Just heartbroken to see how much damage the deer have caused you. I live on an island where we share our home with deer and many other darling creatures. However, I’ve spent countless hours transplanting several Hostas from our front bed to our back bed where they’ve grown beautifully. However, they still visit occasionally jumping over the fence. Just today, I went to Home Depot to buy stakes, netting and a staple gun to wrap our Lime Light tree we just had installed, as the deer have already removed several blooms & buds. I met a wonderful older gentleman that works there and told me about Blood Meal, which I’ve never heard of but brought home and sprinkled around the perimeter of the tree and pray this works. I will be picking up some liquid repellent that you used and give that a try. Around the Hosta plants early in the spring I sprinkle millorganite (sp) around each plant and works great stopping the bunnies that also create havoc. So enjoy viewing your process and progress as the season goes by. Especially enjoy your Holiday episodes as well. Thanks for the education.
We have very tame deer in our neighborhood, and I've decided this summer that I just have to learn to live with them! So far, they have enough to eat outside the fence that they have not jumped inside... hoping to keep it that way!
Milogranite scattered around the garden surely helps. I have some motion sensitive solar lights that seem to help some too. I learned too that they don't like spearmint, peppermint, or rosemary. I tried an experiment the last couple of weeks. I have 3 planters of profusion zinnias, gallardia, and cosmos. They were eating the blooms and buds off all 3. I put a pot of spearmint in front of one and a pot of rosemary in front of another. I left the 3rd without. The 3rd one has no blooms at all. The other two are full of blooms. So... I'm going to plant aromatics throughout the landscape in the future: garlic chives, onions, spearmint, peppermint, basil, oregano etc. They will be lovely and hopefully helpful!!
I agree. Milorganite works better than anything else I've found. It's very inexpensive and easy to apply. The added benefit of Milorganite is that it is also a wonderful fertilizer (non-burning) for all our plants.
I have sage, amazil basil, fennel, creeping thyme, and rosemary scattered throughout my flower bed. The deer still graze the other plants but those aromatics are lovely in their own way.
I back onto Carolinian forest in southwestern Ontario, and for the last 20 years it has been a constant struggle between the chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits, groundhogs and deer. There have been numerous occasions when the deer especially look me in the eye as they devour my gardens. I made the decision a couple of years ago to encourage native species in my borders. This has made quite a difference, as for the first time in about 8 years I had massive blooms on my existing daylilies and hostas! Not sure if the natives aren't palatable so they have passed us by and allowed the other plants to flourish, but it was wonderful! Good luck in your quest!
I spray everything with a mixture of neem oil and hot pepper spray concentrate. The neem oil smells nasty and protects from insect damage. One taste of the pepper spray teaches them a lesson on what not to eat. So far, I’ve had minimal damage (knock on wood) this year. Sometimes, I find leaves that were bit off and spit out. 🔥🌶🦌
So sorry for the damage. I had groundhogs that live under our shed eat 22 sunflowers and all my broccoli. We tried trapping them and the traps would be tripped and all the fruit and veggie bait eaten. So frustrating!
Over 20 years, had yard professionally landscaped twice and deer ate most everything - even crape myrtles and large river birch trees. Last year, had everything pulled out again and used the University list to identify and install ONLY deer-resistant plants. Milorganite also helpful. So far, so good! 👍👍
I'm definitely going to focus on deer-resistant plants from here on out, as I put more things into the front. Thanks for the info! So sorry you had that experience!!!!
I live on a 4 acre farmsite in Minnesota. We have deer and rabbits galore. I switch up sprinkling Milorganite, blood meal, and cayenne pepper around our gardens. This has been working very well and have the added benefit of a little fertilizer being spread around. Good luck!
Rabbits are the major problem in my garden, but early and consistent applications of Milorganite and Liguid Fence (spray and sometimes even the granules) does work. Otherwise they will destroy everything, even shrubs. To keep squirrels out of pots and planters I use wooden skewers from the dollar store. Just push down the skewers into the soil and leave them sticking out an inch or two. If a squirrel does try to dig, the skewers will poke their little hands. It's a great deterrent that's cheap, doesn't smell and won't harm the squirrels.
I mostly have deer resistant plants around but have hydrangeas. I find if I stay up on using fish fertilizer they stay away. I even leave buckets of it with water by the plants they tend to like. The smell goes away but they can smell it
We have mint growing alongside the fence in the back yard where the deer used to come in from the woods and jump over the fence but I believe the mint helps diffusing the deer's sense for food so I haven't seen them for a long time now. Mint is invasive but it's a good kind of invasive where it's spreading alongside the fence and doesn't spread all over our yard when we don't allow it. We don't have a lot of plants like you have so I never had to use a spray, but a friend of mine who lives on a 2 acre property with a lot of plants and trees, said sprays didn't help her, she put in fences around her plants which makes it kinda not pretty to me. We do have problems with rabbits eating Liriope plants in our front yard, I use garlic powder and it seems working... My husband set up a trap to catch them but so far they are too smart to get in the trap.. LOL.. Btw, Jenny, your channel is growing on me, I love watching your videos! :-) Good luck to you, I hope the spray will keep those deer out but I think you might want to look into growing deer-resistant plants, one of them is my favorites: Russian Sage, I have only one in my front yard but I'm planning to grow more of them besides all other plants I already have like Rosemary, Lemon Balm, Basil, Oregano...
I live in a NE suburban city of Atlanta. There’s very little natural area left and our yards are their habitat. I sprayed last year, Deer Away. No success and it was a p.i.a. to re-spray after each rain (rains late afternoon frequently here). We even had a deer walk up onto our front stoop and destroy a planter. This year I only planted deer resistant annuals in the front and it worked. I planted annual lantana, angelonia and vinca. Thankfully my back yard has a 6 ft fence.
I've found that Deer Away didn't work for me, either (previous years), and as you said, it's a pain to reapply so frequently. Deer Stopper II supposedly lasts 30 days - we'll see!
Oh no 🙈!! I would have been in tears. My home is a block from the country club within the city limits but the deer just come across the golf course and visit our gardens. I haven’t had too much damage from deer but I’ve had damage from the rabbits. My parents who live 2 minutes from me had raccoons in their back garden eating from the bird feeders. Wildlife is beautiful and great to see just not in my garden. I really hope the repellent works.
Oh my.. I mainly deal with rabbits as my garden is fenced in my backyard. I'm sorry for your damage! Hopefully people have some creative solutions to help prevent it. I still enjoy seeing the reality of gardening.
Rabbits just ate all my snapdragons, red sky grasses and I'm just glad they didn't take too many blooms off my Jethro Tull Coreopsis. I went one day past the recommended respray of my animal stopper. Hard lesson, even if you're tired and say I'll can do it tomorrow DON'T WAIT push through and just do it. I need to find something that doesn't require a weekly spray. I'm thinking there has to be more than just the 2 rabbits I see laying around in my yard like they're paying the mortgage.
I am in SC, zone 7b. I deal with armadillos. They dig everything up. Constant fight. Don’t want to shoot them. Don’t like guns. Have ordered armadillo scram. Hope it works! Understand your frustration.
One of the most asked question when people call the plant hotline at the extension office is how to keep deer away. Milorganite and liquid fence. My first hand experience.... We have a herd of over forty deer. Several beautiful Buck and beautiful does....lots of twins born this year. They live in harmony with us in our forest. We feed them starting in November and continue throughout the winter to keep them on our property because it is off limits to hunters. This also keeps them away from young plants and fresh hostas in the spring. So how do I have such gorgeous mature plants? Milorgante and liquid fence.....and dogs. It's cute. My dogs will not chase them and the deer respect that. Some people say all the dog smells that have been here for over 20 years keep the deer at bay. Could be. It hurts to lose plants you have worked so hard for. We tend to become so attached to our plants and hard work and it sucks to see the damage deer can cause.....but it is also good to know that plants can be replaced. A few hints.....Never plant pansies. Pansies are a deer magnet. Same with petunias. They might not eat them but the smell calls to them. I swear they can smell a petunia a mile away. When you add a new plant. Spay it with liquid deer fence religiously for the first season. If deer to pass thru, they will taste it and move on. Eventually they will just pass up that plant and you won't have to spray as often. The trick is to make your plants undesirable from the start. Once they know you have a tasty buffet they will return. Keeping deer out from the start is easier than trying to get them to stay away after they have sampled the menu. Milorganite smells awlful and knowing what it is made of is disgusting...but it works and it is an amazing fertilizer. Sorry this is so long. I hope it is helpful to you and your viewers.
Thanks so much for the info. I hate the smell of liquid fence, so I decided to try the Deer Stopper II, since it smells like cinnamon and cloves primarily. Will be sure to update folks here if it works!
@@HarmonyHillsHomeandGarden The odor does fade. And I would rather have pretty plants that smell bad for an hour, than chewed stems and twigs that smell ....well... like chewed stems and twigs. Just sayin". lol
so hear breaking, Im so sorry... I just planted some beautiful deep red lilies this summer and some rabbit found them and ate each and every leaf off both of them in two visits. I did put down some pellet defence down after the first visit but id say 3 days later they came back for the rest. They are nothing but stems now.. I only pray they have enough nutrients in the balb that they will come back next year
I love your green Hostas and am sorry to see them eaten. :( I'm sorry about ALL the damage you discovered. I have problems with Deer and groundhogs. Bought some beautiful red coral bells last Fall on Clearance and the deer ate them down to the ground within a week of planting them - only a couple came back this Spring. The ground hogs eat my Cone flowers. I may start spraying, but for now I've simply moved those flowers to pots and move them around to less ground hog prone areas. I hope your spraying works!
Jenny, bless you for your patience with the deer, living in St. Louis county, Mo, some areas in more suburban parts, have opened gaming. Too many cars being hit by the deer.
Ah man! I’m so sorry about your deer damage. It can be so frustrating! I live in the Sierra Mountains of California near Yosemite and can totally relate. I don’t need to tell you we have a lot of deer here! I do most of my plantings in my 1/4 acre fenced in backyard. They have 1/4 acre of our front property they’re allowed to graze. HOWEVER, I do have pots on my front porch and they’ve never touched those. This year, though, they are so hungry and desperate that they are actually climbing our front steps, with our dog barking from inside the house, onto our 15 foot high porch to eat those. And even though I spent a lot of money of those beautiful plants, I’m not mad. Our deer are so skinny this year - you can see their hip bones and ribs. 😔 Our drought is terrible and we didn’t have any snow pack on the mountains. They have to be pretty dang hungry to venture where they have. Poor babies. Anyhow, sorry for the novel. Thank you so much for another great video! I hope your plants come back even bushier now that they got a good prune. My supertunias sure have! ☺️
PS... I was told by a neighbor a pretty neat and inexpensive trick to keep deer away. Get a mouse trap, set it to snap, and lay it on the ground upside down where you don’t want your deer. When the deer come and set it off, it pops up and scares them, but doesn’t hurt them. After a few instances of getting scared, they won’t come back. 😃 I haven’t tried it, but my neighbor raves about this method!
In one of your videos you had mentioned that you had the deer treatment in your garage and weren't using it. Results of procrastination, I am also great at regrets after procrastination
Oh, Jenny, I so feel your pain! New subscriber here, gardening in z6b. I heard deer will jump a fence only if they can clearly see where they are landing and your lawn in the back is sooo inviting! Have you thought about planting tall shrubs or other plants along the fence to block the view? I noticed you have little privacy in you back yard. I have given up on my front yard and have been moving plants into the fenced back yard after I rabbit-proofed the fence. I was unable to find any reliable long lasting rabbit and deer repellent. You really need to constantly rotate several and reapply often. My biggest problem is ever-increasing rabbit population. Deer come mostly in winter when they ARE hungry.
Hello and welcome! The backyard is an ongoing project (you may want to check out some of the Backyard Renovation videos from earlier this season). Not sure how it's all going to end up. Thanks for visiting, hope you have good luck against the critters in your gardens!
I try to keep repellent spry on mine they love hosta too and so do rabbit . I have wood chucks too they love my field beans do u have rabbits . True !! new homes are moving them around and on the move . Spray spray spray 🌹🌹
We have bunnies, but the damage they do is mostly to spring shoots of various things. They stick to the clover (which is ample in our yard!) otherwise.
Thanks for all your hard work. so far I have been lucky sprinkling milorganite around my hosts. I reapply after a heavy rain. It also helps with rabbits. They don't like the scent and move on. We live in a small bedroom community of Milwaukee so they are not near as prevlivant as your area but non the less they sometimes appear. I just picked up some more today cause I have a fair amount of hostas and I don't want to lose them. I don't even know how I read about the milorganite but its so easy to apply. Just sprinkle and done. Im so glad I found your channel. !!
How very sad! I would have been just sick! I sure hope the deer repellent works. I so enjoy your videos. They show such excitement and enthusiasm for gardening and yet you manage to show the reality and sometime heartbreak that go hand in hand with the successes. I wish we were neighbors. We would have a LOT of fun!
Oh no!! The hydrangea. I have deer issues and a groundhog family munching. All of my autumn joy has been eaten. The first time I said we'll it got Chelsea chop n they didn't eat my hydrangea its only a baby. I haven't sprayed , I've done nothing i consider them my sacrifice plant although I love the blooms especially in fall and winter. They have been back lol and I have a groundhog eating my coleus and red culadium. I've heard Irish spring soap around these plants will deter them I've not tried anyone had success? Fortunately its all in my back yard as I've changed my front beds this year happy for that
It is so hard to see that type of damage. I'm so sorry! You seem to have way more deer than I've ever seen, especially in such a suburban area. I've used Irish Spring. Cut a bar into 2" chunks and put it in an old sock or a piece of fabric. Tie up with a zip tie and put on the plants themselves or on stakes in the garden along the perimeter. You could tie them along your fence, at 3 or 4 feet intervals. A few other tips I heard from others -- buy a plastic owl and put it in your garden. You will have to move it frequently, as the deer get used to seeing it in one place. Also, tie up fishing line from one tree to another. The deer sense the barrier is there and move along to other parts, hopefully not in your yard. I hope the combination of ideas help to solve the problem. Also you could try your local Horticultural Society for tips, as others in your specific area may have additional ideas they have tried that work well.
I use Liquid Fence with good success. I think changing up the repellent from time to time is a good idea. I’m going to try that deer stopper 2 and see how that works.
Looks like we're all dealing with the deer. They decimated my daylilies just after the 4th of July and when the cicadas left the area. (Maryland zone 7) Don't know if there's a connection or not. My husband was so empathetic he bought the water sprinkler motion sensors ($$$) but they're adjusted for nighttime so I don't really know if they're working or not. All the daylilies are mostly gone but I do have lots of hostas and I don't know if the damage is before or after the sprinklers. Next on their menu are the purple flowers that come up from the lirope which they took out last year. I'm keeping my eye on those and will spray to protect them. Having said that, this year we installed irrigation for our lawn and when the deer are out there during the day, I set off the zone where they're standing and they take off. I'm hoping they learn this is not a place to settle in and have a meal. I also spray liquid fence and use cayenne pepper. I certainly feel your pain!! It's demoralizing after you wait all year to see your plants bloom and in one day everything is gone.
Safer brand 5962 waterproof repellent station….pack of 6….I order these from Amazon this year!! Over the years I have tried everything to save my plants…..I no longer plant hostas, the deer have eaten down that they no longer come back, I only plant deer resistant plants!! I have made my own brew I have done Irish spring soap, egg shells in the beds!! I think these repellent stations have worked the best so far!! Thanks for your video!!
I feel your pain about the damaged plants. I do think if you give the deer an inch, they will take a mile. If you cede your south side area to them, you are essentially feeding them, and they think of your yard as food. Like with the fence, you want them to think your yard is a hostile place. I don’t know if a truce is possible. I win some deer battles and lose others, but I cede no territory to them if I can help it. Also the deer eat different plants in different yards. They might eat your shrubs and ignore your neighbors same variety. Good luck!
I don’t think the deer are very hungry; it is the height of summer, and everything (almost) is growing quite profusely. I think deer can become habituated to human presence, and see our gardens as a buffet. They are just opportunistic eaters. A great gardener I know says, “Plant, water, spray deer repellent immediately.” I don’t do that sometimes and suffer plant damage, like to Limelight hydrangeas. I also try to plant deer resistant plants. They don’t like fuzzy texture on leaves or heavily scented plants. My basil is safe. Any roses not so safe.
It is sooo discouraging to go to all that work and expense to have it all eaten ! Here in Canada I use plantskid which seems to work as long as I stay on top of it .
The deer have eaten many leaves off of our apple trees, all of our peaches, morning glories, and hosta leaves. If they are this hungry during the summer months we better be on guard this winter.
I have a major problem with rabbits. Over the years they have destroyed many trees and shrubs. To name a few, apple trees, standard rose bush, burning bush, a weigela, they like to girdle the trunks on the shrubs and trees in the winter. This year we have ground hogs as well, and a deer got hit on the road and ended up in our yard so I know the deer are roaming in the area as well. I live in a heavily farmed community, why don’t they just go and eat the soybeans and corn that surround our house on three sides. Oh I forgot possum, we’ve had several of those also, one of them killed our cat😢. I guess these animals like a smorgasbord, they get tired of eating the same things. Heck our lawn is more than 50% clover, go eat the clover please.💚🙃 I also forgot about the chipmunks and squirrels,they can also make a big mess.💚🙃
I totally agree with you about the clover.. That would look delicious to a deer .. no Plenty of grass and weeds to munch on.. Why have to go for our flowers and shrubs..But I always say grass is their dinner and our flower beds are their ice cream
Oh my, so sorry! We have a couple bunnies, but they mostly eat the clover and leave most of my plants alone (with the exception of my strawberries... they're getting nearly every ripe berry!).
Oh Jenny, that's heartbreaking. *Have you heard if the deer are dining at your neighbors as well? Maybe the neighborhood could spray along their respective property lines so the deer will think the whole area is off limits.* Also, your gardens are brand spanking new so they're relishing in some fresh, tender treats. For now it appears the deer have eaten your flowers and new growth, but they would probably eat a veg garden if given the chance. We don't mind sharing our gardens with all creatures needing it but not to the extent that nothing is left for us to enjoy. Right?! (insert pouting face emoji or Jenny's - I'm po'd now get off my lawn! face : D
hahaha! It's definitely a "first world problem", but yes, so frustrating. deer damage all over the entire 200-house neighborhood, I'm afraid. There's no chance of really escaping them, I just have to be smart.
OH NOES... I spoke too soon!!! Yesterday we saw a big deer in our back yard and another one on the other side of the fence. This morning I was up early, was out in the front porch around 6:30 am and guess what! A big deer was in front of the house across the street.. Looked like he just had a wonderful night out and was about to cross the street to go home... Haha... I started stomping my feet and he ran into the yard next door, crossed their back yard and disappeared into the woods. Then this evening we saw another big deer over the fence in the back yard looking into our yard... My husband started walking towards him and he left, disappeared into the woods... The back yard fence is not our fence, and it's very low, they can just walk over the fence. What I don't get is we didn't see them for the whole summer (or maybe they did show up at night but never showed up during the daylight like they used to) which was hot and dry, but the last few days we got a lot of rain and now they're showing up. These deer that I've seen look big and well fed, they don't look like they're starving but I've read that a mature white tail deer can eat around 10-30 pounds a day so I guess they're always hungry. We have 3 baby Emerald Green arbors that we planted this summer they might eat them soon so we're going to put a fence around those first and we're going to have a higher fence around the whole yard. :(
I think all the deer in the UK were hunted out a few hundred years ago!!!! maybe not quite, but still, not nearly the problem that we have over here. I'm counting my blessings that I have no beetles. We do battle slugs. it's always something, right?
@@HarmonyHillsHomeandGarden I'm so upset I went out today to photograph my lily's even my new lily trees are loaded with lily beetles, I only checked last week. The deer over here are well protected, we do have deer signs on our motorways to be aware of them crossing, they mainly live on the lands of Stately Homes. Loved todays video xx
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Just heartbroken to see how much damage the deer have caused you. I live on an island where we share our home with deer and many other darling creatures. However, I’ve spent countless hours transplanting several Hostas from our front bed to our back bed where they’ve grown beautifully. However, they still visit occasionally jumping over the fence. Just today, I went to Home Depot to buy stakes, netting and a staple gun to wrap our Lime Light tree we just had installed, as the deer have already removed several blooms & buds. I met a wonderful older gentleman that works there and told me about Blood Meal, which I’ve never heard of but brought home and sprinkled around the perimeter of the tree and pray this works. I will be picking up some liquid repellent that you used and give that a try. Around the Hosta plants early in the spring I sprinkle millorganite (sp) around each plant and works great stopping the bunnies that also create havoc. So enjoy viewing your process and progress as the season goes by. Especially enjoy your Holiday episodes as well. Thanks for the education.
We have very tame deer in our neighborhood, and I've decided this summer that I just have to learn to live with them! So far, they have enough to eat outside the fence that they have not jumped inside... hoping to keep it that way!
Milogranite scattered around the garden surely helps. I have some motion sensitive solar lights that seem to help some too. I learned too that they don't like spearmint, peppermint, or rosemary. I tried an experiment the last couple of weeks. I have 3 planters of profusion zinnias, gallardia, and cosmos. They were eating the blooms and buds off all 3. I put a pot of spearmint in front of one and a pot of rosemary in front of another. I left the 3rd without. The 3rd one has no blooms at all. The other two are full of blooms. So... I'm going to plant aromatics throughout the landscape in the future: garlic chives, onions, spearmint, peppermint, basil, oregano etc. They will be lovely and hopefully helpful!!
I've heard mints can be invasive. Plant in a pot
I agree. Milorganite works better than anything else I've found. It's very inexpensive and easy to apply. The added benefit of Milorganite is that it is also a wonderful fertilizer (non-burning) for all our plants.
I have sage, amazil basil, fennel, creeping thyme, and rosemary scattered throughout my flower bed. The deer still graze the other plants but those aromatics are lovely in their own way.
Good to know your experiences, thanks! I'm going to see if this Deer Stopper II works, but if not, I have backup ideas!
I back onto Carolinian forest in southwestern Ontario, and for the last 20 years it has been a constant struggle between the chipmunks, squirrels, rabbits, groundhogs and deer. There have been numerous occasions when the deer especially look me in the eye as they devour my gardens. I made the decision a couple of years ago to encourage native species in my borders. This has made quite a difference, as for the first time in about 8 years I had massive blooms on my existing daylilies and hostas! Not sure if the natives aren't palatable so they have passed us by and allowed the other plants to flourish, but it was wonderful! Good luck in your quest!
That's a smart plan, right there! Native plants! :-). Thanks for visiting.
I spray everything with a mixture of neem oil and hot pepper spray concentrate. The neem oil smells nasty and protects from insect damage. One taste of the pepper spray teaches them a lesson on what not to eat. So far, I’ve had minimal damage (knock on wood) this year. Sometimes, I find leaves that were bit off and spit out. 🔥🌶🦌
Thanks for the suggestions!
So sorry for the damage. I had groundhogs that live under our shed eat 22 sunflowers and all my broccoli. We tried trapping them and the traps would be tripped and all the fruit and veggie bait eaten. So frustrating!
Sorry to hear that, I've seen others with groundhog problems, too. Good luck!
Over 20 years, had yard professionally landscaped twice and deer ate most everything - even crape myrtles and large river birch trees. Last year, had everything pulled out again and used the University list to identify and install ONLY deer-resistant plants. Milorganite also helpful. So far, so good! 👍👍
I'm definitely going to focus on deer-resistant plants from here on out, as I put more things into the front. Thanks for the info! So sorry you had that experience!!!!
I live on a 4 acre farmsite in Minnesota. We have deer and rabbits galore. I switch up sprinkling Milorganite, blood meal, and cayenne pepper around our gardens. This has been working very well and have the added benefit of a little fertilizer being spread around. Good luck!
Thanks for the info! I'm trying the more pleasant-smelling stuff first, as I can't stand the smelly other stuff!!!!!! :-)
@@HarmonyHillsHomeandGarden 🤣
Rabbits are the major problem in my garden, but early and consistent applications of Milorganite and Liguid Fence (spray and sometimes even the granules) does work. Otherwise they will destroy everything, even shrubs. To keep squirrels out of pots and planters I use wooden skewers from the dollar store. Just push down the skewers into the soil and leave them sticking out an inch or two. If a squirrel does try to dig, the skewers will poke their little hands. It's a great deterrent that's cheap, doesn't smell and won't harm the squirrels.
Great ideas!
I mostly have deer resistant plants around but have hydrangeas. I find if I stay up on using fish fertilizer they stay away. I even leave buckets of it with water by the plants they tend to like. The smell goes away but they can smell it
Great tip!
We have mint growing alongside the fence in the back yard where the deer used to come in from the woods and jump over the fence but I believe the mint helps diffusing the deer's sense for food so I haven't seen them for a long time now. Mint is invasive but it's a good kind of invasive where it's spreading alongside the fence and doesn't spread all over our yard when we don't allow it. We don't have a lot of plants like you have so I never had to use a spray, but a friend of mine who lives on a 2 acre property with a lot of plants and trees, said sprays didn't help her, she put in fences around her plants which makes it kinda not pretty to me. We do have problems with rabbits eating Liriope plants in our front yard, I use garlic powder and it seems working... My husband set up a trap to catch them but so far they are too smart to get in the trap.. LOL..
Btw, Jenny, your channel is growing on me, I love watching your videos! :-) Good luck to you, I hope the spray will keep those deer out but I think you might want to look into growing deer-resistant plants, one of them is my favorites: Russian Sage, I have only one in my front yard but I'm planning to grow more of them besides all other plants I already have like Rosemary, Lemon Balm, Basil, Oregano...
Hello and welcome! Thanks for all the suggestions! :-)
I live in a NE suburban city of Atlanta. There’s very little natural area left and our yards are their habitat. I sprayed last year, Deer Away. No success and it was a p.i.a. to re-spray after each rain (rains late afternoon frequently here). We even had a deer walk up onto our front stoop and destroy a planter. This year I only planted deer resistant annuals in the front and it worked. I planted annual lantana, angelonia and vinca. Thankfully my back yard has a 6 ft fence.
I've found that Deer Away didn't work for me, either (previous years), and as you said, it's a pain to reapply so frequently. Deer Stopper II supposedly lasts 30 days - we'll see!
Oh no 🙈!! I would have been in tears. My home is a block from the country club within the city limits but the deer just come across the golf course and visit our gardens. I haven’t had too much damage from deer but I’ve had damage from the rabbits. My parents who live 2 minutes from me had raccoons in their back garden eating from the bird feeders. Wildlife is beautiful and great to see just not in my garden. I really hope the repellent works.
The deer eat my birdseed, along with the squirrels. Sometimes they leave enough for the birds to have a little, haha!
Sorry for your loss. At least the plants should come back next year.
True enough. Definitely a first world problem. :-)
Oh my.. I mainly deal with rabbits as my garden is fenced in my backyard. I'm sorry for your damage! Hopefully people have some creative solutions to help prevent it. I still enjoy seeing the reality of gardening.
Yes, deer are reality, that's for sure. Nothing new, just always frustrating for us all.
Rabbits just ate all my snapdragons, red sky grasses and I'm just glad they didn't take too many blooms off my Jethro Tull Coreopsis. I went one day past the recommended respray of my animal stopper. Hard lesson, even if you're tired and say I'll can do it tomorrow DON'T WAIT push through and just do it. I need to find something that doesn't require a weekly spray. I'm thinking there has to be more than just the 2 rabbits I see laying around in my yard like they're paying the mortgage.
Oh no!!!!! so frustrating!
I am in SC, zone 7b. I deal with armadillos. They dig everything up. Constant fight. Don’t want to shoot them. Don’t like guns. Have ordered armadillo scram. Hope it works! Understand your frustration.
Wow, that's a pest I've not encountered! Didn't realize they lived in SC. Must be super frustrating!!!!! good luck!
One of the most asked question when people call the plant hotline at the extension office is how to keep deer away.
Milorganite and liquid fence.
My first hand experience.... We have a herd of over forty deer. Several beautiful Buck and beautiful does....lots of twins born this year. They live in harmony with us in our forest. We feed them starting in November and continue throughout the winter to keep them on our property because it is off limits to hunters. This also keeps them away from young plants and fresh hostas in the spring. So how do I have such gorgeous mature plants? Milorgante and liquid fence.....and dogs. It's cute. My dogs will not chase them and the deer respect that. Some people say all the dog smells that have been here for over 20 years keep the deer at bay. Could be. It hurts to lose plants you have worked so hard for. We tend to become so attached to our plants and hard work and it sucks to see the damage deer can cause.....but it is also good to know that plants can be replaced.
A few hints.....Never plant pansies. Pansies are a deer magnet. Same with petunias. They might not eat them but the smell calls to them. I swear they can smell a petunia a mile away.
When you add a new plant. Spay it with liquid deer fence religiously for the first season. If deer to pass thru, they will taste it and move on. Eventually they will just pass up that plant and you won't have to spray as often.
The trick is to make your plants undesirable from the start. Once they know you have a tasty buffet they will return.
Keeping deer out from the start is easier than trying to get them to stay away after they have sampled the menu.
Milorganite smells awlful and knowing what it is made of is disgusting...but it works and it is an amazing fertilizer.
Sorry this is so long. I hope it is helpful to you and your viewers.
Thanks so much for the info. I hate the smell of liquid fence, so I decided to try the Deer Stopper II, since it smells like cinnamon and cloves primarily. Will be sure to update folks here if it works!
@@HarmonyHillsHomeandGarden The odor does fade. And I would rather have pretty plants that smell bad for an hour, than chewed stems and twigs that smell ....well... like chewed stems and twigs. Just sayin". lol
so hear breaking, Im so sorry... I just planted some beautiful deep red lilies this summer and some rabbit found them and ate each and every leaf off both of them in two visits. I did put down some pellet defence down after the first visit but id say 3 days later they came back for the rest. They are nothing but stems now.. I only pray they have enough nutrients in the balb that they will come back next year
Dang it! I've had that happen to my lilies, too, and so I don't have any out front anymore. Good luck!
I love your green Hostas and am sorry to see them eaten. :( I'm sorry about ALL the damage you discovered. I have problems with Deer and groundhogs. Bought some beautiful red coral bells last Fall on Clearance and the deer ate them down to the ground within a week of planting them - only a couple came back this Spring. The ground hogs eat my Cone flowers. I may start spraying, but for now I've simply moved those flowers to pots and move them around to less ground hog prone areas. I hope your spraying works!
I don't like the task of spraying either, but I'm resigned to it now. Hope your deer and groundhogs stay away!
Jenny, bless you for your patience with the deer, living in St. Louis county, Mo, some areas in more suburban parts, have opened gaming. Too many cars being hit by the deer.
I think deer populations are a problem nearly every where in in the continental US (and Canada!)
@@HarmonyHillsHomeandGarden Yep I agree. We really need to do something about it.
Ah man! I’m so sorry about your deer damage. It can be so frustrating! I live in the Sierra Mountains of California near Yosemite and can totally relate. I don’t need to tell you we have a lot of deer here! I do most of my plantings in my 1/4 acre fenced in backyard. They have 1/4 acre of our front property they’re allowed to graze. HOWEVER, I do have pots on my front porch and they’ve never touched those. This year, though, they are so hungry and desperate that they are actually climbing our front steps, with our dog barking from inside the house, onto our 15 foot high porch to eat those. And even though I spent a lot of money of those beautiful plants, I’m not mad. Our deer are so skinny this year - you can see their hip bones and ribs. 😔 Our drought is terrible and we didn’t have any snow pack on the mountains. They have to be pretty dang hungry to venture where they have. Poor babies.
Anyhow, sorry for the novel. Thank you so much for another great video! I hope your plants come back even bushier now that they got a good prune. My supertunias sure have! ☺️
PS... I was told by a neighbor a pretty neat and inexpensive trick to keep deer away. Get a mouse trap, set it to snap, and lay it on the ground upside down where you don’t want your deer. When the deer come and set it off, it pops up and scares them, but doesn’t hurt them. After a few instances of getting scared, they won’t come back. 😃 I haven’t tried it, but my neighbor raves about this method!
I feel so bad for all the animals (and humans) dealing with droughts in the west. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
In one of your videos you had mentioned that you had the deer treatment in your garage and weren't using it. Results of procrastination, I am also great at regrets after procrastination
Right? I'm kicking myself. But it is what it is. :-)
So sorry about your plants, especially your hydrangeas…we have deer problems in south Alabama but so far I don’t
Deer seem to be a problem nearly everywhere across the US!
Oh, Jenny, I so feel your pain! New subscriber here, gardening in z6b. I heard deer will jump a fence only if they can clearly see where they are landing and your lawn in the back is sooo inviting! Have you thought about planting tall shrubs or other plants along the fence to block the view? I noticed you have little privacy in you back yard. I have given up on my front yard and have been moving plants into the fenced back yard after I rabbit-proofed the fence. I was unable to find any reliable long lasting rabbit and deer repellent. You really need to constantly rotate several and reapply often. My biggest problem is ever-increasing rabbit population. Deer come mostly in winter when they ARE hungry.
Hello and welcome! The backyard is an ongoing project (you may want to check out some of the Backyard Renovation videos from earlier this season). Not sure how it's all going to end up. Thanks for visiting, hope you have good luck against the critters in your gardens!
Thank you for taking time to reply, Jenny! Watching your back yard makeover videos is on my to do list!
I try to keep repellent spry on mine they love hosta too and so do rabbit . I have wood chucks too they love my field beans do u have rabbits . True !! new homes are moving them around and on the move . Spray spray spray 🌹🌹
We have bunnies, but the damage they do is mostly to spring shoots of various things. They stick to the clover (which is ample in our yard!) otherwise.
Thanks for all your hard work. so far I have been lucky sprinkling milorganite around my hosts. I reapply after a heavy rain. It also helps with rabbits. They don't like the scent and move on. We live in a small bedroom community of Milwaukee so they are not near as prevlivant
as your area but non the less they sometimes appear. I just picked up some more today cause I have a fair amount of hostas and I don't want to lose them. I don't even know how I read about the milorganite but its so easy to apply. Just sprinkle and done. Im so glad I found your channel. !!
Thanks for the suggestion! and welcome!
How very sad! I would have been just sick! I sure hope the deer repellent works. I so enjoy your videos. They show such excitement and enthusiasm for gardening and yet you manage to show the reality and sometime heartbreak that go hand in hand with the successes. I wish we were neighbors. We would have a LOT of fun!
Thank you! I wish so too!
Oh no!! The hydrangea. I have deer issues and a groundhog family munching. All of my autumn joy has been eaten. The first time I said we'll it got Chelsea chop n they didn't eat my hydrangea its only a baby. I haven't sprayed , I've done nothing i consider them my sacrifice plant although I love the blooms especially in fall and winter. They have been back lol and I have a groundhog eating my coleus and red culadium. I've heard Irish spring soap around these plants will deter them I've not tried anyone had success? Fortunately its all in my back yard as I've changed my front beds this year happy for that
I've heard about the soap as well, but not sure if it actually works. Good luck!
Oh my G
So sorry about your plants...
Thanks, not the end of the world, but very frustrating!
I also have deer problems here in Alabama. Milorganite does help. I find that deer don't eat salvia, coneflowers or lantana.. Hope that helps.
Thanks - yes, salvia seems safe, though I've had them eat my coneflowers before. You just never really know!
Sorry for your lost
Thanks. Not the end of the world, but frustrating nonetheless!
Have you ever tried the irish spring bar soap trick to keep critters away? I've seen it work.
I haven't, but I've heard that suggestion before. :-)
It is so hard to see that type of damage. I'm so sorry! You seem to have way more deer than I've ever seen, especially in such a suburban area. I've used Irish Spring. Cut a bar into 2" chunks and put it in an old sock or a piece of fabric. Tie up with a zip tie and put on the plants themselves or on stakes in the garden along the perimeter. You could tie them along your fence, at 3 or 4 feet intervals. A few other tips I heard from others -- buy a plastic owl and put it in your garden. You will have to move it frequently, as the deer get used to seeing it in one place. Also, tie up fishing line from one tree to another. The deer sense the barrier is there and move along to other parts, hopefully not in your yard. I hope the combination of ideas help to solve the problem. Also you could try your local Horticultural Society for tips, as others in your specific area may have additional ideas they have tried that work well.
Thanks for the suggestions!
I use Liquid Fence with good success. I think changing up the repellent from time to time is a good idea. I’m going to try that deer stopper 2 and see how that works.
Let us know!
Looks like we're all dealing with the deer. They decimated my daylilies just after the 4th of July and when the cicadas left the area. (Maryland zone 7) Don't know if there's a connection or not. My husband was so empathetic he bought the water sprinkler motion sensors ($$$) but they're adjusted for nighttime so I don't really know if they're working or not. All the daylilies are mostly gone but I do have lots of hostas and I don't know if the damage is before or after the sprinklers. Next on their menu are the purple flowers that come up from the lirope which they took out last year. I'm keeping my eye on those and will spray to protect them. Having said that, this year we installed irrigation for our lawn and when the deer are out there during the day, I set off the zone where they're standing and they take off. I'm hoping they learn this is not a place to settle in and have a meal. I also spray liquid fence and use cayenne pepper.
I certainly feel your pain!! It's demoralizing after you wait all year to see your plants bloom and in one day everything is gone.
Sounds like you've got an arsenal of ideas in place, so hopefully they'll stay AWAY!!!!!
Heartbreaking! Order from Amazon the Ultrasonic animal repellent. They really work!! I'm in 6b WV and they have saved my garden
Thanks for the tip!
Safer brand 5962 waterproof repellent station….pack of 6….I order these from Amazon this year!! Over the years I have tried everything to save my plants…..I no longer plant hostas, the deer have eaten down that they no longer come back, I only plant deer resistant plants!! I have made my own brew I have done Irish spring soap, egg shells in the beds!! I think these repellent stations have worked the best so far!! Thanks for your video!!
Thanks for the suggestion!
I feel your pain about the damaged plants. I do think if you give the deer an inch, they will take a mile. If you cede your south side area to them, you are essentially feeding them, and they think of your yard as food. Like with the fence, you want them to think your yard is a hostile place. I don’t know if a truce is possible. I win some deer battles and lose others, but I cede no territory to them if I can help it. Also the deer eat different plants in different yards. They might eat your shrubs and ignore your neighbors same variety. Good luck!
It will be my challenge forever!!!!!!
I don’t think the deer are very hungry; it is the height of summer, and everything (almost) is growing quite profusely. I think deer can become habituated to human presence, and see our gardens as a buffet. They are just opportunistic eaters. A great gardener I know says, “Plant, water, spray deer repellent immediately.” I don’t do that sometimes and suffer plant damage, like to Limelight hydrangeas.
I also try to plant deer resistant plants. They don’t like fuzzy texture on leaves or heavily scented plants. My basil is safe. Any roses not so safe.
Could be! Who knows? I need to up my repellant game, that's all I know!
Oh Nooooooo😢😢😢
Right? Darn deer!
It is sooo discouraging to go to all that work and expense to have it all eaten ! Here in Canada I use plantskid which seems to work as long as I stay on top of it .
I've never heard of that one, thanks for the tip.
Thoughts of making a Scarecrow ?
Haven't thought of that! Guessing it won't work, since they're not scared of actual humans all that much!
Dang it 🦌!!
right????
The deer have eaten many leaves off of our apple trees, all of our peaches, morning glories, and hosta leaves. If they are this hungry during the summer months we better be on guard this winter.
Right????
I have a major problem with rabbits. Over the years they have destroyed many trees and shrubs. To name a few, apple trees, standard rose bush, burning bush, a weigela, they like to girdle the trunks on the shrubs and trees in the winter. This year we have ground hogs as well, and a deer got hit on the road and ended up in our yard so I know the deer are roaming in the area as well. I live in a heavily farmed community, why don’t they just go and eat the soybeans and corn that surround our house on three sides. Oh I forgot possum, we’ve had several of those also, one of them killed our cat😢. I guess these animals like a smorgasbord, they get tired of eating the same things. Heck our lawn is more than 50% clover, go eat the clover please.💚🙃 I also forgot about the chipmunks and squirrels,they can also make a big mess.💚🙃
I totally agree with you about the clover.. That would look delicious to a deer .. no Plenty of grass and weeds to munch on.. Why have to go for our flowers and shrubs..But I always say grass is their dinner and our flower beds are their ice cream
Oh my, so sorry! We have a couple bunnies, but they mostly eat the clover and leave most of my plants alone (with the exception of my strawberries... they're getting nearly every ripe berry!).
Oh, no. That’s awful. I would be so pissed off, lol.
Yeah, I was angry for sure! But I have to keep perspective. Definitely a first world problem.
Oh Jenny, that's heartbreaking. *Have you heard if the deer are dining at your neighbors as well? Maybe the neighborhood could spray along their respective property lines so the deer will think the whole area is off limits.* Also, your gardens are brand spanking new so they're relishing in some fresh, tender treats. For now it appears the deer have eaten your flowers and new growth, but they would probably eat a veg garden if given the chance. We don't mind sharing our gardens with all creatures needing it but not to the extent that nothing is left for us to enjoy. Right?! (insert pouting face emoji or Jenny's - I'm po'd now get off my lawn! face : D
hahaha! It's definitely a "first world problem", but yes, so frustrating. deer damage all over the entire 200-house neighborhood, I'm afraid. There's no chance of really escaping them, I just have to be smart.
OH NOES... I spoke too soon!!! Yesterday we saw a big deer in our back yard and another one on the other side of the fence. This morning I was up early, was out in the front porch around 6:30 am and guess what! A big deer was in front of the house across the street.. Looked like he just had a wonderful night out and was about to cross the street to go home... Haha... I started stomping my feet and he ran into the yard next door, crossed their back yard and disappeared into the woods. Then this evening we saw another big deer over the fence in the back yard looking into our yard... My husband started walking towards him and he left, disappeared into the woods... The back yard fence is not our fence, and it's very low, they can just walk over the fence. What I don't get is we didn't see them for the whole summer (or maybe they did show up at night but never showed up during the daylight like they used to) which was hot and dry, but the last few days we got a lot of rain and now they're showing up. These deer that I've seen look big and well fed, they don't look like they're starving but I've read that a mature white tail deer can eat around 10-30 pounds a day so I guess they're always hungry. We have 3 baby Emerald Green arbors that we planted this summer they might eat them soon so we're going to put a fence around those first and we're going to have a higher fence around the whole yard. :(
Oh No!!!!!!! I hope you can protect your plants in one way or another to prevent damage. Good luck!
I found a tuft of my new smokebush eaten away! This is my reminder to go spray again!!!
Darn deer!
I don’t know nothing about Deer 🦌 but I would be crying by now, I have beetles 🪲 eating my roses and slugs 🐌 everything else grrrrrr
I think all the deer in the UK were hunted out a few hundred years ago!!!! maybe not quite, but still, not nearly the problem that we have over here. I'm counting my blessings that I have no beetles. We do battle slugs. it's always something, right?
@@HarmonyHillsHomeandGarden I'm so upset I went out today to photograph my lily's even my new lily trees are loaded with lily beetles, I only checked last week. The deer over here are well protected, we do have deer signs on our motorways to be aware of them crossing, they mainly live on the lands of Stately Homes. Loved todays video xx
When I saw that I shut you off and I ran outside and sprayed the whole yard because they would have smallish ball in my house
Hope they stay away!!!!
You are too cute