Deer are eating my roses - suggestions???
g-in-fl
10 years ago
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sidos_house
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Look what the deer are eating in my garden :(
Comments (4)Deer really do develop different tastes based upon the doe matriarch of the herds. I've had rudbeckia sampled a bit by either deer, rabbits or both. I put up a 32" high wire edging fence around those until they get big. My geranium 'Rozanne' were sampled once when first planted this spring, but just a few blooms. The deer have been going through my garden a lot but haven't taken a second helping of those. What salvia are you growing? Could it be May Night? Rabbits have been reported to be nibbling May Night. I have greggii, ulignosia, rose queen, black and blue...no nibbling at all. I'm thinking that rabbits may be nibbling my caradonna salvia. Euphorbia is really toxic (I thought). This really surprises me. The deer must really be desperate for food in your area. A few little blooms on my perennial ageratum (eupatorium) have been sampled, but it wasn't liked by whatever tried it. I have a big garden out in the open and I don't use any deer repellants. I have an indoor dog (greyhound) who doesn't even bark at the deer. The deer just amble out of the way when we go outside! We have a very large herd of 20+ deer with at least 3 new fawns every year since we've been here. If you look at the lower left, you can see the edging fence around my rudbeckia (not yet in bloom). I'm really sorry that you're having this trouble. It is unfortunately, a lot of trial and error. However, replacing a few plants to keep working through to get something you can safely grow will be (in the long run) a lot less cheaper and less frustrating than paying for expensive deer repellants...over and over again. I tried that at a previous house and for the money spent, I could have planted an entire new garden several times over. I empathize with you. I am determined and it is my goal to have a beautiful garden among (in spite of) deer. Cameron (in North Carolina) and my Deer... Here is a link that might be useful: my gardening blog...See MoreDeer eating my strawberries...how did it get to this point :)
Comments (7)While I love our little herd of deer and find them fascinating to watch, I've never liked them *in* my garden. The can do, and have done, a lot of damage very quickly. However, after years of chasing them out of the garden they are getting bolder and mostly just ignore whatever sounds I make. I'm trying a different strategy this year and have been talking quietly to them and telling them to please only nibble and not eat any plant right down to the ground. Not sure it's working for my plants but I'm not feeling quite so angry with them! LOL :-D I planted my new roses in beds within the dog's yard thinking they wouldn't jump that fence, However after they nibbled them last fall I strung 2 rows of jute twine from fence to fence which keeps them out as it probably looks like several rows of fencing to them. I also flagged them with strips *annointed* with garlic essential oil which they apparently don't like. Wouldn't work in the larger yard tho as the fences are too long. It also looks a little weird so may not be a long-term solution. Just a warning to anyone with dogs. Deer have been known to kick them to death, especially when they have fawns to protect. I don't let my little dog chase them altho she'd love to. Yaps something annoying when she sees them. I'm seriously not buying more plants that the deer like altho I know they'll eat almost anything if hungry enough. We also have marmots which decimated my newly planted pots of hens and chicks and other sedums. This year I'm putting bird cages over the pots. The baby marmots are so cute but my plants were not after they finished them off. I've been gardening with deer for over 20 years so the novelty of their destruction is wearing thin. However I know I really can't beat them so must try to out think them. Unfortunately many of the anti-deer remedies are not attractive or not easy to use. Might use the garlic essential oil on the perimeter fence but it needs refreshing frequently and makes the entire area smell strongly of garlic. I did buy a lot of lavender plants last year which I'll move this spring to various areas of my garden in the hopes the smell will deter them....See MoreDeer eating my fruit trees
Comments (6)A fence is the single best strategy for keeping deer away from anything they have their mind set on munching. A multi-strategy approach to keeping deer away from your trees may improve your chances. For example, using a deer fence as well as a fear based repellent can increase your odds. In situations where fencing is not feasible, LizinElizabeth's suggestion of stringing fishing line is a very good one. In our neck of the woods, we use Deer Repellent Packs as our fear based repellent. Used alone of with other strategies it works very well to help protect fruit trees. You can find them by simply searching for "Deer Repellent Packs". Their website also has an excellent page devoted to deer fencing. Here is a link that might be useful: Deer Repellent...See MorePrevent rabbits & deer & squirrels & voles from eating roses
Comments (40)ALERT: THE SCENT OF ALFALFA ATTRACT ALL ANIMALS, including squirrels, dogs, rabbits and deer. From the web: "Deer love to eat alfalfa hay and will flock to established alfalfa plots. Animals like rats, dogs, bears, and bloodhounds have some of the most incredible noses ... These animals can detect a scent from a considerable distance and have a good sense of taste as well." I saw how squirrels ate my rootings in June, so I chopped up strong scent Italian Basil and put in my air-pots. The scent of Basil stopped the squirrels from eating roses in air-pots. I used invasive mint before to repel deer from my roses in the front. My TALL air-pots never have squirrels jumping in it, until I fertilized them with a STRONGER DOSE of alfalfa, since I'm out of ORGANIC Nature's Care soluble fertilizer. Thank God that the squirrels didn't eat the 10 buds of 4-months old Augusta Luis (bought as band-size from LongAgoRoses), see below: Early June a rooting did great, until I fertilized with alfalfa tea, squirrels are attracted to the scent of alfalfa and ate that rooting 1/2 off. Same with another 2 rose rootings: squirrels jumped into the pot and dug up both, after being fertilized with alfalfa tea. Besides squirrels, ALL ANIMALS are attracted to the smell of alfalfa, including rabbits, deer, and dogs. My 19-year-old daughter wants a pet bunny, and she asked me to get alfalfa to feed her future bunny. One time I poured a bag of alfalfa meal into the planting hole, and a dog broke away from its owner to rush to me. That dog was FAR AWAY (at least 1/4 acre away). I'm amazed that animals can sniff that far. That same evening, that dog which lived 3 houses away, broke loose from its home to my backyard in search of alfalfa. The dog was so attracted to the alfalfa smell that it came back the 2nd time. The owner came to my backyard looking for her dog. Years ago, when Ingrid had a problem with rabbits eating her roses in CA, she mentioned that she fertilized her roses ONLY with alfalfa meal. I wish I had known this earlier to inform Ingrid so she would not have quit roses altogether thanks to rabbits and drought. These pests have sensitive nose, farmers used to dunk corn-cobs in vinegar to repel rabbits. Another suggestion is to soak stinky ammonia in paper towel and put that in pots to repel squirrels and chipmunks....See Morestrawchicago z5
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