How to Protect Your Roses and Other Plants From Hungry Deer

Deer enjoy tender leaves and buds found in the wild or your garden.

Deer are graceful creatures and peaceful to watch in nature, but there's no peace in discovering they've been nibbling at your roses and other plants. Finding a way to keep deer from dining in your garden often involves trips to the store for expensive commercial devices or products. Safe, nontoxic repellent methods keep deer away without the use of chemicals or items that may cause harm to deer, while helping your garden grow to its fullest. Does this Spark an idea?

Things You'll Need

• Deodorant soap bars
• Knife
• Twine
• Aluminum foil
• Coyote urine
• Commercial taste repellent

Instructions

1. Cut bars of strong-smelling deodorant soap in half, widthwise. Make a small indention with a knife across the center of the top and bottom of the soap bar halves.

2. Tie 2-foot lengths of twine around each soap bar half. Secure the twine around the soap by placing it in the indention you made with the knife. Hang the soap bar halves about 3 feet off the ground.

3. 

   Shiny and crinkly aluminum foil serves as a motion and sound repellent.

   Wrap strips of aluminum foil around low-lying bushes and rose plants. Leave a tail of about 6 inches to reflect and make noise in the wind to scare deer away from your roses and other garden plants.

4. Sprinkle coyote urine around rose plants and the perimeter of your garden. Purchase coyote urine at a nursery. Reapply the urine after you water your plants and garden.

5. Spray a commercial taste repellent on your roses and other plants. Apply more taste repellent every three to four weeks to ensure you're protecting the tender new growth deer enjoy eating.

Tips & Warnings

• Hang or position motion and taste repellents at deer level where the deer are likely to see or taste them.

• Apply taste and odor repellents again after heavy rains or watering.

• Change your repellent methods every month by rotating one or two out and replacing them with alternates. This prevents deer from becoming accustomed to certain repellents, causing them to become less effective.

• Don't apply taste repellents to edible organic flowers you plan to use in recipes.

References

• West Virginia University; Deer Proofing Your Landscape; John Jett; February 2004
• North Carolina State University; Managing Deer in the Landscape and Garden; Tom Robbins
• Northern Gardening; Making Your Landscape More Deer Repellent; Terry L. Yockey
• Pittsburgh Tribune Live; Solutions for Keeping Deer out of Your Garden; Bob Karlovits; April 2009