This is a very old thread. Not sure how I came to it. Perhaps there is another thread on the subject.
Anyway, since it wasn't mentioned, I'll add that Bobbex has been reported to be the most effective deer repellent, 2nd only to a fence in effectiveness. Sue
@sooby pointed me to the study, I think it was U of Connecticut.
Garden centers around here don't seem to have caught on. We order it from Home Depot for free in-store or home delivery depending on how much we are ordering. We have the concentrate for making up 1-2 gallon tanks to use during peak bloom season. We keep a RTU hand pump bottle around for quick touch ups and off-season such as on our few rhododendrons. We also have the pump-top hand spray for the concentrate. I only find it useful for short excursions, it's inefficient.
We plan to catch the beginning of their nibbling, which starts when the first green bud clusters get temptingly high. This helps teach them that "daylilies are not edible".
Some of our earliest daylilies are not very important to us. At the first signs of nibbling we treat any clumps with buds at that stage. Every week I treat more, as more scapes develop. If there are no heavy rains this spray persists long enough to protect them through flowering. Any spray residue still on the buds acts as a taste repellent in addition to smell. With light rains it still seems effective. Heavy rains lead to spraying again.
Our daylilies are concentrated in a 1/2 acre field. Often we find that treating just plants on the perimeter is enough to repel them. If they do enter the field and munch there, I do additional spraying.
Bobbex smells very, very bad! It will linger in the garden awhile but then the odor dissipates to undetectable to our noses but the deer clearly get it! Also it would taste very bad if eaten.
I find that the odor seems to penetrate anything I'm wearing. I wear a hat, mask, gloves, long sleeves, long pants, and socks. I take those off as soon as I come into the laundry room and put them straight in the washer. It does wash out.
This product has been protecting our daylilies for several years with no evidence that the deer are developing a tolerance.
I hope someone finds this useful!
Pat
