Many homeowners are waking up to find most of their flowers eaten to the ground. What in the world is causing this problem? Well if you are in Georgia, the answer is most likely deer! But how does one get the deer to stop having an early morning snack on your lawn?
Here are some great suggestions from Kellogg Garden:
Deter Deer with Odors
“Deer have a very keen sense of smell, so use that as an opportunity to use it to your advantage. One effective way of keeping them away from your garden is through the use of heavily scented products. The most popular deterrents are bars of deodorant soap. Simply take several bars of soap, punch a hole in each one, and use twine to hang the bars of soap from the trees and fencing around your garden. Deer will smell the soap and steer clear of your crops.”
“There are many other deterrents that also rely on odor, and their overall effectiveness can depend on how long it takes the grazers to get used to the new scents. It is not out of the ordinary for these techniques to only be temporarily effective deterrents, so you will have to be vigilant and switch things up every few days to outsmart them. Some of these deterrents include spreading things like mothballs, bloodmeal, decaying fish heads, and garlic around your garden plants.”
“There are also some varieties of organic repellent that you can purchase from your local nursery. Be sure that you are using only a natural variation and make sure that it is safe to use around edible plantings. These repellents also rely on odors to repel deer from eating plants.”
Use a Variety of Methods
Overall, hungry deer are adaptable, resourceful, and relentless, so there is no guarantee that they will avoid your garden entirely with any one method alone. Combine methods and change things up from time to time to catch deer off guard and to most effectively preventing them from decimating your garden. Choose plants that deer don’t favor, put up a fence, use scare tactics, odors, and other deterrents to give yourself the best chance at keeping their grazing on your plants at bay.
And if the deer have destroyed all you have planted, call us at Stone Creek Landscaping to correct the damage that has been done!