Hello everyone, It's getting back to that time to think about gardenning after a cold snowy Canadian Winter. Deer ate nearly all my veggies last year so I am keen to get some good reliable guidance from those who know how ?
Thanks, Ken John.

I used to swear by the old Stinky Soap (aka Irish Spring) method. It actually worked for me for several years...until last year! :_| They pushed those bars aside with their noses and proceeded to chow down on the plants I had allegedly protected.

Resorted to "Deer Off". Was touted as the most effective deer repellent on the market. Again, it worked fine after first application. (The manfr. says you only have to apply it every month or so. Even if it rains during that time.) Well, after the second application, the deer got wise to that method as well.

Barriers don't work for me, my garden is too spread out. Motion detecting-sprayers are too expensive and don't cover a big enough area. Haven't done the human hair bit, or convinced DH to try the human urine deterrent.

Actually, all will work fairly well...THE FIRST TIME.
Just as you have to keep moving that scarecrow in the garden every once in awhile, cause the woodchucks, rabbits, etc. eventually catch wise...you've got to alternate repellents. They'll get used to one deterrent the first time around.

So, make a list of methods (some of the above perhaps) and just alternate them.

Only one other alternative, I can suggest, that I'm adding to my arsenal: Plant as many things the deer won't touch! At the end of last season, I noted anything that managed to survive their grazing, and those are the plants I'm gonna concentrate on doing again this year.

gardenz

What, in your experience, are some of the plants that the deer didn't touch? I know they won't eat daffodils, but what else? I'm expanding my garden this year and cannot afford a fence just yet. I was going to try various different deterrents, but I also like the idea of mixing in plantings of things they don't like. I also like to toss food for the animals far away from where my garden is.

This is just from my own records and consequently only covers those plants that I grew. I'm sure there's others with which I haven't had experience. My veggie garden is pretty high-fenced in, so I don't have any trouble there. It's the flower beds that are in harm's (or deer's) way.

My personal list of plants they AVOIDED are:
-Most herbs that are very fragrant (including artemesia, catmint, lavender, hyssop and others).
-Petunia
-Salvias (all varieties, including perennials)
-Vinca (Flowering plants as well as ground cover)
-Monarda (Bee balm)
-Sanvitalia (dime-sized, sunflower-like flowering ground cover)
-Tithonia
-Ageretum (short and tall varieties)
-Nicotiana (short and tall varieties)
-Cleome
-Melampodium
-Buddleia
-Bleeding Hearts
-Grasses
-Holllyhocks
-Yarrow
-Begonia (oddly, however, just the pink ones. They ate the whites and reds. Go figure!)
-C0ckscomb
-Zinnias

One thing I discovered, you can't depend on literature you come across that list "Deer Proof Plants". Sure, it's a good guideline, but I had deer eat plants last year that not only have they never touched before, but were many of those that were "listed" as not being on deers' menu! X-(

gardenz

The deer don't like plants with leaves that are furry (lamb's ears, dusty miller, wormwood, etc), plants that are toxic (daffodils, digitalis, daisies, etc.), plants with a lot of odor (hyacinths, alliums, many herbs). The University of Wisconsin-Extension has a pamphlet with fairly complete listing. They also warn that if hungry, the deer will eat almost anything. You might check with a university or state extension office in your state.