Deer Problems and Solutions

Deer Repellants:
Chew-Not
Ropel®
Shake-Away

Electric Deer Fence:
Evergreen Protection against Deer (whitetail and others)
Flower Garden Protection
Fruit Tree Protection

Netting and BarrierFence:
Deer-X™ Netting
Deer Block Netting
Vegetable Garden Protection

Water Sprayers:
Scarecrow
Havahart Water Sprayers
Critter Sentry™

Electronic & Ultrasonic Repellents:
Deerchaser™
Yard Gard

Doing Business with Us:
Shipping
International Shipments
Returns
Privacy & Security
Contact Us

Flower Gardens
Vegetable Gardens
Fruit Trees
Evergreen Plantings
Winter Problems

Deer and Flower Gardens

Of all deer protection tasks, this is the about the easiest. Flower gardens don’t typically occupy much space, so you probably aren’t directing the deer away from a big area, and there’s probably plenty of other summer browse around. In fact you may be successful if you merely apply a deer repellant like Shake-Away™ (powdered coyote urine) or any of various others like Chew-Not or Ro-pel®, or that make plants taste bitter. These latter need to be reapplied every two weeks or so in the growing season, because deer can quickly learn that new untreated shoots don’t taste bitter, and the plants are growing fast.

If your first choice doesn’t do the job, apply a repellant based on different principles, either in the garden or around the edges of your property (see Repellants); install a deer-repelling water sprayer or ultrasonic repellent; get an electric fence; or consider installing a barrier fence.

Deer and Vegetable Gardens

This is harder than protecting flower gardens, because vegetables are a prime food source, and after deer have discovered succulent veggies in your garden they can be very hard to exclude. Indeed, once they have learned the garden's nature, the only sure answer may be a barrier fence. So it’s best to start early, applying defensive measures in the early spring before your plants are up, while the deer are still in the dark about the garden’s contents.

The best and most economical answer if you start early is provided by a child-safe, pet-safe electric fence (to find out more, go the planning pages of www.electric-deer-fence.com and scan the custom-building section dealing with summer gardens).

Especially if you are starting late, are not a deer hunter, and just want to do the best you can, you may also wish to consider the deer-repelling water sprayer, which can provide at least temporary relief from deer attacks. Likewise the ultrasonic repellents can prove very effective keeping the deer in check.

Deer and Fruit Trees

Certain repellents like Shake-Away™ can prove useful here; and netting, perhaps supplemented by a repellent or other measures, is well-suited to protecting fruit trees. Simply apply one of the more economical nets like Deer-X™ or Deer Block to all vegetated areas, from the ground level to above any heights the deer can reach.

Deer and Evergreens

Evergreens are hard to defend because they must be protected year-round–including in winter when deer and others have few food sources and may be starving. Limited success can be had with various sorts of repellents, nets, and water-sprayers. Repellents like Ro-pel® that give a bitter taste to the sprayed plants are suitable. It may also make sense to apply a predator scent like Shake-AwayT.

If you are protecting small clusters of evergreens, you can help the process by netting the plants from the ground up with one of the economical nets like Deer-X™. Another alternative for summer protection of spot plantings is the "Scarecrow,” a motion-detecting water sprayer that works both night and day. For both summer and winter protection the ultrasonic repellents like the DeerchaserT and Yard Gard are very helpful in protecting select small to midsize areas.

Winter Protection of Large Areas

Even with deer hunting to thin the herd, deer are hard to control in winter because their food sources are limited and the deer may be starving. To make matters worse, excluding deer from a large territory is harder than keeping them out of a small one, because it often means interdicting established deer paths and placing customary deer feeding areas off limits. For these reasons, it is very hard to exclude deer (most commonly whitetailed deer but also red deer, black tail deer, and others) from a large area year-round without a robust deer fence. Extensive information about how to deal successfully with this problem is available at our on-line electric deer fence store (www.electric-deer-fence.com) and our low-visibility barrier deer fence website (www.invisible-deer-fence.com).