turned off by unsavory scents. Fortunately, some of the scents that they don’t like are actually quite pleasing to us, like catmint, rosemary, lavender, oregano, thyme, garlic, and chives. Planting these aromatic plants around the border of your vulnerable trees or garden may be all you need to prevent deer from snooping around. 
• Let Your Dog Out in Your Yard: A barking dog is a sure way to drive deer off your landscape, but the dog needs to be in your yard a lot. If you have a dog, try letting him in the yard more often in the late evening or early morning when deer are more likely to be around. Routine encounters with a dog will discourage deer from visiting. 

• Rearrange Your Landscape: Unbeknownst to you, your landscape may be the ideal deer hideaway: secure from predators, cozy, and with ideal entry and exit points. By observing the deer’s patterns and rearranging your landscape accordingly, like by blocking a pathway or making their bedding area uncomfortable, you can interrupt their movements and upset their ideal setting.

• Use Scented Deer Repellent: There are many commercial sprays available that use repelling smells like putrefied eggs, hot sauce, garlic, or mint. Applying these strong-scented sprays on their favorite plants will repel them, but for continued success, you’ll have to apply them repeatedly and consistently. At Primex Garden Center, we carry Deer Off and Repels all, as well as many Plantskydd products year-round.

 

• Scare the Deer Away: A motion-activated sprinkler is one effective way to scare deer from your yard, as the surprise spray is just enough to send them running. You can also set up invisible fishing lines to get in their way, bright, flashy objects, motion-activated noises, or ultrasonic deterrents. You’ll have to rearrange these surprises frequently, though. Otherwise, the deer will get used to them. 

• Cage Vulnerable Plants: Deer are known to chew down young fruit tree saplings. You can prevent this damage by wrapping or caging your trees. 

• Use Deer Netting: If the deer are only attracted to a few select plants in your yard, covering them with deer netting can be a handy solution to protect your plants without the off-putting smells of deer repellent. 

 

• Install a Fence: if the other solutions don’t work and you need to protect a large, valuable space, like a vegetable garden or a fruit orchard, you may have to build a fence. Keep in mind that deer can jump very high, meaning your fence will need to be at least 6-7 feet high. Alternatively, you can also use electric fencing, or install two rows of fences, one shorter and the other taller, so deer can’t clear both of them with a single jump.
• Plant a Hedge: Deer can be unwilling to move beyond a hedge they can’t see through. Although you can’t grow a hedge in a day, they can be an effective long-term solution to keep deer out of your yard if you prefer a living border to a fence. Just remember to keep it tall or wide enough that they can’t jump over it, and use plants that are known to be deer-resistant. 

 

Having a wild deer visit your backyard can be an amazing experience. Their peaceful presence momentarily removes us from our human-centered world and puts us in touch with the other-worldly mysteries of nature. However, if your deer guests are causing more harm than good in your garden, there are many ways we can adapt depending on our needs and the activity of the deer. For more advice on DIY deer repellents, deer-resistant plants, and other products, please visit us at our garden center in Glenside, PA!