Frillylily said:@GaNinFl

I know some people use alfalfa pellets in their garden, or corn gluten products which I would think would attract deer like crazy

I bet it would attract rabbits too. This reminds me of the time my hubby put rock salt on the asparagus patch to keep the weeds down (I don't let him do that any more, takes an eternity for that salt to leave the soil). Well...the deer LOVED the rock salt and ate all the asparagus with their salt.

I am also watching this forum with interest this year. I had never had a problem with deer before but our old Lab had to be put to rest. Last summer our utility light was out a couple of nights and I lost blooms that I was hoping to make crosses with. I was so sad that they chomped on Isabelle Rose!

Bobbex has worked well for me, too. I haved used it mainly on daylilies and hosta. I started using it after deer ate 1/3 of my daylily buds a week before my garden was part of a garden tour. It really seems to work. I haven't had a problem since I started using it three seasons ago.

I have found that fawns are the worst, as nothing seems to deter them. And in an area with heavy deer predation, even daily applications of repellent I have found do not work. Bobbex was actually less effective here than some other repellents. I use a mesh fence with tall bamboo stakes to support it. Not as good as a regular fence, but has been fairly effective.

well I would find it difficult to throw a grenade at a fawn....

I use plastic mesh over my climbing beans that are growing up a fence. I just drape the plastic mesh over the beans. Deer seem to hate it. Before I started using Bobbex, which, luckily, has worked for me, I would use stakes to hold up plastic mesh over my daylily beds to protect the buds. It was time consuming, since I would put the mesh up in the late afternoon and take it down in the morning. I did protect the buds that way, though.

Deer is a four lettered word!

Frilly, I was interested to read that you are using wireless fence posts. I've just discovered those and got them last week. I don't think they'll deter the deer by themselves but I have hopes that they will become a good part of my arsenal.

I have found milorganite and Plantskydd to be effective but they have to be applied often. Miss a few days and you might have damage again. I've made a spray with ingredients similar to Bobbex and found it to be effective but needed respraying every 10 days or so and more often with a hard rain.

In past years the deer have only been after the buds on my daylilies but last year they started eating the foliage as well. They are also eating my DL year round now. Geesh.