Odocoileus virginianus – or the white-tailed deer as it is commonly known – will certainly cause people to stop and gaze at its activities. Many will comment on its beauty and grab their cell phone for pictures. Now put that same deer in your garden or manicured landscape, and your opinion may change. For over a decade, I have established my landscape while cohabitating with these guys.
Here are a few lessons I have learned, as well as some cooperative extension research results that may serve you.
Start with planting deer-resistant plants. I planted a few hostas when I first moved to my house. I had a shaded area, and I wanted plants that would have interest. A group of hostas to deer is like the lighted “Hot Doughnuts Now” sign. Bottom line, no more hostas. There are numerous annuals, perennials, shrubs, and trees that are rarely damaged by deer. Rutgers University has an excellent list of plants that are deer resistant. These plants will have a pungent aroma or a bitter taste to the deer. Other features include prickly or rough leaves. Some gardeners have reported success with planting herbs and other pungent aroma plants adjacent to plants that are known to be frequently damaged by deer.
The time of year has an effect on their foraging. Deer need nutrient-rich plants especially when does are pregnant or nursing. These nutrients often come from young and tender leaves and shoots, and they stem in spring and early summer. You may ask, when are your plants putting on new growth? – spring and early summer, especially if you fertilize in the spring with liquid fertilizer. As an aside, plants that are over-fertilized and put out a flush of new growth are an invitation for insects. If you remember just one thing from this column, its that no plant is deer-proof. A starving deer will eat whatever it takes to survive.
Those of us who like certain plants that are on the deer salad bar – such as pansies, azaleas, daylilies, and English ivy – must try to repel deer. No repellent is guaranteed, but certain home remedies are not worth the effort. Using soaps and human hair has little to no success, especially in subdivisions. The deer are accustomed to human scent and smells. For ornamentals, I suggest using readily-available repellent sprays that contain eggs, dried blood, garlic, and fish oils. The repellents must be re-applied every two weeks and after a heavy rain.
Vegetable gardeners also have promising options. Two-barrier fencing testing at the University of Georgia has reduced deer browsing. The outside post has one wire 18 inches off the ground. The inside post is spaced three feet from the outside post and has two strands of wire 10 inches and 24 inches from the ground, respectively. The distance between the posts take advantage of the deer’s lack of depth perception.
The deer are here,; the challenge is keeping them from being too near.
