i thought it was irish spring ...

and i thought it was of questionable good

ken

That concoction sounds great. It also sounds a lot cheaper than the wire fence we thought would have no choice but to erect around our large vegetable garden.

I am going to try that! The deer actually WALK into our raise 15'x4' flower bed to eat the plants I break my back planting every year. They are havoc on the garden soil too! Grrr.

Can't wait to try this!

Irish Spring--or any other soap--just does not work. All you get is clean deer.

I'm not diligent enought to make my own mix so I use a commercial product called Liquid Fence. There are other brands too but this has worked for me. Two treatments a week apart last a couple of months. In fact, it's time to get out and spray my emerging hostas....

The way it was explained to me....Leave Dial soap in it's package, just open one end. Place these around the perimeter of your garden. The other thing that was mentioned is to do this in the late summer-early fall before the rut season. Apparently this worked for a rose grower.

I too garden in deer country and for a number of years ran a small garden consultant business with a specialty in gardening in deer country. If you have deer, learn the enormous palette of plants that range from highly deer resistant to modestly so. And learn about deer habits so you can act in appropriate ways. You cannot spend your entire year spraying plants with repellents, though I too use them judiciously and occasionally.

There are too many deer in NE PA. They will eat just about anything. They eat plants that are on the 'deer resistant lists'. Apparently no one has told them. Fencing is what you need. Bird netting works well on some things.
Pam

It is not possible, for many reasons, for most of us to fully enclose our property with deer-proof fencing. A spray such as Liquid Fence or some other similar brand has worked in my heavily deer-infested area.

And I do indeed apply it at intervals all year long. I lost many evergreens before I discovered this product and I think I learned about it here on GW.

I have been using a product called Deer Away by Havaheart with good results. They will nibble, but when they get a taste of it, they stay clear unless you don't re-apply. Last year we had a very rainy season and with this product, the deers did not touch my hostas until I got lazy and did not apply in August. Before that I sprayed every 3 or 4 weeks. I find it to be reasonably priced too.

I have begun to do what Laceyvail recommends which is to replace certain plants with more deer resistant ones. There are some in the gardens which they do not touch. One example is to replace most hostas with Brunneras.

I will be trying Tammy's concoction. Sounds great!

A friend up the road uses Irish Spring and swears by it, but then again, her Azaleas get chomped on by Bambi all the time .

Pulmonarias also make a good alternative to hostas.

I used Tammy's concoction for years (but with whole eggs) but had too many problems with the egg solids clogging the sprayer. (using just yolks might solve that problem)

I discovered Milorganite and it works perfectly. Around the veggies, I just sprinkle a border all around the edge and the deer won't cross it. For flowers/hostas, I sprinkle lightly over the beds in early spring and again in late fall. It fertilizes as well as deters deer and rabbits.

Carmen, i bought some of that last fall and hung it up around the perimeter of my back yard in stocking pouches. All winter, i only seen two deer pass thru my backyard once. I have seen them in the perimeter, and severe signs in my front yard. After seeing them the one time, I figured it was too good to be true.I put the cayenne pepper on my tulips early and got to see them bloom for the first time in years.now, after thinking about it when I read your post, i am not sure if their staying away from my plants in the back is in part from milorganite or just the cayenne. I do know last yr, the hot mix was the ONLY thing I used with success.
tammy

Milorganite deters rabbits too? I'm not bothered by deer but the rabbits are voracious.

If it repels rabbits, I wonder if it would repel voles? More vermin!
Pam

Since voles are mainly underground, I doubt it would work for those (or moles).

BTW, I think you are better off sprinkling the Mil. around (or in) the garden rather than just hanging bags. Why not let it fertilize while it deters? It is slow release so will last for months.

I started this whole line. Now have another question. What do you all think of weigela wine and roses as a deer resistant plant? I need some replacement plants for what I have had.

grandma_gardener, I have had a variegated Weigela for many years. Propagated it into several others. Never once have deer bothered it. it blooms beautifully every yr.
{{gwi:205547}}
tammy

Is one brand of milorganite any better than others? I see big differences in price. Also, will this fertilize plants in addition to lawns?

Heard marigolds are effective.

Marybeth, Milorganite is the brand. I don't know if there are different formulations or the cost differences are because the bags might be different weights or just different stores.

marybeth, I just buy milorg, I dont check brand name. Shouldnt make a difference. It is also used as a fertilizer. I just dont use it on my veggie plants