Oak went to our subdivision’s “garden club meeting” a few weeks ago and apparently everyone complained to no end about the “deer issue.” In that, they eat everything in your garden. Until that point, we hadn’t really experienced the deer, besides the occasional visit from them to eat the acorns that fall off our 8 bazillion oak trees.
Well, I’m pretty sure an anonymous garden club member provided the deer clan a tip. Hey, the Millers have a garden full of YOUNG AND TASTY vegetable plants! Go check it out!
They attacked. Oak was crushed. 2 pepper plants plowed almost down to the bottom, only a few low leaves left. Well, we immediately went to Big Orange (we don’t advertise here on carrievision.com.. because, yeah I don’t have enough readers to attract advertisers. Ignore that Ikea post below..) and got the heavy-duty deer fence.
So now, our garden box is surrounded in heavy-duty deer fence. We also got some special “deer off spray” recommended by the garden club. Luckily we hadn’t sprayed any yet because it was a serious downpour today.
Deer off spray + fence might seem like a bit much, but oh, the deer aren’t just attracted to what we might think of as edible. Oak reported yesterday that one the hostas that was already growing in the back (one of our few existing plants) had been eaten.
Looking at these “old” garden pictures, I do need to post an update. Depsite the deer invasion, our garden has gotten considerably bigger and more colorful! The hydrangeas even have flowers now!
So yeah. Bring on the deer spray. Oak would prefer a more permanent fix but I’m pretty sure hunting is a prohibited activity in our subdivision…. 
May 18th, 2010 at 9:10 am
Awww, so sorry about the deer! That sucks! The desire for a more permanent fix did crack me up though.
Is there a door or something so people can get through the deer gate? I’ve never heard of a deer gate… I guess we didn’t have as many issues in IL with it? I dunno…
And I had read that people make their own spray with some cayenne pepper and soap oil… but that might not be enough for deer I guess…
May 18th, 2010 at 10:18 am
A more permanent solution sounds like a great idea for man night part deux.
May 18th, 2010 at 12:33 pm
Deer gate and spray doesn’t seem too overkill to me. My dad installed a 12 foot electric fence around his garden… If the garden was his only source of food I would understand.. but it’s mostly a hobby to pass the time so um.. a little much. ha ha.
have you looked into adding deer-deterrent plants? Certain plants give off a scent that the deer don’t like. I haven’t tried it though. we had so many loose dogs around our last house that the deer never came close and I’m holding off on a veggie garden until next year at the new house.
May 18th, 2010 at 12:42 pm
Hwa, LOL! I am pretty sure none of the neighbors would complain if you guys implemented the permanent solution. lol just think of all the sausage you could make too! haha.
Karen/Belinda, I have heard about people installing shocking devices to scare off the deer. Our gate thing is just plastic mesh fencing. Oak made it so it has some hooks so you can undo it in a few spots and get at the plants inside. We do have to spray the other plants that aren’t in the fence though !
We had planted marigolds (supposedly deer resistant) around the veggie garden. Obviously that didn’t work.. they did leave the marigolds alone though
May 18th, 2010 at 1:07 pm
I’m with Oak…I make a mean Venison Stew!
June 9th, 2010 at 10:12 pm
So sad to hear that you had an attack. I know the feeling. In Ny it was the woodchucks. For some reason they love watermelon. I was devastated when they were all half eaten after watching them grow on a daily basis…dang!
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