I tried a free and easy method that worked for the whole year I lived in a house . It was simply alot of long tree branches and willow or brush cuttings . I wove the stems and stalks of thin 4-6' branches in and out of my wire fence so they were sticking up all over at different lengths and only every three feet until I surrounded the garden . Deer don't like to jump over moving things because they're afraid of getting hung up on them and the branches moved in the breeze . They understand construction and if you make a good solid fence , they feel confident jumping that but a rickety swaying bunch of stuff , they never bothered at all .
I am guessing that the people who gave you a thumb's down on this great video have never had to deal with deer. Your methods have worked for me tremendously. Thank you.
No, it's just taking forever to get to the meat of the video. I'm at 6:26 and still don't have details on how to deer-proof my garden cheaper than buying a 10' tall chain-link fence.
I really love your videos, you speak clearly and smooth. No annoying background music or wasted time, thank you very much I am binge watching you, (not stalking, just intensely) thanks . Keep up the great usable content.
Fencing is expensive. I found that taking 4 foot high fencing and doubling it to 8 feet has been enough for my 80x80 foot plot for the last year. We have had some rabbit pressure, but not not enough to worry about.
I drape TULLE, which is a mesh fabric, around my plants and/or plant containers. It's much safer for the birds and also cheaper than bird netting. (FYI - bird netting is used to capture birds and they end up with either broken wings or legs trying to get out of it, but most of them just die in it.) My sugar baby watermelons and carrot greens were safe from the deer after I wrapped tulle around them. The local deer tend to sleep in the wooded areas near my house, so there are a lot of them around. The tulle also works to deter mice and squirrels.
I've come to the same solutions as you present here. I protect individual plants that are important to me. Then I put partial barriers in that encourage the deer to move along to a plum tree and an old apple tree that I'm willing to share with them and they seem to like. It's not fool proof but plant damage and losses are much reduced. You just need to remember deer aren't all the same and each year the young ones need to try everything again.
My husband has electrified our garden with strategically placed electric wires. The deer can actually walk into the garden but the wires shock them as they nose into the beans etc. It works. But our yard is MUCH bigger, and as you say, physical barriers do seem to direct them on to the next area. I placed lawn furniture in an area that had become a path for the deer. They used a different path. Its never fool proof but it helps. Also have the most tasty plants now surrounded by foxglove which they won't eat. And on and on. Great video! Thanks!
You can take small aluminum pie pans and hang them off the top of the fence. When the wind blows, it moves those pie pans around and creates flashes of light. Deer seem to not like flashing lights. There is a motion sensing device that when it senses motion, it flashes light and makes a high pitched sound. Good for scaring off many pests. Get a bushel of apples and toss them into your down the street neighbor's yard. LOL Electric fence for cattle may be of value.
I had good luck with a temporary cattle panel barrier. One was attached to posts a foot or so off the ground and the other was 3' in front of it laid flat on stones about 6" off the ground. They don't like walking into things and the vertical panel kept them from jumping. They can jump high or wide, not both. At one point I set chicken wire on the ground in front of the raised vegetable beds. They won't walk where they don't have firm footing and the beds deprived them of a clear landing area. It helps to lift it up every so often to keep it floating. Our local park system puts heavy duty wire fence on the bank of the stream that's adjacent to the road to reduce collisions. Now we're surrounded by 6' privacy fence. Worth every cent.
I have a beautiful estate with many many shrubs, flora etc and you’ll never truly keep them away. My methods are dryer sheets, motion sensor lights and most importantly spraying consistently to make it difficult on them.
I just went out on my first warmish day to find that my 3 new apple sapling are now completely girdled. There is a bite halfway through the largest trunk. In the city. I will be digging the sad remains out and gardening inside a chicken coop and a greenhouse... maybe with an additional fence around everything. I knew I was going to have to fight the rats, raccoons, skunks, and possums for my crops, but I didn't figure in an outrageous urban deer herd.
I mixed up a solution of Tabasco sauce and water and sprayed it on my flowers and it seemed to deter the deer but I know if they were hungry enough they would just thank me for the seasoning on their meal. I have fenced my fruit trees and that helped. Made it hard to keep weeds out.
@@GardenerScott I did get to see some iris and tulip blooms so they found things more tasty but I doubt that if they are hungry enough that anything will stop them. I am amazed at the things they eat. I love to watch them just not feed them.
I use a homemade spray made with red ghost peppers. Tabasco sauce seems like plain water compared to that ;) It does help repel mammals but of course you have to re-apply it fairly often, at least a couple times a season.
@@dystopiagear6999 Thank you for that information!! I will try to raise some of those peppers next year. After the first application of the Tabasco the deer didn't try to eat the flowers again even after the rain so I don't know if it was a fluke or not. Did the red ghost peppers burn the plants?
Some person (people) in your neighborhood are feeding and coddling these deer. They LOVE back yards and gardens. A slingshot and light weight shot re-educate them about your backyard. That, and a properly reared and finished hound. Mine teach their kids to avoid our place.
My neighbors would report me if they saw me shoot them with a sling shot. I just started getting deer this year and again I’m in an association complex. I’ve planted my outside space but there is no fence around complex . I’ve started to replace plants and use sprays to get them to not eat things.
The deer scarer has worked for us for many years, but can only be used when the hose won’t freeze. You will forget about it and get wet, though. Move it occasionally. It hooks to a hose and , shoots water in a circle when it detects motion.
I live below 6000 acres of state gamelands on 14 acres, mostly fields and am surrounded on all sides by large tracts of farmland, pastures and woods, all posted. We knew when we moved here eleven years ago that we would have deer, but in the last several years they have multiplied and now what they don’t eat they simply destroy and let lay. Finally put up a more permanent veggie garden fence. I still have spirea, coneflower, black eyed Susan and agastache, garden phlox, and barberry untouched. They will eat the iris until it gets up a foot, so I put milk crates over them for awhile and then I have to keep the buds and flowers sprayed. They don’t eat them, just bite them off. The deer come onto my concrete pad and stand outside my door. I worry most about ticks. But this year I will have a super garden, if I can keep the vole explosion out!
Thanks for sharing, Diane. I haven't had problems with them eating my young iris until this year. Your milk crate idea is helpful. Good luck with the voles.
wow, they ate my phlox to the GROUND. i think it's a favorite. the barberry is untouched. probably because of the thorns. they also ate the echinacea without even a shrug. plus, some other 'deer resistant' plants. pretty sure they gave my black eyed susan a haircut after it grew back this year from frost. gonna be pissed if they eat the flowers when they finally bloom. been waiting a long time for it to grow back after the unholy winter drop that knocked off a lot of plants that usually would be fine in this zone.
I put up an electric fence around my garden. I used to have a low wire for the rabbits and groundhogs and then higher wires for the deer, but I had a rabbit who learned to hop through the wires. Now I put chicken wire on the bottom and electric above.
Just found your channel--I have flower gardens all around my properties - two houses next to each other. Unfortunately, we're backed up to a woods that has several deer who call it home. I've looked all over the Internet and after watching your segment, I plan to buy even more of the bird netting I already have. I did not have that much of a problem last year for some reason, but this year, they ate almost every one of my gladioli. They ate many of the leaves off my strawberry plants, which I use as a ground cover in the front yard. They don't seem to care for roses, petunias, cleome, or zinnia, but they ate a new dogwood tree halfway down. I could go on, but you get the picture. I just hate to put fencing all around the gardens, so netting will be my go-to, as it's less visible. Thank you for your excellent content here, along with your honesty. I grew up on a farm, but the deer never ate the yard plants; I guess this was because they had so many treats in the nearby fields. Fresh corn on the cob is probably more filling than flower stalks!
I have a herd of 22 (and growing) deer here in my yard in Northeastern Pennsylvania. I live by a lake so they walk through to get water and a snack on the way. They are ferocious eaters. They even eat native plants like ferns and milkweed....I had to invest in good strong fences and have now got them at bay. Make sure your fence is high enough, they can jump very high.
Deer to not like to get their feet tangled in wire. Deer were devastating my water melons until I started laying wire mesh horizontally over the melon patch kept off the ground with 1 gallon milk jugs filled with water. The melons grow through the wire but the deer won’t walk on the wire mesh. It has been 100% effective. But if I lived in Colorado I would not waste my time growing watermelons because they like hot, humid , wet weather. I don’t think Colorado has much of that.
An old timer showed me this trick, 8 years in and it's 100% effective. String an electric fense, one wire 3 feet off the ground. Three feet inside of that, two wires, one 2 feet off the ground, the other 4. For the first week hang some tinfoil strips (with peanut butter on them) off the outside wire. It works, it's inexpensive, and easy to put up and take down in minutes.
Our deer problem kept getting worse... the last year we lived there, we put big tomato cages over the tomatoes that were 3' across and 4' high (cylindrical). The plants were neatly pruned back to the cage, but we got tomatoes! lol
@@GardenerScott We also tried putting fishing line 3' high around the whole garden on the theory that deer get spooked when the touch something they can't see. It worked really quite well for a year, then less so the second year, but it still helped. (Then we moved!)
@@carold.8782 Thanks. I've heard that can work, but when I tried a similar method I found that the deer couldn't see it in the dark and if they were already moving fast they just ripped it out. I damaged a downspout I had it connected to when a deer got tangled and ran off.
Moved to mid Michigan 24yrs. ago and met the deer the 2nd yr.Tried it all with mixed results - until we found the ‘ Scare Crow ‘ sprinkler! Can’t say enough good things about it!Works for anything that move’s! Including my wife when she bends over to pull a weed!😅 Seriously,you won’t need anything else.Even my human neighbor’s that try sneaking in to grab a tomato or two got the surprise shower. Nggremore
For years, our medium-sized dog and her scent kept deer away. But no longer. We actually have a video of deer in my neighbor's yard and our dog just watching each other peacefully, then going back to sniffing/eating. She'll bark to warn us of butterflies, a random shih tzu being walked, etc., but just gazes lovingly into deer's eyes. Go figure.
planted 3 apple trees last year some buck came along and honed em all up so now i have an ugly fence around each one must be a million trees around they have to pick my new apple tree they chewed up my young magnolia tree too arrggg!
New subscriber from NW Indiana here. I live in an area that I knew there were deer, but they were not a problem for me. Until 2 years ago when I planted strawberries. Uh Oh! They love strawberries. I have like a 4 ft fence that goes down 1.5 feet to keep out the chucks. I gave up on corn as raccoons do not mind a fence, and destroyed my crop for three years, so I gave up. Now, I am not a quitter! I have dahlias at one side of my garden, and their stakes seem to work, altho I had not realized that until this video! I will make it to where they don't want to jump over! That is an excellent idea! THANKS! I am also going to use birdnetting for the strawberries this year, and will continue to hunt for the best ideas. I have lots of lilies outside of my fence, and no real problems with them. But one area seems to never get over 8 inches hi. I now have realized just this year that those funny little marks were deer prints in my garden mulch, and it was deer eating the tops of those lilies. I will be experimenting with them and local fences to see what I can do deter my deer! The prints were mushy, and not distinct, but this year in the snow I could tell what they were! Now, venison sounds really good! But my head would be on a stake in my front year courtesy of my wife who just might like Bambi more than hubby!
Ohhhh, that's it! We have a dog and deer used to stay out of our yard. Then we planted strawberries near our tomatoes, and it took me a while to figure out why things were never taking off, haha...and the dog and deer just look lovingly into each other's eyes. A fence is in order. I also heard deer don't have great depth perception, and we have cattle-fencing trellising up, so I'm hoping just a single cheap-o fence around the whole thing will work.
the young first year deer, also will try to eat anything as well. they don't know what they don't like yet. I have seen so many plants partially chewed/ruined and spat out right next to where they were so carefully planted...😢
For the last 5 yrs I've been doing much of what you tslked about BUT no sooner did I get the deer to keep going did the rabbits and squirrels come dinner, and breakfast, and lunch, and snack. That's just the wsy it is in the country. For me, plant selection is key. Iris, blackberry lily, assorted barberry, perennial salvia, tickseed are just a few that are detering all my visitors. Plant selection is very limiting but I can't keep waking up heartbroken.
hey thanks so much!! this has given me some good ideas in other parts of the garden. they've stayed away from the garden bed (most of it) because of a solar LED with flashing lights in 2 areas. but i want to put in some vegetable garden stuff and need a better plan. i bought some bird scare tape (holographic stuff) figuring they won't like the movement and flapping. and it would be easy enough with little hooks to rotate the areas it's up since i know they get used to stuff. but specifically thanks for the deer psychology. that enables a person to apply different solutions and get creative. it's a good place to start!
You could plant clover away from garden to give them to food so you can watch them. Also put a pink/orange string ribbon around your garden like a fence.
I have clover galore. The deer prefer the day lilies, vegetables and fruit trees. The clover. however, seems to keep the rabbits from eating the vegetables!
I’m enjoying you videos... keep up the good work. I use several different methods in my yard. Once every 2-3 weeks I dust my ornamental plants with chicken feather meal. This is done early in the morning while the dew is on the plants. This could safely be use on a vegetable garden. Also, I surround my vulnerable bushes and small tree with several post. On these post, I circle the plants with monofilament line. The line is placed every 15” so from the ground up until it is high enough keep the plant safe. The deer can’t see the line and won’t struggle to get their head through to nibble. I’ve used this method to successfully keep them away from my apple tree. Usually once a week I inspect the lines to make sure they are still intact. I find this method more aesthetically pleasing than fencing.
I have a deer "fence" across the stairs to my back deck. It's only a few feet high, but it works because I've made sure there is no safe landing spot. This also allows me to justify my chaos (messy) style of gardening...there's a reason it's messy.
I have a bird problem. Specifically, a dove problem. They have such a wonderful tune and were quite nice to have keeping me company in my garden. Little did I realize they had an ulterior motive and were in fact after my seeds. Or at least, that’s what I suspect after finding one taking a rest on top of my freshly planted carrot seeds. Gardener Scott, I am a novice gardener. Do you have any videos about how to prevent avian sneak attacks?
Hi, Conor. I don't have any videos on birds yet, but my strategy has been to keep the birds happy by giving them seeds in an area apart from my vegetable garden. I haven't had any problem with birds eating my new seeds, or strawberries, or raspberries, or anything else because we have bird feeders separate from the garden area. Another option I've used is to grow plants like sunflowers as a sacrificial flower for the birds; they eat the obvious flower seeds and leave the other ones alone. Good luck with your efforts.
Hi Conor, I watch some gardening videos from England. They seem to have a lot of avian attacks on their leafy greens and young plants. They will often use floating row covers to protect their crops. One channel I particularly like is Charles Dowding that does No Dig Gardening. You might want to check it out. Hope this was helpful.
Try strapping multiple 5 ft sticks of rebar around the trunk of the tree. Zip-tie top and bottom. Not nearly as ugly as fence and relatively inexpensive.
Hey, Gardener Scott! I really like your videos. They're inspiring and fun to watch. I'm in eastern Montana and still working on growing my seedlings under lights. I have a tomato seedling problem. I'm getting a lot of dying off of the Roma tomato seedlings via the leaves rolling up and drying out and they're much more droopy than the other breed of tomato I also planted this year. Do you know of any helpful resources out there for identifying and treating diseases/fungi/problems? Thanks again for your videos. You should have your own PBS show!
Thanks, Tyler. Here's a good resource from Montana State University: msuextension.org/publications/YardandGarden/MT199217AG.pdf For seedlings under lights the most likely culprit is a problem with the soil mix you're using and/or the amount of water you use. I'm guessing the plants are big enough now that you might consider some fertilizer if you're using a basic peat potting mix. Often when plants look like they're drying out the common response is to water more; too much water can cause leaves to curl and die too. Also, the plants might need to be transplanted into a bigger pot if their roots are constricted.Try to just keep your soil moist and add a balanced fertilizer and the plants should recover.
Gardener Scott My 89 year old grandma told me about this when I was a kid and they always had a deer free garden. It’s important that the wool is unwashed. I think it’s the sheeps tallow the deer don’t like. Hope my English is good enough ;)
Your English is perfect. I like to think that your grandmother's grandmother told her about it when she was a kid too. 🙂 Some of the best solutions have been proven through generations. Thank you, again.
If you dont have to worry about aesthetics so much, you could put up 4 ft plastic fence( or electric) on top of your 4 ft fence, they generally dont like electric. We use solar.
I love my deer friends 💗 I am buying and planting deer resistant plants etc.. Things they don't care for or like too much. I enjoy their presence ..if I have to replace a few plants from time to time its ok. They have their fawns in the safety of my oak trees on the back of my property.. Then hide them in my bushes.. The big old guys and young bucks find a Refuge occassionally and lounge in the yard on the back of my property and eat all my weeds . I have lots of critters and I am careful not to domesticate any of them but we do seem to co exist nicely and respect each other. I love them. Nature can be cruel to critters sometimes and so can the world we live in so sometimes it is tough for me to see. But I do my best to make their world as nice as they make mine by sharing their presence. Thanks for the helpful tips!!! 😊🦋❤🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌
This is so, so lovely! I feel similarly and leave much of the yard wild with plenty of ivy and little saplings around the bushes; and I smile when I see deer (even though I know their numbers are hard on the natural environment too). The tricky part is that I do also grow some food for myself, and a tomato plant after months' worth of work can be a mere appetizer for them. A gardener friend of mine says of produce: "Share some with others, share some with nature, and keep some for yourself" so I'm just looking for harmless ways to avoid sharing every single part with nature.
Appreciate your suggestions, helps give me some ideas to try myself now. Hopefully I can protect my large garden area without spending a fortune to keep it protected? But I like the idea of making the inside of the garden look like it wouldn’t be safe to jump over a barrier into the garden. So I’ll be thinking more on how to accomplish that?
I was trying to plant a mix of raspberries, rugosa rose, garlic, lavender and mint into a 4’ high and 4’ wide hedge around my yard, but deers eat half of these young plants. I guess I need to at least protect them until they are established
I have 2 serviceberry bushes that were planted 5 months and I think deer are eating. I plan on putting up fencing around these bushes. When do you think these bushes will reach a stage that deer would mostly likely ignore?
My yard has a problem with deer. I really liked this video. DO you know of good methods to keep out voles? They are rampant where I live and I don't know how to get rid of them.
You can take an ad a bob wire about a foot to two feet away from the top of your fence that will deter them because they're not sure whether they can jump over both the fence and the wire that's two feet away from the fence, I haven't tried that but I read it somewhere many years ago but my defense is like yours is my dog my dogs keep the deer away
Thanks. That's definitely an option and can work. I tried something similar but ran into a problem when a deer tried to jump the lower fence in the dark without seeing the higher wire. It ripped out the whole thing. It needs to be visible to work.
Try a little spray paint spritzed here and there in a color that coordinates with your garden ... green, orange, yellow.. That may confuse them...that's all you really need. I've tried random, big pieces of heavy duty deer netting at the edges of the garden, not flat with rocks to hold it down. They have experience with that stuff and they know their hooves get caught in it. Only can use it in a few areas bc of the lawn mower but where I have it it seems to work. Whatever works, I say.
The beginning of another gardening year and another battle against those dang deer. Thanks for the info, going to get some chicken wire and bird netting.
Dogs would be all one needed if we kept them outside 100% of the time, but we no longer do that. I have motion/heat sensing security lights in some areas that seem to scare them initially and alert me there's a problem. If I had an audible alert in the house when those lights were tripped, it would not be impossible to train the dogs to run out and patrol the yard (assumes the use of a dog door).
We did train our dog to rush out on command, (with a dog door) which helped a little, but you're right... they're not out the whole time. You can also get motion activated water sprinklers. I haven't used them, but understand they can work well.
Hello, I’ve been having a hard time finding 8 foot metal chain link fencing. Do you think it’s possible to attach (2) four foot fencing on top of one another with ties? Or what would you recommend?
You can use two four-foot sections. I would weave wire between the edges of the fencing to bind them together. A cross bar between the vertical posts at the junction line would help too.
Deer eat my irises. They shouldn't be eating my irises. I had to fence the deer off like you have. They also love my cannas however I used a different idea. I drove T Post to form a box. Between the T post I ran mono fishing line with about a one foot spacing. Years ago while trying to start a vegetable garden the deer discovered my garden. They ate it so perfectly like a lawn mower. I was heartbroken. I wouldn't garden again till I had the deer fenced off.
I’ve had a 7-8’ fence around my backyard and my dogs in the front. So my plants and veggies have done well. We have a herd of about 21-24 deer and growing. But they are getting large enough in number and/or age to start be more bold. The kids across the street, call to them and try to feed the left over from their lunch through the fence. They think they are Bambi. One I noted was limping and had a huge bleeding gash in its shoulder. The kids were calling it, I got worried because it was injured it might bite one of the kids. Called city, City wouldnt do anything about it or them and can’t shoot them in the city. As far as I’m concerned there just big rats. Now I’m moving to a more Rural area, where few people have fences or gardens and I’m not sure what to do to protect my flowers and my food supply.
..yep, their just vermin to me, too..I used to LOVE to see deer when I was a kid and they were shy, and uncommon..but any species will become a problem when the population is allowed to grow unchecked...I'm afraid that is happening with cougar and bears in some areas..overpopulated, hungry, and bold, just like the deer have become...only with bear and cougars, we have to be concerned with more than our gardens.. :/
thanks. i put chicken wire around pots abv too, they pushed in & chomp the stickg out leaves n flowers. Sorry for poor format. Typed first comment from TV, via the TV remote.
The only sunny area in my yard is a flat spot in the front I have 5 tire planters in a pentagon. Past few years deer have eaten my tomatoes to stubs, and eaten everything except the basil and mint. But people aren't allowed fences . So I'm going to put up a deer net "fence" by putting rebar in the ground at each each planter, putting a 5 ft PVC pipe over the rebar to act as a post, then wrapping the deer netting around the 5 posts making a vertical pentagon shaped fence. I then plan to hange some Irish Spring Soap from each post as well to discourage them from pushing in to grab any leaves that grow too close to the net. Hopefully this will discourage the deer enough to let us grow for a season and the city code cops won't flip out on me. The deer aren't afraid of my cats, unfortunately, even though one is named Monster and the other is named Claw and they would happily eat venison if I offered it to them, LOL! I gave up growing hosta after deer destroyed all 5 varieties my mom gave me even though I had them beneath chicken wire. Thanks for the explanation and that nothing is truly deer proof except hard barriers. I'll keep that in mind.
Scott something I have personally been doing for the last 5 years is putting fishing string around my garden not just one strand I'll make several passes only about 3 ft high and I don't have problem with any deer The deer touch the fishing string and they can't see it and it seems to spook the deer away just thought I'd throw that out works well for me I live in a rural farm area with lots of deer
Thanks, Shaun. That does work well in the garden, but be careful about the anchoring point. I had a series of strands tied between a downspout and a tree. A deer ran through one night and ripped the downspout away from the wall. It no doubt scared the deer and of course damaged my drainage.
@@GardenerScott o no that's not good at all. I normally put stakes all around the perimeter of my garden and tie to the stakes but that is a very good point that you made be careful what you tie to
Electric fencing solved my deer problem...they tend to put their nose on anything that impedes their way and when they get bit, they head for the hills....now I need a lower wire for the groundhogs, racoons and rabbits...next years project.....sound and ultrasound technology may eventually eliminate bulky fencing, but for now , electric wire is the gold standard.....to me anyway.....I feel yer pain
In a drought they will target the plants you water for moisture. This summer we had a serious drought and I was the only one watering their yard in the neighborhood. The yard was hit hard by an armadillo exactly where I watered the grass. The moist ground wasn't brick hard like everywhere else. I'm no wildlife expert but I know deer have to be hunted or have sufficient predators or they over populate fast. Today people feed the deer generously at their hunting plots. Our state promoted a large population for the sport industry. You can't hunt in the burbs. Cities should make it their responsibility I guess. You know how that goes.
I have had a problem with squirrels. My method of keeping them out of the garden is still send them elsewhere. My neighbor had bird feeders that kept them occupied. My brother-in-law buys peanuts he uses in a squirrel feeder to keep them out of his garden. I cover my young fruit trees with bird netting. And a dog helps keep them at bay too.
I live in a suburb and was about to string 72inch chicken wire around my front yard, but the neighbors voted against it. Now I'm wondering what the hell I'm going to do to keep the deer away.
Hello. I am writing to you from far away Czech Republic (middle Europe). We have a two-hectare place where I want to grow an edible forest garden (big trees, small trees, shrubs and root vegetables at the same time). I only see one way to do it (we are off grid, deer all around, no neighbours) is just fence it all. Its soo expensive though and takes a lot of effort to keep functional... We have a lot of deer - forest keepers feed them so they have a lot to shoot - sick and wrong - they eat all the young trees in the woods which are not regenerating naturally.. That´s a different topic though. I can't do these small things like a fence around each tree or shrub, it´s just such a huge area... What else than a fence everywhere? For the first...ehm..10 years..? :-D Thanks for your advice, anyone.
Hello, Katerina. You can try a similar method as the forest keepers, but not to shoot them. By feeding them or planting young, tender plants in a far corner of your property you might be able to train them to stay near that area. By placing a few fences, barriers, and plants they don't like near that area you can make it less appealing to enter your garden. Also use sprays with strong scents to discourage them in other areas, and you may be able to limit their damage. Good luck.
You don't have a deer problem...you have meat with your veggies.....our garden is 9500 sq ft. We have no deer in the garden. We put out T posts on the perimeter of the garden, then 3 ft from the posts we put out 48 inch step in posts. On the T post we put 3 wires, one at 18" the next at 36" and the last at 56". Then on the small posts 1 wire at 18". Deer see in 2 dimensions so this creates an " obstacle" they can't negotiate. No more deer.
Though I love all your videos, I strongly disagree with this one! From my experience I know that nothing, I mean nothing deer proofs your garden but a 7 ft fence. I have about 2 acres of yard and no permanent fences around the property are allowed in our HOA, Every year I used to spend about $15 to $20 to buy 7 ft x 100 ft roll of deer net, beg my family to help put it up and take it down after Halloween. A few years ago, suddenly rabbits appeared and chewed thru the plastic net and started destroying the young fall plants. So I have a metal wire ( chicken wire?) fence that is only 4 ft high . Garden is safe because the deer numbers have suddenly dwindled (I think they get hit by cars in a busy road nearby)... Only one doe with a fawn visits and I have also made the beds narrow and there is no safe area to land if the deer jumps the 4 ft fence. I have not had any problems so far for 3 years except it is frustrating to garden in a tight space when there is such a huge yard . I have had deer eat deer proof, deer resistant plants. Once deer ate geranium blooms WHILE I was repotting them when I stepped away for exactly 30 seconds to get something from my garden shelf! I have seen deer bite the crown of plants they don't like to eat, spit it out and walk away! Grrr..... Strangely they don't touch Kohl Rabi! I used to enjoy Kohl Rabi in a fence free nice bed for years until the rabbits showed up and ate them up! Oh well ...
To rid deer....buy yourself a 22 long rifle......use sub-sonic bullets.... even in town..... very effective . I promise...once plugged they will never return ! Anything less..... is not being serious !
We fought the deer all last summer. We had a nice veg garden for once. The deer enjoyed my salad bar, but we didn't get enough to pay for the seed. We tried spraying nasty tasting home-made mixes on the greens. We put fishing line & wire about 12" from top of fence & another up 12" higher. We caught them on our trail cam jumping between the fence & the lowest fishing line. We tried fishing line 6' away from the fence. We had pallets for another project & put those between the fence & the fishing line. Nothing worked for more than 2 wks. By the end of summer, we had just given up. This yr we added 4' of poultry netting above our almost 4' fence. Not only are they staying out of the garden, but they seem to have lost interest in even trying to get in. The trail cam shows them just walk by. Another garden spot has 4' fencing around a 16'x16' area that they haven't bothered in almost 20 yrs. That's where we generally grow corn They've never tried getting in there. We think it's because they don't know if they can get out if they were to jump in. Raccoons on the other hand are a different matter. It's good to know we're doing something right ... finally.
I'm a new subscriber and I love your videos so much, I've literally binge watched each one from the start of your channel. I have learned so much and am planning my spring garden right now. I'm a renter and my landlord graciously allowed me a plot in the yard. Our yard is not fenced in and is at the edge of the woods. I've recently noticed a very large black bear in the yard during the night and have read that the majority of the bears diet is vegetation. I can't make any permanent changes to the landlord's property and I was wondering if you had any suggestions to keep the bear out of my garden. I would sure hate to put in so much work just to have bear come in and destroy it all. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks. Welcome to the channel. Bears do eat a lot of plants and some of their favorites are fruits. If you have fruit trees and berry bushes you may be inviting the bears. They will also eat many roots and tubers. One way to minimize they're digging up your garden is to plant a lot of smelly plants that might encourage them to walk on by. Lavender, thyme, rosemary, sage, and similar herbs can disguise vegetables that are planted in between. If you compost, keep the pile away from your main garden, turn it often, and don't put any meat products in it. Keep the garden clear of trash. Hopefully the bear will like your neighbor's trash can more than your tidy and herb filled garden.
@@GardenerScott thank you so very much for your time and input! My son and I are so excited to see what we can grow! I have gardened here and there when I was younger. My son is 13,has never gardened before and I'm seeing a spark in him that I haven't seen in a very long time. I really want to plan ahead to make his first attempt as successful as possible. Thank you again for everything!
I deer proof my garden with a gun. I also use anti-deer netting, the tough one. Deer hate it. If you keep hurting and mercilessly harassing them, they will not come. That has been my experience. It worked same way with crows. After I killed a few of them, the rest left. If they don't touch me, I will not touch them. I wish you to have peaceful and deer-free gardening, sir. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us ♥
I tried a free and easy method that worked for the whole year I lived in a house . It was simply alot of long tree branches and willow or brush cuttings . I wove the stems and stalks of thin 4-6' branches in and out of my wire fence so they were sticking up all over at different lengths and only every three feet until I surrounded the garden .
Deer don't like to jump over moving things because they're afraid of getting hung up on them and the branches moved in the breeze . They understand construction and if you make a good solid fence , they feel confident jumping that but a rickety swaying bunch of stuff , they never bothered at all .
I am going to try this - thank you so much!🥰
@idkwhodos2840 did it work for you?
I am guessing that the people who gave you a thumb's down on this great video have never had to deal with deer. Your methods have worked for me tremendously. Thank you.
No, it's just taking forever to get to the meat of the video. I'm at 6:26 and still don't have details on how to deer-proof my garden cheaper than buying a 10' tall chain-link fence.
I really love your videos, you speak clearly and smooth. No annoying background music or wasted time, thank you very much I am binge watching you, (not stalking, just intensely) thanks . Keep up the great usable content.
Thanks, Patricia. I don't see it as stalking at all. 🙂 Enjoy gardening!
Fencing is expensive. I found that taking 4 foot high fencing and doubling it to 8 feet has been enough for my 80x80 foot plot for the last year. We have had some rabbit pressure, but not not enough to worry about.
I drape TULLE, which is a mesh fabric, around my plants and/or plant containers. It's much safer for the birds and also cheaper than bird netting. (FYI - bird netting is used to capture birds and they end up with either broken wings or legs trying to get out of it, but most of them just die in it.) My sugar baby watermelons and carrot greens were safe from the deer after I wrapped tulle around them. The local deer tend to sleep in the wooded areas near my house, so there are a lot of them around. The tulle also works to deter mice and squirrels.
Will plants still get pollinated that way?
I've come to the same solutions as you present here. I protect individual plants that are important to me. Then I put partial barriers in that encourage the deer to move along to a plum tree and an old apple tree that I'm willing to share with them and they seem to like. It's not fool proof but plant damage and losses are much reduced. You just need to remember deer aren't all the same and each year the young ones need to try everything again.
Great observations, Mel. Thanks.
My husband has electrified our garden with strategically placed electric wires. The deer can actually walk into the garden but the wires shock them as they nose into the beans etc. It works. But our yard is MUCH bigger, and as you say, physical barriers do seem to direct them on to the next area. I placed lawn furniture in an area that had become a path for the deer. They used a different path. Its never fool proof but it helps. Also have the most tasty plants now surrounded by foxglove which they won't eat. And on and on. Great video! Thanks!
You can take small aluminum pie pans and hang them off the top of the fence. When the wind blows, it moves those pie pans around and creates flashes of light.
Deer seem to not like flashing lights.
There is a motion sensing device that when it senses motion, it flashes light and makes a high pitched sound.
Good for scaring off many pests.
Get a bushel of apples and toss them into your down the street neighbor's yard.
LOL
Electric fence for cattle may be of value.
I had good luck with a temporary cattle panel barrier. One was attached to posts a foot or so off the ground and the other was 3' in front of it laid flat on stones about 6" off the ground. They don't like walking into things and the vertical panel kept them from jumping. They can jump high or wide, not both. At one point I set chicken wire on the ground in front of the raised vegetable beds. They won't walk where they don't have firm footing and the beds deprived them of a clear landing area. It helps to lift it up every so often to keep it floating. Our local park system puts heavy duty wire fence on the bank of the stream that's adjacent to the road to reduce collisions.
Now we're surrounded by 6' privacy fence. Worth every cent.
Great ideas. Thanks for sharing.
I have a beautiful estate with many many shrubs, flora etc and you’ll never truly keep them away. My methods are dryer sheets, motion sensor lights and most importantly spraying consistently to make it difficult on them.
Hey I just want to let you know how much I appreciate your videos and information you're very direct and to the point and a kind way thank you
I just went out on my first warmish day to find that my 3 new apple sapling are now completely girdled. There is a bite halfway through the largest trunk. In the city. I will be digging the sad remains out and gardening inside a chicken coop and a greenhouse... maybe with an additional fence around everything. I knew I was going to have to fight the rats, raccoons, skunks, and possums for my crops, but I didn't figure in an outrageous urban deer herd.
Control deer ? Simple... a 22 long rifle........"" shorts "' for bullets. Subsonic... quiet ! Plug them......and leave them move on. Never to return !
I mixed up a solution of Tabasco sauce and water and sprayed it on my flowers and it seemed to deter the deer but I know if they were hungry enough they would just thank me for the seasoning on their meal. I have fenced my fruit trees and that helped. Made it hard to keep weeds out.
That's right. They can eat anything when hungry and might just enjoy you spicing things up. 😀
@@GardenerScott I did get to see some iris and tulip blooms so they found things more tasty but I doubt that if they are hungry enough that anything will stop them. I am amazed at the things they eat. I love to watch them just not feed them.
I use a homemade spray made with red ghost peppers. Tabasco sauce seems like plain water compared to that ;) It does help repel mammals but of course you have to re-apply it fairly often, at least a couple times a season.
@@dystopiagear6999 Thank you for that information!! I will try to raise some of those peppers next year. After the first application of the Tabasco the deer didn't try to eat the flowers again even after the rain so I don't know if it was a fluke or not. Did the red ghost peppers burn the plants?
I grow hot peppers, the deer strip all the leaves off the plants and leave the peppers alone. They still kill everything.
Some person (people) in your neighborhood are feeding and coddling these deer. They LOVE back yards and gardens.
A slingshot and light weight shot re-educate them about your backyard. That, and a properly reared and finished hound.
Mine teach their kids to avoid our place.
My neighbors would report me if they saw me shoot them with a sling shot. I just started getting deer this year and again I’m in an association complex. I’ve planted my outside space but there is no fence around complex . I’ve started to replace plants and use sprays to get them to not eat things.
The deer scarer has worked for us for many years, but can only be used when the hose won’t freeze. You will forget about it and get wet, though. Move it occasionally. It hooks to a hose and ,
shoots water in a circle when it detects motion.
I haven't tried a deer scare but have read good things about them. Thanks.
I live below 6000 acres of state gamelands on 14 acres, mostly fields and am surrounded on all sides by large tracts of farmland, pastures and woods, all posted. We knew when we moved here eleven years ago that we would have deer, but in the last several years they have multiplied and now what they don’t eat they simply destroy and let lay. Finally put up a more permanent veggie garden fence. I still have spirea, coneflower, black eyed Susan and agastache, garden phlox, and barberry untouched. They will eat the iris until it gets up a foot, so I put milk crates over them for awhile and then I have to keep the buds and flowers sprayed. They don’t eat them, just bite them off. The deer come onto my concrete pad and stand outside my door. I worry most about ticks. But this year I will have a super garden, if I can keep the vole explosion out!
Thanks for sharing, Diane. I haven't had problems with them eating my young iris until this year. Your milk crate idea is helpful. Good luck with the voles.
wow, they ate my phlox to the GROUND. i think it's a favorite. the barberry is untouched. probably because of the thorns. they also ate the echinacea without even a shrug. plus, some other 'deer resistant' plants. pretty sure they gave my black eyed susan a haircut after it grew back this year from frost. gonna be pissed if they eat the flowers when they finally bloom. been waiting a long time for it to grow back after the unholy winter drop that knocked off a lot of plants that usually would be fine in this zone.
I put up an electric fence around my garden. I used to have a low wire for the rabbits and groundhogs and then higher wires for the deer, but I had a rabbit who learned to hop through the wires. Now I put chicken wire on the bottom and electric above.
That sounds like a great solution.
Rabbits and squirrel don't go near my garden with the scallions growing. Just hydrated the roots after I used greens so free.
Just found your channel--I have flower gardens all around my properties - two houses next to each other. Unfortunately, we're backed up to a woods that has several deer who call it home. I've looked all over the Internet and after watching your segment, I plan to buy even more of the bird netting I already have. I did not have that much of a problem last year for some reason, but this year, they ate almost every one of my gladioli. They ate many of the leaves off my strawberry plants, which I use as a ground cover in the front yard. They don't seem to care for roses, petunias, cleome, or zinnia, but they ate a new dogwood tree halfway down. I could go on, but you get the picture. I just hate to put fencing all around the gardens, so netting will be my go-to, as it's less visible. Thank you for your excellent content here, along with your honesty. I grew up on a farm, but the deer never ate the yard plants; I guess this was because they had so many treats in the nearby fields. Fresh corn on the cob is probably more filling than flower stalks!
I have a herd of 22 (and growing) deer here in my yard in Northeastern Pennsylvania. I live by a lake so they walk through to get water and a snack on the way. They are ferocious eaters. They even eat native plants like ferns and milkweed....I had to invest in good strong fences and have now got them at bay. Make sure your fence is high enough, they can jump very high.
Thank you! Love your clear, informed and thorough explanations! Have a great day!
Deer to not like to get their feet tangled in wire. Deer were devastating my water melons until I started laying wire mesh horizontally over the melon patch kept off the ground with 1 gallon milk jugs filled with water. The melons grow through the wire but the deer won’t walk on the wire mesh. It has been 100% effective. But if I lived in Colorado I would not waste my time growing watermelons because they like hot, humid , wet weather. I don’t think Colorado has much of that.
Great Job Scott. Just found you. I will watch more.
An old timer showed me this trick, 8 years in and it's 100% effective. String an electric fense, one wire 3 feet off the ground. Three feet inside of that, two wires, one 2 feet off the ground, the other 4. For the first week hang some tinfoil strips (with peanut butter on them) off the outside wire. It works, it's inexpensive, and easy to put up and take down in minutes.
Thanks for the suggestion.
Our deer problem kept getting worse... the last year we lived there, we put big tomato cages over the tomatoes that were 3' across and 4' high (cylindrical). The plants were neatly pruned back to the cage, but we got tomatoes! lol
That sounds like a good solution. Thanks.
@@GardenerScott We also tried putting fishing line 3' high around the whole garden on the theory that deer get spooked when the touch something they can't see. It worked really quite well for a year, then less so the second year, but it still helped. (Then we moved!)
@@carold.8782 Thanks. I've heard that can work, but when I tried a similar method I found that the deer couldn't see it in the dark and if they were already moving fast they just ripped it out. I damaged a downspout I had it connected to when a deer got tangled and ran off.
Moved to mid Michigan 24yrs. ago and met the deer the 2nd yr.Tried it all with mixed results - until we found the ‘ Scare Crow ‘ sprinkler! Can’t say enough good things about it!Works for anything that move’s! Including my wife when she bends over to pull a weed!😅 Seriously,you won’t need anything else.Even my human neighbor’s that try sneaking in to grab a tomato or two got the surprise shower. Nggremore
I have a doe who loves to watch my little dogs. She leans over fence to watch them. AND jumps over fence at night when dogs are insid
For years, our medium-sized dog and her scent kept deer away. But no longer. We actually have a video of deer in my neighbor's yard and our dog just watching each other peacefully, then going back to sniffing/eating. She'll bark to warn us of butterflies, a random shih tzu being walked, etc., but just gazes lovingly into deer's eyes. Go figure.
We have a 12 foot high metal fence which is buried 10 inches to keep ground hogs from digging under it .
Thank you so much for your video, this gives me alot of hope as I start out my new garden on a new piece of land
planted 3 apple trees last year some buck came along and honed em all up so now i have an ugly fence around each one must be a million trees around they have to pick my new apple tree they chewed up my young magnolia tree too arrggg!
Yeah, they always seem to focus on the young trees we want to grow.
Yep, the bucks have gone after my exact same trees. Fencing is the only solution.
New subscriber from NW Indiana here. I live in an area that I knew there were deer, but they were not a problem for me. Until 2 years ago when I planted strawberries. Uh Oh! They love strawberries. I have like a 4 ft fence that goes down 1.5 feet to keep out the chucks. I gave up on corn as raccoons do not mind a fence, and destroyed my crop for three years, so I gave up. Now, I am not a quitter! I have dahlias at one side of my garden, and their stakes seem to work, altho I had not realized that until this video! I will make it to where they don't want to jump over! That is an excellent idea! THANKS! I am also going to use birdnetting for the strawberries this year, and will continue to hunt for the best ideas.
I have lots of lilies outside of my fence, and no real problems with them. But one area seems to never get over 8 inches hi. I now have realized just this year that those funny little marks were deer prints in my garden mulch, and it was deer eating the tops of those lilies. I will be experimenting with them and local fences to see what I can do deter my deer! The prints were mushy, and not distinct, but this year in the snow I could tell what they were! Now, venison sounds really good! But my head would be on a stake in my front year courtesy of my wife who just might like Bambi more than hubby!
Hi, David. Welcome to the channel. Your determination is admirable. Good luck with your efforts.
Ohhhh, that's it! We have a dog and deer used to stay out of our yard. Then we planted strawberries near our tomatoes, and it took me a while to figure out why things were never taking off, haha...and the dog and deer just look lovingly into each other's eyes. A fence is in order. I also heard deer don't have great depth perception, and we have cattle-fencing trellising up, so I'm hoping just a single cheap-o fence around the whole thing will work.
the young first year deer, also will try to eat anything as well. they don't know what they don't like yet. I have seen so many plants partially chewed/ruined and spat out right next to where they were so carefully planted...😢
Always close the gate 😂. Thanks, great info 👍🏼
You bet!
For the last 5 yrs I've been doing much of what you tslked about BUT no sooner did I get the deer to keep going did the rabbits and squirrels come dinner, and breakfast, and lunch, and snack. That's just the wsy it is in the country. For me, plant selection is key. Iris, blackberry lily, assorted barberry, perennial salvia, tickseed are just a few that are detering all my visitors. Plant selection is very limiting but I can't keep waking up heartbroken.
Sorry to hear that, but life in the country does have its benefits. Right now I'm focused on plant selection with an eye on the rabbits too.
I use an electric fence 5-10-15” three strands.
Working great so far.
Update: That most recent visitor, a groundhog, just disappeared after 2 seasons of destruction. I'm not even curious!!!
Greetings from the LooseNatural farm in Andalusia Spain where we currently live through a drought and deer invasions
hey thanks so much!! this has given me some good ideas in other parts of the garden. they've stayed away from the garden bed (most of it) because of a solar LED with flashing lights in 2 areas. but i want to put in some vegetable garden stuff and need a better plan. i bought some bird scare tape (holographic stuff) figuring they won't like the movement and flapping. and it would be easy enough with little hooks to rotate the areas it's up since i know they get used to stuff.
but specifically thanks for the deer psychology. that enables a person to apply different solutions and get creative. it's a good place to start!
You could plant clover away from garden to give them to food so you can watch them. Also put a pink/orange string ribbon around your garden like a fence.
I have clover galore. The deer prefer the day lilies, vegetables and fruit trees. The clover. however, seems to keep the rabbits from eating the vegetables!
I’m enjoying you videos... keep up the good work.
I use several different methods in my yard. Once every 2-3 weeks I dust my ornamental plants with chicken feather meal. This is done early in the morning while the dew is on the plants. This could safely be use on a vegetable garden.
Also, I surround my vulnerable bushes and small tree with several post. On these post, I circle the plants with monofilament line. The line is placed every 15” so from the ground up until it is high enough keep the plant safe. The deer can’t see the line and won’t struggle to get their head through to nibble. I’ve used this method to successfully keep them away from my apple tree. Usually once a week I inspect the lines to make sure they are still intact. I find this method more aesthetically pleasing than fencing.
Thanks. Those are good suggestions.
I seen a deer carrying a ladder once.
LOL!
Haha!
lol, best comment here
I have a deer "fence" across the stairs to my back deck. It's only a few feet high, but it works because I've made sure there is no safe landing spot. This also allows me to justify my chaos (messy) style of gardening...there's a reason it's messy.
I have a bird problem. Specifically, a dove problem. They have such a wonderful tune and were quite nice to have keeping me company in my garden. Little did I realize they had an ulterior motive and were in fact after my seeds. Or at least, that’s what I suspect after finding one taking a rest on top of my freshly planted carrot seeds. Gardener Scott, I am a novice gardener. Do you have any videos about how to prevent avian sneak attacks?
Hi, Conor. I don't have any videos on birds yet, but my strategy has been to keep the birds happy by giving them seeds in an area apart from my vegetable garden. I haven't had any problem with birds eating my new seeds, or strawberries, or raspberries, or anything else because we have bird feeders separate from the garden area. Another option I've used is to grow plants like sunflowers as a sacrificial flower for the birds; they eat the obvious flower seeds and leave the other ones alone. Good luck with your efforts.
Thank you very much for the information.
Hi Conor, I watch some gardening videos from England. They seem to have a lot of avian attacks on their leafy greens and young plants. They will often use floating row covers to protect their crops. One channel I particularly like is Charles Dowding that does No Dig Gardening. You might want to check it out. Hope this was helpful.
@@GardenerScott This is such a loving approach--lure them away from the things you most value
Try strapping multiple 5 ft sticks of rebar around the trunk of the tree. Zip-tie top and bottom. Not nearly as ugly as fence and relatively inexpensive.
Hey, Gardener Scott! I really like your videos. They're inspiring and fun to watch. I'm in eastern Montana and still working on growing my seedlings under lights. I have a tomato seedling problem. I'm getting a lot of dying off of the Roma tomato seedlings via the leaves rolling up and drying out and they're much more droopy than the other breed of tomato I also planted this year. Do you know of any helpful resources out there for identifying and treating diseases/fungi/problems? Thanks again for your videos. You should have your own PBS show!
Thanks, Tyler. Here's a good resource from Montana State University: msuextension.org/publications/YardandGarden/MT199217AG.pdf
For seedlings under lights the most likely culprit is a problem with the soil mix you're using and/or the amount of water you use. I'm guessing the plants are big enough now that you might consider some fertilizer if you're using a basic peat potting mix. Often when plants look like they're drying out the common response is to water more; too much water can cause leaves to curl and die too. Also, the plants might need to be transplanted into a bigger pot if their roots are constricted.Try to just keep your soil moist and add a balanced fertilizer and the plants should recover.
@@GardenerScott thanks! You're the best!
Gardener Scott >
Here in Sweden it’s common to hang up balls of sheep’s wool around your garden. For some reason deer don’t like that at all.
Thank you for that information. I haven't heard that method before.
Gardener Scott My 89 year old grandma told me about this when I was a kid and they always had a deer free garden. It’s important that the wool is unwashed. I think it’s the sheeps tallow the deer don’t like. Hope my English is good enough ;)
Your English is perfect. I like to think that your grandmother's grandmother told her about it when she was a kid too. 🙂 Some of the best solutions have been proven through generations. Thank you, again.
Gardener Scott Thank you! Most definitely how it went down back in the days.
@@apartmentgrower9274 i wonder where the heck to get something like that, though....
If you dont have to worry about aesthetics so much, you could put up 4 ft plastic fence( or electric) on top of your 4 ft fence, they generally dont like electric. We use solar.
That sounds like something that might work for us .Thanks for the idea.
I love my deer friends 💗 I am buying and planting deer resistant plants etc.. Things they don't care for or like too much. I enjoy their presence ..if I have to replace a few plants from time to time its ok. They have their fawns in the safety of my oak trees on the back of my property.. Then hide them in my bushes.. The big old guys and young bucks find a Refuge occassionally and lounge in the yard on the back of my property and eat all my weeds . I have lots of critters and I am careful not to domesticate any of them but we do seem to co exist nicely and respect each other. I love them. Nature can be cruel to critters sometimes and so can the world we live in so sometimes it is tough for me to see. But I do my best to make their world as nice as they make mine by sharing their presence. Thanks for the helpful tips!!! 😊🦋❤🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌
This is so, so lovely! I feel similarly and leave much of the yard wild with plenty of ivy and little saplings around the bushes; and I smile when I see deer (even though I know their numbers are hard on the natural environment too). The tricky part is that I do also grow some food for myself, and a tomato plant after months' worth of work can be a mere appetizer for them. A gardener friend of mine says of produce: "Share some with others, share some with nature, and keep some for yourself" so I'm just looking for harmless ways to avoid sharing every single part with nature.
The challenge is that we landscape to make our surroundings beautiful. The fencing defeats that purpose :(
We also landscape to support insects and birds for a sustainable environment and it doesn't Interfere with that too much so that's good!🌞😊🐞
Thanks so much for this. It’s why I watched your raised bed hoop video.
Thank you.
Appreciate your suggestions, helps give me some ideas to try myself now. Hopefully I can protect my large garden area without spending a fortune to keep it protected? But I like the idea of making the inside of the garden look like it wouldn’t be safe to jump over a barrier into the garden. So I’ll be thinking more on how to accomplish that?
I was trying to plant a mix of raspberries, rugosa rose, garlic, lavender and mint into a 4’ high and 4’ wide hedge around my yard, but deers eat half of these young plants. I guess I need to at least protect them until they are established
I have 2 serviceberry bushes that were planted 5 months and I think deer are eating. I plan on putting up fencing around these bushes. When do you think these bushes will reach a stage that deer would mostly likely ignore?
They do get big enough when the deer nibble on them it doesn't create a lot of damage.
My yard has a problem with deer. I really liked this video. DO you know of good methods to keep out voles? They are rampant where I live and I don't know how to get rid of them.
I have hardware cloth and chicken wire under my raised beds to keep out voles. It has worked well.
Thank you, very helpful
Great informative video. Thank You.
Put the deer in the freezer
I had one that ate my raspberry canes she tasted amazing especially in the chili.
Lol 🤣
😂
😂😂😂
That's where they belong!
Very nice how you use see through wire grids to deflect the deer snd complex areas behind see through fencing. Nearly invisible deer redirection.
Thanks 👍
You’re an excellent narrator!
I guess I need to get a deerhound! Was going to get a wolfhound. That would work as well!
You can take an ad a bob wire about a foot to two feet away from the top of your fence that will deter them because they're not sure whether they can jump over both the fence and the wire that's two feet away from the fence, I haven't tried that but I read it somewhere many years ago but my defense is like yours is my dog my dogs keep the deer away
Thanks. That's definitely an option and can work. I tried something similar but ran into a problem when a deer tried to jump the lower fence in the dark without seeing the higher wire. It ripped out the whole thing. It needs to be visible to work.
Try a little spray paint spritzed here and there in a color that coordinates with your garden ... green, orange, yellow.. That may confuse them...that's all you really need.
I've tried random, big pieces of heavy duty deer netting at the edges of the garden, not flat with rocks to hold it down. They have experience with that stuff and they know their hooves get caught in it. Only can use it in a few areas bc of the lawn mower but where I have it it seems to work. Whatever works, I say.
The beginning of another gardening year and another battle against those dang deer. Thanks for the info, going to get some chicken wire and bird netting.
Dogs would be all one needed if we kept them outside 100% of the time, but we no longer do that. I have motion/heat sensing security lights in some areas that seem to scare them initially and alert me there's a problem. If I had an audible alert in the house when those lights were tripped, it would not be impossible to train the dogs to run out and patrol the yard (assumes the use of a dog door).
We did train our dog to rush out on command, (with a dog door) which helped a little, but you're right... they're not out the whole time. You can also get motion activated water sprinklers. I haven't used them, but understand they can work well.
@@GardenerScott My brother has had great luck with the motion-activated sprinklers... When he remembers to turn them on!
Thank you, I have learned a lot.
Hello, I’ve been having a hard time finding 8 foot metal chain link fencing. Do you think it’s possible to attach (2) four foot fencing on top of one another with ties? Or what would you recommend?
You can use two four-foot sections. I would weave wire between the edges of the fencing to bind them together. A cross bar between the vertical posts at the junction line would help too.
Claymore mines do good I hear
How about electric fencing?
That can work.
Deer eat my irises. They shouldn't be eating my irises. I had to fence the deer off like you have. They also love my cannas however I used a different idea. I drove T Post to form a box. Between the T post I ran mono fishing line with about a one foot spacing.
Years ago while trying to start a vegetable garden the deer discovered my garden. They ate it so perfectly like a lawn mower. I was heartbroken. I wouldn't garden again till I had the deer fenced off.
You're right that they shouldn't eat irises, but they'll eat just about anything when hungry enough.
Yes ...when 🦌 deer are starving they will eat anything to survive. Just like People!
Ur a very kind man.
My dad would have deer for dinner every week i think. lol
I’ve had a 7-8’ fence around my backyard and my dogs in the front. So my plants and veggies have done well. We have a herd of about 21-24 deer and growing. But they are getting large enough in number and/or age to start be more bold. The kids across the street, call to them and try to feed the left over from their lunch through the fence. They think they are Bambi. One I noted was limping and had a huge bleeding gash in its shoulder. The kids were calling it, I got worried because it was injured it might bite one of the kids. Called city, City wouldnt do anything about it or them and can’t shoot them in the city. As far as I’m concerned there just big rats.
Now I’m moving to a more Rural area, where few people have fences or gardens and I’m not sure what to do to protect my flowers and my food supply.
..yep, their just vermin to me, too..I used to LOVE to see deer when I was a kid and they were shy, and uncommon..but any species will become a problem when the population is allowed to grow unchecked...I'm afraid that is happening with cougar and bears in some areas..overpopulated, hungry, and bold, just like the deer have become...only with bear and cougars, we have to be concerned with more than our gardens.. :/
thanks. i put chicken wire around pots abv too, they pushed in & chomp the stickg out leaves n flowers.
Sorry for poor format. Typed first comment from TV, via the TV remote.
Excellent video! Thank you.
I use a smoke pole to rid deer from the garden. Very effective!
Same.
And now I have black bears roaming the garden as well.
Is that a muzzleloader?
@@blaisegrabiak3245 Mine in particular is a .405 win but for some I'm sure they use a muzzleloader
I only have a 4 ft chain link fence and a dog but my kind neighbor with no fence grows a decoy garden where the deer wipe her out all the time.
The only sunny area in my yard is a flat spot in the front I have 5 tire planters in a pentagon. Past few years deer have eaten my tomatoes to stubs, and eaten everything except the basil and mint. But people aren't allowed fences . So I'm going to put up a deer net "fence" by putting rebar in the ground at each each planter, putting a 5 ft PVC pipe over the rebar to act as a post, then wrapping the deer netting around the 5 posts making a vertical pentagon shaped fence. I then plan to hange some Irish Spring Soap from each post as well to discourage them from pushing in to grab any leaves that grow too close to the net. Hopefully this will discourage the deer enough to let us grow for a season and the city code cops won't flip out on me. The deer aren't afraid of my cats, unfortunately, even though one is named Monster and the other is named Claw and they would happily eat venison if I offered it to them, LOL! I gave up growing hosta after deer destroyed all 5 varieties my mom gave me even though I had them beneath chicken wire.
Thanks for the explanation and that nothing is truly deer proof except hard barriers. I'll keep that in mind.
Metqa I tried the whole Irish Spring thing. Didn’t stop them at all. 🤷♀️
How about a fence
Scott something I have personally been doing for the last 5 years is putting fishing string around my garden not just one strand I'll make several passes only about 3 ft high and I don't have problem with any deer The deer touch the fishing string and they can't see it and it seems to spook the deer away just thought I'd throw that out works well for me I live in a rural farm area with lots of deer
Thanks, Shaun. That does work well in the garden, but be careful about the anchoring point. I had a series of strands tied between a downspout and a tree. A deer ran through one night and ripped the downspout away from the wall. It no doubt scared the deer and of course damaged my drainage.
@@GardenerScott o no that's not good at all. I normally put stakes all around the perimeter of my garden and tie to the stakes but that is a very good point that you made be careful what you tie to
Good info. Thanks!
Electric fencing solved my deer problem...they tend to put their nose on anything that impedes their way and when they get bit, they head for the hills....now I need a lower wire for the groundhogs, racoons and rabbits...next years project.....sound and ultrasound technology may eventually eliminate bulky fencing, but for now , electric wire is the gold standard.....to me anyway.....I feel yer pain
Electric fencing is a great option when feasible. I hadn't thought about it for groundhogs, raccoons and rabbits - interesting idea.
mike, electric fencing doesn't work for ground hogs - they'll burrow right under it.
@@SherryEllesson he will have to go pretty deep to get under my fence, and if he does, I will know exatly where to put my connibear trap...
In a drought they will target the plants you water for moisture. This summer we had a serious drought and I was the only one watering their yard in the neighborhood. The yard was hit hard by an armadillo exactly where I watered the grass. The moist ground wasn't brick hard like everywhere else. I'm no wildlife expert but I know deer have to be hunted or have sufficient predators or they over populate fast. Today people feed the deer generously at their hunting plots. Our state promoted a large population for the sport industry. You can't hunt in the burbs. Cities should make it their responsibility I guess. You know how that goes.
i bet you could just place water out for them all, give a reason for easier water access and stay ways from the places you watered.
how about lead??
Is red fox urine as effective as coyote urine?
I don't know.
OMGosh! that looks like my yard!!
I built a garden for the deer 🦌. Love em they are tasty too
I like Lily
Rickety swaying stuff ! Sounds like me! Nggremore
The only certain way is to have a 12 ft fence. Deer here even crawled under the house to get to the backyard.
I had to put a fence around mine with electric wire at top to discourage the deer.
Great video
Thanks!
Do you have problem with squirrels, if so how do you handle it.
I have had a problem with squirrels. My method of keeping them out of the garden is still send them elsewhere. My neighbor had bird feeders that kept them occupied. My brother-in-law buys peanuts he uses in a squirrel feeder to keep them out of his garden. I cover my young fruit trees with bird netting. And a dog helps keep them at bay too.
I feed my squirrels food they like.....mainly sunflower seed....that keeps them away from the garden
As long as you have a small garden, your ideas can work. If you have a small property in the country with an acre or so, you need a real pain.
I have a great idea to share. Use fishing line and hang CDs in plants and trees. The birds won't Land in the tree either.
I've done that, but in the weather the CD coating deteriorates and falls off in time.
I'm not sure why you don't want the birds to land in your trees🤔🤔🤔
@@DebbieBlackburn-xr5xc if you want your blue berries or don't want them to poop on the roof ... no harm to the birds or squirrels.
Ahh..gotcha🙂
I live in a suburb and was about to string 72inch chicken wire around my front yard, but the neighbors voted against it. Now I'm wondering what the hell I'm going to do to keep the deer away.
very helpful
Hello. I am writing to you from far away Czech Republic (middle Europe). We have a two-hectare place where I want to grow an edible forest garden (big trees, small trees, shrubs and root vegetables at the same time). I only see one way to do it (we are off grid, deer all around, no neighbours) is just fence it all. Its soo expensive though and takes a lot of effort to keep functional... We have a lot of deer - forest keepers feed them so they have a lot to shoot - sick and wrong - they eat all the young trees in the woods which are not regenerating naturally.. That´s a different topic though. I can't do these small things like a fence around each tree or shrub, it´s just such a huge area... What else than a fence everywhere? For the first...ehm..10 years..? :-D Thanks for your advice, anyone.
Hello, Katerina. You can try a similar method as the forest keepers, but not to shoot them. By feeding them or planting young, tender plants in a far corner of your property you might be able to train them to stay near that area. By placing a few fences, barriers, and plants they don't like near that area you can make it less appealing to enter your garden. Also use sprays with strong scents to discourage them in other areas, and you may be able to limit their damage. Good luck.
You don't have a deer problem...you have meat with your veggies.....our garden is 9500 sq ft. We have no deer in the garden. We put out T posts on the perimeter of the garden, then 3 ft from the posts we put out 48 inch step in posts. On the T post we put 3 wires, one at 18" the next at 36" and the last at 56". Then on the small posts 1 wire at 18". Deer see in 2 dimensions so this creates an " obstacle" they can't negotiate. No more deer.
Though I love all your videos, I strongly disagree with this one! From my experience I know that nothing, I mean nothing deer proofs your garden but a 7 ft fence. I have about 2 acres of yard and no permanent fences around the property are allowed in our HOA, Every year I used to spend about $15 to $20 to buy 7 ft x 100 ft roll of deer net, beg my family to help put it up and take it down after Halloween. A few years ago, suddenly rabbits appeared and chewed thru the plastic net and started destroying the young fall plants. So I have a metal wire ( chicken wire?) fence that is only 4 ft high . Garden is safe because the deer numbers have suddenly dwindled (I think they get hit by cars in a busy road nearby)... Only one doe with a fawn visits and I have also made the beds narrow and there is no safe area to land if the deer jumps the 4 ft fence. I have not had any problems so far for 3 years except it is frustrating to garden in a tight space when there is such a huge yard . I have had deer eat deer proof, deer resistant plants. Once deer ate geranium blooms WHILE I was repotting them when I stepped away for exactly 30 seconds to get something from my garden shelf! I have seen deer bite the crown of plants they don't like to eat, spit it out and walk away! Grrr..... Strangely they don't touch Kohl Rabi! I used to enjoy Kohl Rabi in a fence free nice bed for years until the rabbits showed up and ate them up! Oh well ...
To rid deer....buy yourself a 22 long rifle......use sub-sonic bullets.... even in town..... very effective . I promise...once plugged they will never return ! Anything less..... is not being serious !
Will deer eat the plant of watermelon
Deer will eat anything if hungry enough. I'm not sure if watermelon is on their preferred list.
Gardener Scott thought about planting it for fall food plot but coyotes like to eat the Mellon
We fought the deer all last summer. We had a nice veg garden for once. The deer enjoyed my salad bar, but we didn't get enough to pay for the seed. We tried spraying nasty tasting home-made mixes on the greens. We put fishing line & wire about 12" from top of fence & another up 12" higher. We caught them on our trail cam jumping between the fence & the lowest fishing line. We tried fishing line 6' away from the fence. We had pallets for another project & put those between the fence & the fishing line. Nothing worked for more than 2 wks. By the end of summer, we had just given up.
This yr we added 4' of poultry netting above our almost 4' fence. Not only are they staying out of the garden, but they seem to have lost interest in even trying to get in. The trail cam shows them just walk by.
Another garden spot has 4' fencing around a 16'x16' area that they haven't bothered in almost 20 yrs. That's where we generally grow corn They've never tried getting in there. We think it's because they don't know if they can get out if they were to jump in. Raccoons on the other hand are a different matter.
It's good to know we're doing something right ... finally.
A 3030 slug will eliminate a deer problem……plus they make great sausage…..Just joking….I love your videos
8ft tall plastic deer fencing works wonders. My most utilized gate self closes.
I'm a new subscriber and I love your videos so much, I've literally binge watched each one from the start of your channel. I have learned so much and am planning my spring garden right now. I'm a renter and my landlord graciously allowed me a plot in the yard. Our yard is not fenced in and is at the edge of the woods. I've recently noticed a very large black bear in the yard during the night and have read that the majority of the bears diet is vegetation. I can't make any permanent changes to the landlord's property and I was wondering if you had any suggestions to keep the bear out of my garden. I would sure hate to put in so much work just to have bear come in and destroy it all. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks. Welcome to the channel. Bears do eat a lot of plants and some of their favorites are fruits. If you have fruit trees and berry bushes you may be inviting the bears. They will also eat many roots and tubers. One way to minimize they're digging up your garden is to plant a lot of smelly plants that might encourage them to walk on by. Lavender, thyme, rosemary, sage, and similar herbs can disguise vegetables that are planted in between. If you compost, keep the pile away from your main garden, turn it often, and don't put any meat products in it. Keep the garden clear of trash. Hopefully the bear will like your neighbor's trash can more than your tidy and herb filled garden.
@@GardenerScott thank you so very much for your time and input! My son and I are so excited to see what we can grow! I have gardened here and there when I was younger. My son is 13,has never gardened before and I'm seeing a spark in him that I haven't seen in a very long time. I really want to plan ahead to make his first attempt as successful as possible. Thank you again for everything!
They sell portable campsite electric fences for bears and they work great. One zap and they won't come back. There's videos on YT
I deer proof my garden with a gun.
I also use anti-deer netting, the tough one. Deer hate it.
If you keep hurting and mercilessly harassing them, they will not come. That has been my experience. It worked same way with crows. After I killed a few of them, the rest left.
If they don't touch me, I will not touch them.
I wish you to have peaceful and deer-free gardening, sir. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us ♥