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Home made deer repellant for roses - sacrificing rose fragrance?

7 years ago

I ordered about 21 DA roses that came in March, and they have been doing splendidly. Some of the bushes had 12 or more rose buds, and have grown about 2'! I have been SO excited! But when I went out to check on them today, some of my rose bushes had been stripped of their buds, I am assuming by some horrible deer! I have read that home-made deer repellant with garlic, eggs, hot sauce, etc. does the trick. However, will I be sacrificing my lovely rose fragrance for this smelly concoction? I intend to cut rose blooms for my house, gifts, etc. - primarily for the fragrance. But if they smell like Tobasco, garlic, and eggs, what's the point?

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Comments (5)

bethnorcal9
7 years ago
The smell dissipates within hours. At least for us. The deer still smell and taste it tho for around a week or more if the plants don't get wet. I used to mix it up and spray all the time, but for some reason, haven't had that many deer in the yard the last few yrs. They only seem to occasionally hit the front yard in the night when the dog is inside. I used Ivory soap along with the other ingredients. I kept a bar in a Tupperware container with water for yrs. You just pour some of the gooey liquid in with the rest of the concoction. Have to use a strainer tho, due to the eggs.
indyroma thanked bethnorcal9
Donna Roesink Zone 6a Ohio
7 years ago
We have a terrible deer problem here, so my heart goes out to you, Indyroma. I use the home made spray because the commercial ones are soooo expensive. (Like $40). I mixed up some a few days ago: eggs, a little milk, whole dried chili peppers, lots of garlic powder and water. Put some vegetable oil in it to help it stick to leaves. I process it in my Vitamix blender, but still have to strain it because your pump sprayer will clog. It works well. After it dries, like bethnorcal says, you cannot smell it. The deer have been browsing on my hosta, clematis vine, and roses. It is horrible- I am torn because they all have babies right now and are really hungry. But we work too hard in our yard to have it all eaten in a few days.

I am truly sorry about your DA buds. Hopefully, you can get them sprayed and they will re grow new buds for you.
indyroma thanked Donna Roesink Zone 6a Ohio
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That's so funny. I tried the exact same thing this year and, at least temporarily, it works. My guess is that eventually they will figure it out, as they always do. In fact, I'm thinking the rose may actually be endangering my other plants, as the deer find it so attractive they come for the rose and stay for everything else. But maybe in the meantime you'll get a few blooms, so enjoy them and don't worry about tomorrow!
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Deer tend to browse and graze where they feel most secure. They will tend to graze the areas where there is enough cover for them to hide in, where they feel safest with the most secure escape routes. In those conditions, they will select those plants which appear to be the best "produce". Just as we select the most succulent vegetables, they select those with the most succulent growth. They obtain water as well as nutrients from the plants, like rabbits and other grazers do. If they're hitting specific plants in your garden, it's most likely due to them being located where they feel safest. You can try moving them elsewhere and/or planting "stinky" plants around them. Deer use their sense of smell as one of their major self defense systems. Fill the air with strong smells and it "jams their radar", making it difficult for them to smell coyotes, people and other dangers. If they're appropriate, lavender, rosemary, santolina and other strong smelling plants (even a dense planting of basil) can help prevent them from grazing your roses and are a LOT nicer and easier than having to either cover them with netting every night (as some of my old beach clients did nightly) or using a smelly protectant (coyote urine, blood meal, rotten eggs, or other chemical repellent) YOU will smell. The alternative would be a sufficiently tall fence to block them, or two, shorter fences placed about four or five feet apart, making it difficult for them to jump over. Good luck!
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I'm about to throw in the towel in defeat for the season after repeated deer attacks--the beasts seem to prefer perfumed roses, I believe, because the perfume seems to shout out "hey, deer, there's something delicious over here!" If the roses only knew they were their own worst enemies. There are exceptions, of course, when a huge petal stuffed non smeller also becomes the deer's favorite (Caramel Antique). The best smellers in my garden seem to be: Frederic Mistral (offspring of The McCartney Rose--does that surprise you, Carol?) Evelyn (the deer's A-1 favorite, blast them) Munstead Wood (deer ice cream) Augusta Luise Brother Cadfael (blooms too high up for deer this time of year-hahaha) Young Lycidas (deer fudge) Angel Face (deer candy) Ebb Tide Eglantyne The Prince (deer love this one) and not bad in the perfume department-- (deer finally sampled this one yesterday, eating the entire bouquet off the end of a tall candelabra) Golden Celebration And others, primarily Austins
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I essentially have given up growing certain plants because of deer, don't get me wrong, we really enjoy the deer year round and I still grow hundreds of tropicals, subtropicals and hardy plants in my yard, but some things are near impossible. Anything I really like and need to grow, has to be containerized and on a protected deck (hydrangea, gardenias, HIBISCUS, Euonymus, a few potted chili peppers or tomatoes, and of course my sugar cane.) Also dealing with white tail deer and ours did eat the roses, they discovered that camellias were tasty and started recently to eat those. Strangely, they completely avoid a lot of the tropicals (bananas, bamboo, aroids), but I had a containerized orange tree rutted recently. In terms of squash, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peppers (chili peppers include), eggplant...., they find those and eat them all, leaves, fruit, everything). I've grown to accept the limitations of gardening within a deer crossing (literally).
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sowandgrow
7 years ago
I had luck with using 1 Tbsp. Baking powder, 1 egg yolk, 1 liter of water. A guy from a botanical garden had posted it? It worked for my tulips, also my sister in law had good luck with it. Spray every two weeks. Oh and store leftovers in fridge.
indyroma thanked sowandgrow
indyroma
Original Author
7 years ago
I made this concoction yesterday and of course it poured rain today. I will spray them again when we have more sunny days coming. A few days before I made this, I sprayed the buds with a bitter-tasting cat spray which I think kept deer from eating too many. However, every new deer coming along would have to taste the bitter buds before they stop! I think this new smelling concoction just might do the trick - Thank you all! I assume that this mixture should be kept in the refrigerator?
User
7 years ago
There is really only one totally effective Deer Repellent and its not a spray. However, you only have to apply it once:

Deer Repellent

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