And, it looks great at Halloween. lol I'm going to try this! We have lots of deer here as well. Thanks!!

That's amazing. I wonder if it just acts as a high fence that the deers can see. It sure beats building one. What is the string the bags are attached to and what did you use to secure them? How high is the fence? I'm going to try this, although I'm sure my neighbors will roll their eyes and complain. Thanks for a great idea.

The only reliable deer deterrent is a physical barrier. Some things work for a while then fail. The more roses you have the more you are at risk. The house I moved into 30 years ago had two or three mature bushes with no evidence of deer damage. I planted around 200 bushes over 3 years and for the first few years not much of an issue. The third year my yard became a buffet. Nothing stopped them and the yard was not suitable to deer fencing. My OG and climbers that got tall survived, but I lost all my HT and Floribundas. In 2013 I decided to plant some HT and cage them. I am up to 8 and that is enough for me. The deer are welcome to anything sticking out of the cages. I still get plenty of blooms. Deer's appetites change over time and a grouping of agapanthus I had for 25 years suddenly became deer food and the does taught the fawns to eat it.

I am going to try that. Thank you for posting. I will try anything because I am desperate. The herds we have around here are brutal.

When deer are frightened they stick their tails straight up as they exit the area. The underside of the tail is white which acts as a warning flag. Those white trash bags are doing the same thing.

Answering one question, we used nylon cord to string around our sprinkler head posts. I'm not sure the height matters, deer are wary of three things - smell, noise and movement - the plastic bags are constantly moving and make a flapping sound. I tell you this as a serious hunter of 25 years. While I am aware that next year this method may not work (deer are very adaptable), I can assure you that it has worked very well for 2 years now, my roses have leaves, my young crops are not eaten to the ground and this is a simple and inexpensive method to try. Would like to hear from any of you who try it and it has worked.

My deer are urban deer; small groups, no herd. No predators, no fear.

One evening, I was applying mountain lion urine that I purchased at a nursery.

Deer walked right up to me to see what I was doing.

Steve you are the expert on deer! I love your rose pix and I'm glad you found a way to prevent the deer from eating them to the ground.

Steve your deer sound like my deer. I stomped my feet at one eating my plant in front of me. She stomped her feet back at me and turned and continue to eat. I picked up a rock and hit her in the butt. She left but 10 minutes later she came back with a Buck and 5 Doe.

That super stinky spray (I forget the name now) really works. You need to spray it after every rain but it does keep the deer away (and other critters). I will spray my roses and then around them. Funny thing to try--have your hubby, sons or other guys pee around the garden. My BFF's mom had her sons do this and it worked for a good while until the deer got used to it!

The stinky spray is deer off. When I had 200 bushes I tried it, but in the spring time it rained frequently and keeping up with the spraying was time consuming. 25 years later when I tried growing HT, I gave it another try. I tried it on 3 bushes and sprayed very frequently. I got burnt foliage and it didn't stop the deer.

To make my cages, I bought a roll of 48" wire fencing and rolled out a 14 foot length of fencing, cut it so the ends stuck out, made a roll and tied together with the ends. It produced a cage a little over 4 feet in diameter. I also made some cages from a 15-16 foot lengths. For the first cages, I anchored them to the ground with wood stakes, eye screws and shower curtain clips. This proved to be unnecessary. I tried using some drip irrigation 1/2 inch tubing to help the cages maintain their shape, but it wasn't worth trouble. The cages can be lifted off the bushes, but most of the time it isn't necessary. Any thing that sticks out over the top is too tall for my deer and they are welcome to whatever sticks out of the side of the cages.

Before the cages, I tried deer netting. I would grow tomatoes and for many years the deer left them alone, until they didn't. I put 6ft wooden stakes around my tomato area, put eye hooks on the top of each stake, hung the netting with shower hooks and anchored the bottom using stakes, eye hooks and shower curtain hooks. To access the plants it involved unhooking the assembly and was too much of a pain to deal with. The sunny areas of my yard would not look good with a deer fence. If I ever move to a house with a sunny back yard area and deer, I would fence an area and install a gate fro my rose garden.

Height is another deterrent. My climbers have all survived. Tree roses after maturing might work. Selection is limited and cost is higher. Back during my rose crazy days, I planted three rows; minis, floribundas, HT or grandifloras.

The deer finished off the minis first, except one; Red Wand. I've had it unprotected for over 25 years.

I've had great success with Liquid Fence deer & rabbit repellent spray. The only downside I've noticed (besides the god-awful smell, which thankfully goes away when dry) is that it can leave a whitish residue on leaves if I spray thoroughly. Deer went from stripping my drift roses (and several other plants) to not touching them at all as soon as I started using it last year.

Emily, having no deer here, I shouldn't have an opinion - but I do. LOL

I think your method is great! And it's worked for you for 2 years!! Awesome!! Well done!

Carol

thanks, Carol, I'm out of breath reading all the comments about building cages, etc., etc., etc. what I will tell this forum is what I said when I started this thread, white grocery bags tied to posts have kept the deer from eating my corn, peas and over 550 roses for 2 years. if this changes next year and the deer ignore my white plastic bags flapping in the wind, I will be the first to tell this forum. happy gardening!

Yes, it sounds like a great idea - you clever woman!!!

Carol

I have intense deer pressure in San Marcos, Tx in the Hill Country. I have not found anything that deters the deer for more than a few weeks. The deer even push on my gates trying to get in my fenced yard where the roses and many other delicacies reside. During last summer's two months of drought- they even ate brahea palms, agaves and opuntia. They regularly eat the blooms off any other cacti that bloom. I have found that fermented egg yolks and garlic blended together and sprayed on plants will deter them until it rains.

+1 on Toolbelt's comments. That fear/warning is instinctual. They also make that annoying static white noise in a light breeze. The bag noise drowns out their ability to distinguish danger from footsteps in the dried leaves.

I've been told Irish Spring offends them. I have it in knee highs all around the fence. So far so good, but it is a new garden.