Toad, Better get some 4 foot tall fencing and form a hoop with about 13 or 14 feet of it, set so the tree is centered in the middle or you are gonna be feeding the deer peach leaves! Real fencing, like the 2 x 4 welded type is very good, albeit a little more expensive than field fencing. I get rolls of used fencing from fencers and just use that, as it is free. Leave the fencing up in fall and winter too, as it prevents the bucks from destroying all your hard earned bark with their antlers! Until you get your fencing up, you can spray after rains and weekly a mix of 1 or 2 tablespoons of fish emulsion in a gallon of water. Add some urine if it makes you happy. Deer do not like human smells, especially on the leaves they eat. And fish emulsion stinks, so they don't care for that either.

When I was a teenager, my mother thought chipmunks were cute. My Aunt next door cut down on the amount of cats & Mom was feeding them (the tree rats). The next thing we knew, there were chipmunks EVERYWHERE. Dozens of them, digging up all the bulbs & everything we planted. Emptying all the bird feeders. Running & playing & most of all multiplying. My Uncles were poisoning, trapping & shooting them until they finally got down to a manageable number. In later years, I had a Sheltie who thought it was her job to be on chipmunk patrol & she took it very seriously & kept them away. My Newf isn't that excited over such a small mouthfull but we have an Eskie who likes organic dog toys (mice & such are organic cat toys). Linda

Why would you think Neem would have any effect on deer? In that dilute a formulation, I doubt it would have much effect on anything.

I agree with Flora--planting like this may do a little bit, but won't completely solve the problem. As she stated, chives are super easy to grow, but they do grow in clumps. It would take a lot to make an actual 'fence'. Garlic chives are also nice, with pretty flowers, though they'll take longer to mature. (they're pretty puny the first year) Both chives can spread if you don't cut the flowers to prevent seeding. Basil you might want to do more research on--I seem to remember that it might be a help to roses in other ways, but as I don't grow roses, didn't pay much attention to that when I read it. Catnip grows easily, but you will attract every cat in the neighborhood to your garden, and it can spread. Catmint doesn't attract the cats as much, but does become a nuisance as far as spreading. Garlic and onions are relatively easy, but may not have much effect, especially in raised beds. I'm a city girl, so don't have much problem with bunnies and deer (do have to worry about rats eating my seedlings). I do remember something I read saying she plants a ring of parsley around some beds--the bunnies just stay on the edges and eat that and leave the inner stuff alone. Aphids will be a problem, and if you want to stick organic, the best way to combat them is your garden hose. A good spray will knock most of them off, and if you keep it up, they're weak little critters and many will die before climbing back up. A spray bottle of a dishsoap solution will help kill eggs organically--make sure you're spraying the bottoms of leaves. Neem may be an option too. Maybe check out the rose forum for other suggestions? The herbs that have been mentioned here are all easy to grow. Most like average soil, well draining (which your raised beds would be). Very little fertilizer is needed for in-ground herbs, if any as long as the soil was amended with compost, etc. They all like to be kept more moist (moist but not sitting in water) unlike some of the Mediterranean arid types--if you look at thyme, oregano, rosemary--you'll have to do more research to learn their water needs. Basil is annual, easy to grow from seed or buy transplants, but you'll plant it each year. Chives are perennial and would come back after winter each year.