My dad swears by human hair and pee. His barber keeps a little hair for him to sprinkle around. My dad also pees around his rose bushes while "tending" to them. It seems a little crude, but he says it works.

The stinky sprays like Liquid Fence only smell for a few hours. Then, the smell disappears unless you have a super sniffer nose like a deer. If you can stand it for that long, they work pretty well. My deer ignored the soap, hair, and a dozen other home remedies for deer.

I like TreeGuard and Milorganite. Lasts months.

I keep them out of specific areas by laying "hardware cloth" fencing just under a light layer of pine needles. They absolutely do not like walking on anything that they might get caught in.

Must be metal mesh, not plastic. Any size mesh from 3" to 6" is good.

I do this around the perimeters. Since we have no grass, I can go outside the actual flowerbed areas.

We truly enjoy watching them come and go. There is plenty for them to eat in the "flood zone" adjacent to us.

I like the idea of the hardware cloth barrier but the plants that were eaten were right at the edge of a border.
They definitely could be reached by a deer standing a foot away from the barrier.
Guess I'll have to come up with a similar solution for my beds and next year leave a wider collar between the edge and the plants.

I'm with spazzycat about the Deer Fence spray. Mothballs look awful and smell worse, but they also help a bit. Earlier this year, I used some Deer Vik, but it must be applied exactly where the deer eat, which can be challenging to anticipate.

dottie, the purslane may be only the beginning, not to be Chicken Little here. I nearly wept when my favorite daylily's buds were completely eaten. Somehow the Deer Fence is managing to save the rest of my garden, though.

How on earth do deer manage to eat rose bushes? I can't get near my bush without getting my hair tangled in briars, but I've seen the deer damage on the tips of branches -- before I sprayed the Deer Fence. Apparently rosebuds are tasty.

Deer are browsers. Some here, some there. It's probably instinctive so they don't destroy their food sources. As for eating roses, they have to deal with all sorts of briars in the forest and woodlands and they manage to eat those leaves on thorny canes in the pitch dark.

As some of you older members know, I've had terrible problems with the deer. Yes, moth balls, hair (dog and human), whiz, and sprays all work for a while. But once they get used to a smell, it doesn't bother them. And when they get hungry enough, they'll eat ANYTHING!

I've put up 7 foot deer fence around the whole ten acres, and they can still get in, when they want to. They can be crafty!

I've learned though, that if you can re-route them in the spring, when they really get into browsing habit and making their food paths, you can route them off your property...for the most part.

Honestly don't think there's any true cure for the deer...other than a rifle! I haven't gone THAT far...yet! LOL!

If you are gardening organically - using moth balls is a no no!

There have been posts in the past where a complete list of the supposed "won't eat" plants was posted and item-by-item disputed. Seems that no matter what the experts say deer will eat whatever they feel like eating.

I'm with Grey - when they get hungry enough, they'll eat ANYTHING!

I'm with Grey - when they get hungry enough, they'll eat ANYTHING!