Thiram is a fungicide that is a proven deer repellant and easily sprayed.

50% raw egg and 50% water, mix well in a blender, apply with a spray bottle and after rain.

No mix will deer proof a plant. It is all about perceived risk verses reward of that plant compared to what else is available. The best you can hope for from a mix is a deer deterrent. There are lots of other things you can do, but nothing beats an invisible fence and an outdoor dog for keeping deer away.

F&F.
A properly constructed TALL exclusion fence beats the invisible fence and dog, hands-down. But, it's more expensive and labor-intensive to erect and maintain. Just sayin'...

@nontypical I'm looking at doing LOTS of trees -- As in load up the backpack sprayer over and over. That's too many eggs.

(Approximately 15,000 trees includeing 200 fruit trees.)

@others:

Yes, for me the best system would be a fence. But I would be protecting 10 acres of trees.

But I want a system that even if it doesn't work as reliably is a lot cheaper and easier to implement. That I can give a recipe to customers who are protecting a 100 foot row of new poplars.

But more to the point I'm trying to find easy sytems

Lucky_P,

Reasonable point and it doesn't need to be tall. I live in the suburbs and in this area folks want to avoid exclusion fences. I have a pine farm where I do most of my planting actually for wildlife. In a suburban environment, an invisible fence with a dog is less intrusive and does the trick. There are always neighbors nearby with easier pickings than dealing with a dog.

In rural areas, exclusion is generally more acceptable. The most cost efficient exclusion I've found is a Gallagher style e-fence. Deer have the physical ability to easily jump over them but they don't. The 3 dimensional design plays on a deer's physiology. Deer will always try to crawl through an E-fence before trying to jump over it. The inner and outer fences are spaced so a deer can't climb through without getting zapped. Baiting the outer fence with an attractant like peanut butter also works as a training device. The outer fence is a single strand of turbo tape which is twisted to flutter in the wind and be very visible as a visual cue to associate with the bad experience of being zapped. While deer can easily jump over even an 8+ foot fence, they don't jump the low Gallagher style fence. The inner fence is constructed of turbo wire. They can see this but not well. They don't judge that distance well. I know when what is inside the fence is very attractive and there is not much outside to eat, some folks need a third wire on the inner fence with a little more height to make it completely effective, but in most cases this is not necessary.

While deer will jump an 8' chain link fence in a heartbeat, they generally will not jump even a 5' solid fence. This is generally because they can't see what is on the other side and they don't want to jump when they can't identify a safe landing zone.

That is my experience for what it is worth.

For mule deer (which is what we have), a combo of a low fence (4') and a dog worked quite well. At least until the dog got to 11+ years old where he could not run.

My theory is that the deer knew that there was a big dog around here that chased them, and they did not want to be inside a fenced area with the dog danger present. It never seemed to occur to them that the fence kept the dog away from them.

Sherwood, You don't have to saturate the plants with the egg and water. You only have to give them a very fine mist. I just did about 75 semi-mature blueberry plants and about a dozen other apple trees and such, on a fairly windy day, and used just a little more than a quart of this mixture.

The Thiram suggested by swamp is probably the most bonafide of the repellents. Another common suggestion is the use of sulfur (where the eggs get their mojo). It is used in some (don't know if many) commercial deer repellents and being a fungicide/miticide etc could pull double duty for trees. They say it triggers a response in deer that makes them think carnage / death etc.
How on Earth they know this is beyond me, but I can believe that it would have some positive repellent effect, simply because it is such a foreign odor and a persistent one at that. The real question is how well any of these things work and more importantly (perhaps) for how long.

Here is the ingredients in deer and rabbit liquid fence.

"Liquid Fence brand produces some of the best-selling and most effective animal repellent products on the market. The Liquid Fence Deer and Rabbit Repellent RTU is America's #1 selling deer and rabbit repellent and provides a ready-to-use, environmentally-safe, biodegradable solution that provides long lasting control of deer and rabbit problems. Deer and Rabbit Repellent RTU Gallon can be safely used on edible crops and around gardens, flowers, people and pets with no harm to wildlife or vegetation. Long lasting and rain resistant. Just spray the product and watch nuisance animal problems go away. Prevents deer and rabbits from eating flowers, shrubs, vegetable plants, trees and vines. Backed by the Liquid Fence 100% satisfaction guarantee. Recommended by the National Home Gardening Club.

Active Ingredient: contains: PUTRESCENT EGG SOLIDS, GARLIC POWDER, SODIUM LAURYL SULFATE, XANTHAN GUM, POTASSIUM SORBATE, WATER
Target pests: Deer and Rabbits
For use in: Outdoor use only.
Pet safe: Yes.
Yield: Treats approx. 2,000 square feet.
Manufactured By: Liquid Fence (UPC: 651124001093)

Product Documents
Liquid Fence Deer Rabbit Repellent RTU 109 - Gallon MSDS

Liquid Fence brand produces some of the best-selling and most effective animal repellent products on the market. The Liquid Fence Deer and Rabbit Repellent RTU is America's #1 selling deer and rabbit repellent and provides a ready-to-use, environmentally-safe, biodegradable solution that provides long lasting control of deer and rabbit problems. Deer and Rabbit Repellent RTU Gallon size can be safely used on edible crops and around gardens, flowers, people and pets with no harm to wildlife or vegetation. Long lasting and rain resistant. Just spray the product and watch nuisance animal problems go away. Prevents deer and rabbits from eating flowers, shrubs, vegetable plants, trees and vines. Backed by the Liquid Fence 100% satisfaction guarantee. Recommended by the National Home Gardening Club.

How to use: Apply Liquid Fence Deer and Rabbit RTU liberally to plants and their perimeter during a dry period. Repeat process 1 week later and then approximately once per month thereafter. Areas where feeding pressure from deer and rabbits is intense, spray Liquid Fence Deer & Rabbit Repellent once a week for 3 weeks and then approximately once per month thereafter."

I bought some from Home Depot and it works well for me. I may try to make my own batch to test it out this spring. In addition, Jerry Lehman showed me an easy way to get of deer by placing a laundry bounce strip on the lower branch of your fruit tree, Deer hates the smell of it.

Tony

This post was edited by tonytran on Sun, Nov 23, 14 at 9:30

I used Scoot this year(very much diluted)and so far so good.I tried Vamoose last year(more organic)but was not very happy with it as I had both deer and mice damage.