Garden

[JustJazzmom]

On 4/24/2014 kwish said:

Well, so far so good with the Irish Spring shavings around the garden. I have seen the deer in the back yard and they are not even approaching my daughter's cabbage plant! My hostas are peeking out now, so I will put some shavings around there, but they already chewed the 80+ tulips I planted! GRRRRR.... Maybe next year I can catch them early enough for the tulips.

I will also try the flowers/bushes that everyone is suggesting. I had tried the cayenne pepper last year. It worked pretty good on the squirrels and rabbits but didn't seem to deter the deer at all.

You may want to plant daffodils in with the tulips! Daffodils are bitter tasting to deer & squirrels.

[mdow]

I've had a terrible deer problem as well. Even some of the "deer resistant" plants seem to get eaten.

I finally decided to try a product called Liquid Fence. I bought it at Home Depot. The smell is absolutely horrible, but if you can get past the stink when you spray it, you will be happy. I have had NO DEER eating my plants since I started using it!

[JustJazzmom]

On 4/25/2014 mdow said:

I've had a terrible deer problem as well. Even some of the "deer resistant" plants seem to get eaten.

I finally decided to try a product called Liquid Fence. I bought it at Home Depot. The smell is absolutely horrible, but if you can get past the stink when you spray it, you will be happy. I have had NO DEER eating my plants since I started using it!

I believe this product contains sulfur-- the same stuff that rotten eggs start spewing. One disadvantage to this is that it needs to be reapplied after a heavy rainfall as it can wash away with water.

[qvcaddition]

When I was a Docent at a garden, the Master Gardner told me Lavender plants. She also said the Lavender plants put next to Roses, would keep them disease free.

[aggravated]

I just saw an advertisement on TV for a new Ortho product which is a spray deer repellant. Available at Lowe's, Home Depot, etc. We have this issue at our house to. We live near Wolf Trap Farm Park (federal park for the arts) with a huge wooded area surrounding it. They are everywhere all the time and, obviously, hungry all the time too. We have to chase them out of the yard before I can pull my car out to head to the office.

[JeanLouiseFinch]

Are you looking for just green shrub type plants or flowering shrubs? Last summer we tore down our deck and put in a paver patio instead. This year will be the next step in the backyard project - edging the flower beds and perimeter of the the patio, minus openings on each side to walk through. I've cleaned out one Lowe's of all their Winter Gem Boxwoods, and took about half of the supply at another Lowe's. We've got a big job cut out for us, but it should look nice when it's all done. Anyway, boxwood shrubs are deer resistant.

[Annabellethecat66]

Bonnie about the feral cats! I woke up this morning to the sound of two cats outside of my bedroom window fighting like crazy! Ha!

I recently got two cats (brother and sister) 5 years old, and I thought, "OMG they are fighting". I jumped up and ran through the house looking for them. They were stretched out in the sunlight looking like, "OK, this woman is crazy".

The boy cat is very protective of his sister. He won't even eat her food. So I thought, "The honeymoon is over".

Anyway, that is a sound that's terrible. About the deer. I thought for sure they'd killed the bushes that are up against my house. They ate everything down to the dirt!

The bushes are coming back but it is just a matter of time before they get to them. I looked out my back window the other day and say (I lost count) I think it was 5 or more babies with their Mom just strolling across the lawn. There are so many of them.

They are everywhere! I live on 1 acre lots but I back up to a small strip (maybe 1/2 mile wide and very long) of woods.

They ate all of my lillies, you name it. I keep lights on all around the outside of the house all night. They don't care. They walk right up to the front porch and eat and eat!

I keep saying, "GOD made them too". However, I sure wish I could find something they didn't eat.

[kwish]

On 4/25/2014 JustJazzmom said:

On 4/25/2014 mdow said:

I've had a terrible deer problem as well. Even some of the "deer resistant" plants seem to get eaten.

I finally decided to try a product called Liquid Fence. I bought it at Home Depot. The smell is absolutely horrible, but if you can get past the stink when you spray it, you will be happy. I have had NO DEER eating my plants since I started using it!

I believe this product contains sulfur-- the same stuff that rotten eggs start spewing. One disadvantage to this is that it needs to be reapplied after a heavy rainfall as it can wash away with water.

Does the smell drift into the house at all? All of the garden beds are right up against the house, if it smells that bad I don't want the house to get stinky.

[kwish]

On 4/25/2014 JeanLouiseFinch said:

Are you looking for just green shrub type plants or flowering shrubs? Last summer we tore down our deck and put in a paver patio instead. This year will be the next step in the backyard project - edging the flower beds and perimeter of the the patio, minus openings on each side to walk through. I've cleaned out one Lowe's of all their Winter Gem Boxwoods, and took about half of the supply at another Lowe's. We've got a big job cut out for us, but it should look nice when it's all done. Anyway, boxwood shrubs are deer resistant.

Hi, thanks for the suggestion. I was looking for flowers for one area, but maybe if I plant those bushes along the tree line in the back it might deter them a bit from even coming into the yard. We would need a lot to span across the property though. I will look them up and see how big they get. Thanks again!!!

[skuggles]

On 4/29/2014 kwish said:

On 4/25/2014 JustJazzmom said:

On 4/25/2014 mdow said:

I've had a terrible deer problem as well. Even some of the "deer resistant" plants seem to get eaten.

I finally decided to try a product called Liquid Fence. I bought it at Home Depot. The smell is absolutely horrible, but if you can get past the stink when you spray it, you will be happy. I have had NO DEER eating my plants since I started using it!

I believe this product contains sulfur-- the same stuff that rotten eggs start spewing. One disadvantage to this is that it needs to be reapplied after a heavy rainfall as it can wash away with water.

Does the smell drift into the house at all? All of the garden beds are right up against the house, if it smells that bad I don't want the house to get stinky.

If its against the house and your windows are open ... no don't do it. This stuff makes you gag. As a matter of fact, after spraying you'll be smelling this for a while, even after you're done. HTH