This town was established around 1850. The area was the second mother lode of the gold rush.

After the gold rush, it was more of a ranching type of community. It is a county ordinance because there are no incorporated towns in the county.

Sounds like you live in my old home town ....

When I grew up there, we didn't have deer problems. Of course, the town was smaller and the surrounding area was not nearly as developed as it is today, so the deer just didn't come to town.

We had four acres with a small orchard, a large vegetable garden and little or no wildlife to cause problems.

Smiles,
Lyn

We have one of those really anti anything good neighbors who, in my opinion, must hate himself and life in general. In a rare conversation with him, my DH mentioned that another neighbor and ourselves had problems with deer last year. This obnoxious guy immediately hid a salt block in the woods close to the property line in hopes, I am sure, that the deer would destroy both our gardens. That does attract the deer without question, so I advise against putting out anything like that!!

No wonder some species eat their young, lol.

Are all of your deer fences electric ones?

Polymerous, I love your name!

No, my deer fences are not electric. The ones out in front of my home are placed with t-posts. No, not attractive, but they are solid and not really intrusive. All I see when I look at those beds are beautiful, healthy plants.

The deer fence at the top of the slope in back of my property is held up by wishful thinking. All of the posts have been braced, but it is an old fence and should be replaced. I think if a deer with a big rack just bumped it, the fence would fall over. However, the deer seem to think it's a real fence and seem to give it plenty of room ...

I am just glad we don't have elk in my part of the county. Elk just walk up to a fence and lean on it and walk right through. Bears do the same.

Lyn

Thanks, Leslie.

The bit of deer fencing that we do have is that Benners (?) tall plastic mesh. Electric fencing is not allowed here. (Yes, I looked.)

Like most of those who responded to this post I have a serious deer problem. I have not yet tried human hair (dog hair has no effect), however I have used both Deer Out and Liquid Fence sprays, repellents that are staked in the plants, repellents that are citrus based in net bags, Milorganite, etc. Everything works for a short time. Part of the problem is that the deer adjust quickly and are random browsers. The rest of the problem is rain, of which we've had daily showers lately, making it impossible to protect the plants with sprays. This year all my daylilies were stunning, the first time in many seasons. The night before last a deer decimated most of them, nipping buds and parts of flowers. Yesterday morning I chased one out of a flower bed at 6:00 am; she didn't go far! Fencing is not an option, nor is an electric fence (multiple beds and locations). I would love to find something which is a more permanent solution. I also have a neighbor who feeds the deer apples and corn which doesn't help the situation. I don't mind the deer grazing on the "wild" part of our six acres - if they'd just leave my *&%$ hostas and daylilies alone! Oh, and I've also tried planting natural repellents (sage, thorny ground covers) among the edibles - no luck there either. Another neighbor suggested net socks filled with Downy softener beads, however I'm not sure how that might affect the plants. (Thoughts?)

I use Vicks Vapor Rub, on fence, on post, a few leaves, stick put in the ground near plant. Some people put it on small pieces of felt.
Usually once a month, depending on how much rain fall, holds up pretty well. I usually start after scapes have started

Thanks, kennysh, for that suggestion. Fairly inexpensive to try and I'll let you know how it works here.

Yours sounds like a really bad deer problem Donna. When they get comfortable in an area it can be difficult to change their habits. We had what I consider an annoying deer problem. They'd come in a few times during the season and munch here and there....always the expensive plants, ones I wanted to use hybridizing or sdlgs that needed final evaluations....I bought 2 of these 5+ years ago. No more problem. Just remember to turn it off before you walk by, a cold shot of water to the head first thing in the morning will remind you if you don't!

https://www.orbitonline.com/pr...

That's awesome, Char! Good solution that's not unsightly. How do you have the sprinkler placed in relation to the plants?

I wanted to add to a deer-proofing thread a caution about how to use fabric softeners. I sprayed a solution that was not diluted enough directly on some of the daylily leaves one evening prior to hot, sunny weather. The sprayed foliage died back slowly and I'm still cutting it off. I think I used almost a pint of fabric softener in a gallon sprayer. Next time I use a fabric softener I'll spray a more diluted solution around the perimeter as I usually might. I had a feeling that the foliage wouldn't like what I had done, but it was an experiment that seemed worthwhile, given the risk of hungry deer. Should have done a little test first, but there was a failure to plan...

I like to switch deer deterrent schemes up, and so far it has worked. Improbable odds. I like flash tape/bird scare tape, wind spinners, motion sensor lights, acrylic line strung at different levels, using a variety of things that smell weird. Things that sound weird, look complicated, move, and smell funny. Trouble is, it doesn't sound appealing to humans either, does it? Ultimately, we just need to get the darned deer fencing erected.

Best wishes, Donna! Deer are a tough problem. Just came back from the National convention in Asheville and noticed that Judy Davisson had an open garden prior to the convention. I'm sorry I didn't have time to go early and see it, as that's one of my DL bucket-list activities. In the conference blurb she gave instructions to call ahead in case deer had been active. Daylilies+ subdivision display garden + deer = headaches!

Hembrain said: That's awesome, Char! Good solution that's not unsightly. How do you have the sprinkler placed in relation to the plants?

The front one in the image below is situated on the center edge of a line out/keeper seedling bed facing the display garden. I have it in a large pot filled with dirt to get the motion sensor just above the foliage. They are adjustable water distance/angle and sensor for high to low, so you can set them to your situation. The one out back that guards the sdlg beds is also in a pot and sits on the lawn between the house and sdlgs. I know the paths the deer take after jumping our 5' fence so it makes placing them in the best spot easier. These sprayers also can be set for day/night/always so it can guard while at work or asleep or both. Just remember to turn it off before you walk by it!

, yes, please post if it helps.
Deer can certainly be hard to deal with. .

I do not have a serious deer issue. They come once in a while but the damage is minimal.
My problem is with woodchucks! For three years I had one. For the last year it has been two chuckers!!!! I will recommend Tractor Supply to you all. I purchased a product that deterred woodchucks, squirrels and rabbits. It has to be reapplied weekly, unless it rains. Then you reapply after the rain. The spray lasts about a week and is pretty effective. It has eliminated about 90% of the munching!! Nothing will be a guaranteed 100% effective. That ain't happening.
But Tractor Supply is largely about farm animals, rabbit as a pet care, cats, dogs and controlling the eaters as much as possible.
They have the motion sensors. You point the sprinklers at the plants that you want to save. Not anywhere else!
I use my backyard security light. I have it on some nights, off on others. The pattern is random. Walk outside once in a while after it's dark. Let the neighborhood see you, let the animals see you, be unpredictable! By breaking your routine you just may make those critters go somewhere else to eat.

The last thing you want a doe or a buck to realize is that there is a pattern. Come on, you are smarter then they are! Come on my fellow humans!! Get aggressive, get unpredictable, be spontaneous.

Thanks for the details, Char. That seems user-friendly. And that's the attitude, Bill! Switch things up and reclaim your garden!

Oh yes, keep them deer on their toes, ah hooves or whatever they have!! Keep them confused.

Anybody want 2 woodchucks CHEAP!!!

Thanks for all the suggestions. You're all correct about deer adapting to various solutions. I have wind spinners in the garden beds, bells, and wind chimes. While I love all of those garden decorations, the deer seem unfazed. We have various motion activated lights and we've found the one on the garage just seems to light the driveway for the deer to get to the flower beds. They really are completely unafraid of us. I have not yet tried the Vicks method - too much rain lately, however am about to give that a shot. We have a couple of dry days in the forecast. And no thanks, BigBill, we have woodchucks of our own. They do not seem to bother my garden beds, however, as they stick to the "North Forty".

Starting a few weeks before bloom season, A club gardening friend hangs helium balloons around her garden ( and she ties them about 6' off the ground so as they droop lower over time, they will last longer. This has worked surprisingly well in her city garden. She supplements with PlantSkyd, which seems to be the the most effective overall deterrent. I just thought that was a clever and rather creative solution.

I tried the Vicks Vaporub solution on a few stakes in front of some of my daylilies last evening, though I did not get them put out everywhere. I have five + beds of daylilies; the one I staked is the smallest, near the house, and in which the deer have previously munched. Last night they stayed out of that bed - and cleaned out my biggest one. So maybe this does work. I'll have to place more stakes to be certain but it's promising. I like the helium balloon suggestion but I'd also couple that with another deterrent as I don't think that would be enough to keep them out. I just purchased two solar powered sonic animal repellers from Amazon and will let you know how those work.

I also recommend the Orbit motion sensors
https://www.orbitonline.com/pr...
After some trial and error to get them positioned correctly to guard the entry spots, they have kept the deer out of my garden all season. It takes 6 of them to cover my garden. They are an very sturdy device that doubles as a sprinkler. You can just push a button to run it continuously for 30 minutes as a sprinkler.

I have had great success with liquid PlantSkydd, just follow the directions.