Y’all told me and I finally listened.
And shit, you were all right.
This Plantskydd stuff works (fingers crossed that it will continue).
The deer have been hovering and yet they haven’t touched a thing since I starting use this a week ago.
The best part? I didn’t have to re-apply after the rain. And we’ve had a lot of rain this past week.
The leaves were sprayed (and yes, I didn’t fear the temporary coloration of the leaves. I read labels) and that was it.
My precious peonies haven’t been touched.
The Baptisia has been ignored.
The Sambucus, which has never grown more than a few inches before being chewed down, actually bloomed some.
Ninebark ‘Amber Jubilee’ foliage continues to grow without interruption.
My dear Filipendula are thriving. And I’m crying tears of joy.
But I’m most excited about my Thalictrum. It has never survived to full bloom and it appears we are finally on our way.
Thank you readers and commenters.
Once again you’ve proven that you’re way smarter and more aware than me.
More to come with this.
this is excellent news, happy to hear of successful beast deterrent for your plants and garden!
what forms of PLANTSKYDD did you use—just the spray or did you apply granules on the ground as well?
did you end up spraying everything as a general repellent or focused only on plants that were targeted before?
thanks.
really enjoy the ONG blog—both the currents posts as well as catching up through the archive.
For now Allen, I just used the spray. If it continues to work I’ll try the granules as well. It was a focused spray, ignoring the plants that are generally ignored by the deer and rabbits (I just jinxed myself of course). Thanks for finding your way here!
cool—thanks john!
There are several repellants that work. You have to keep an eye out though, because deer, rabbits will often become comfortable/acclimated with the scent and you might need to change it up. When that becomes necessary, I use good ole Irish spring soap. Must use the original. It is stinky and the deer hate it.Sometimes I put half a bar under each shrub and shavings or part of the bar along garden beds. I garden on seven acres surrounded by oak and hickory forest, and parkland so wildlife is abundant. I have dozens of hydrangea varieties, daylily varieties among other deer favorites and if I keep changing it up they have left all alone, especially newly emerging hosta. They still bed down close to the garden house where there are 6 hydrangea, and the blooms are coming along nicely. Good luck.
Great info Charisse, thank you! I actually have some Irish Spring in my house ready to go whenever the moment calls for it. Best of luck with your deer prevention going forward!
The Amazon reviews of this product report a terrible stench which users said was disgusting. I’ve been tempted to try it, but live in a village with neighbors in close proximity. I have tried the granula product, but found it ineffective once plants grow and it certainly didn’t prote t the day lily buds. BTW, Irish Spring soap was useless in my garden. Milorganite seems to have worked in some areas, but I today I found a hosta heavily chewed despite Liquid Fence spray.
I’m fortunate in that I have no nearby neighbors and virtually no sense of smell. My family, on the other hand, may not be happy with the new smell. Ha. I’ll have to research the Milorganite some more. Will need it all in my arsenal.
How about trying electric fencing?
I have wild boar, deer and hare to contend with and this really works. Skinny, metre-high metal posts with clips to run the wire through at two levels – the lower one at 30 centimetres off the ground and the top one roughly 60 centimetres from the ground.
It really is almost invisible and you set the clocks to night-time so that pets aren’t affected – nor you, of course!
Dora – do you have a particular brand you use? I like the idea a lot.
Cool.
So far so good. We’ll see.
John, we’ve had a fair amount of success with Bobbex and the smell is not as offensive as Liquid Fence. We’ve never tried Plantskydd. However, we have black tail deer that aren’t as tall as white tails but are just as aggressive in eating plants. The plants that you named, peonies, baptisia and elderberries have, so far, not been touched by deer in our garden. And, yes, I realize that I just jinxed myself. I’m enjoying your recent book and promise to post a review when I finish. Keep up the fight.
You beat me to the jinx Linda. Ha. I don’t know Bobbex but will now have to check it out. Thanks for reading the book!
I use plain old garlic powder and Milorganite a lot. I’ve never had trouble sprinkling it on leaves or plants. Cheap alternatives for scent deterrents.
For the Annabelle hydrangea and fillipendula I drape them with bird netting. We have a solar powered electric fence around our vegetable garden which has worked very well.
I’ve thought about using bird netting Beth. Worked well so far?
A pleasant smelling deer repellent is LaTorre’s Deer Out. I use their Rabbit Out and it does work. It is suppose to last for about 3 months. You can find it at http://www.deerout.com or Google it. Ortho also has a new one I think it is called Deer Be Gone, another good smelling one. The Rabbit Be Gone also works.
I’ll check them out Kay. I’m starting to get push back from the family on some of the smells, ha.
Oh I HATE that stuff! It stains the plants and can over fertilize too.
If I can be so bold, let me tell you what’s worked BETTER for me.
First off, I garden in zone 7 on LI. And we are literally overrun with deer here. It’s nuts. Nothing is safe. Forget the Rutgers list. Our deer haven’t read it & love to eat everything.
I also have no deer fencing but still have a very lush garden that I’ve been planting & tending for nearly 10 years. The various beds & borders & foundation plantings take up about half of our 2/3 acre
If you’re dedicated (obsessed) this WILL work for you. It’s actually simple. But you have to be consistent.
Ok. Here goes.
Buy a generous & varied selection of deer repellent liquid concentrates. Get yourself a 3 gallon pump sprayer. Every few days, spray all your plants. Rotate through the products. Blend the products. Keep em guessing.
I use:
Liquid Fence
Deer Pharm
I Must Garden (both versions, Mint & Spice)
Deer Stopper
Deer Out
Repels All
Repel Plus
Bobbex
Natures Mace
Deer Off
Deer B Gon
Everguard
Some of them are super stinky. Some of them are not.
Easy rule of thumb is 1 c concentrate to 1 gallon water.
The great thing is every once in a while you can add foliar feeding products into the mix. I love the spray n grow stuff.
Or when needed, you can add antifungal to the blend
Or as needed, insect control to the blend.
The keys are to vary the deer repellent or blend of repellents you spray, start early in the season, and start out every other day. As the season progresses you can lengthen the time between spraying. The deer learn to stay away and the products build up in the plants.
I would def not recommend this for the vegetable garden. It’s makes things taste bad.
Also — You might be fine with less frequency all together. Depends on the deer pressure in your area.
Really, this works. In fact, its the only thing that really works.
Happy gardening!
Deer Be Gone
This is awesome info! Thank you so much. I’m ready to try everything so I’ve got this written down for future use.