A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Plant pests and problems Deer attacking the garden

Hi, Me and my husband are in our 60"s. We are very font of gardening so last year we shifted to the countryside for enjoying a calm and beautiful retirement life. There was around 2 acres of barren land around our house so we built a vegetable garden in our backyard. The soil here is very fertile and the best suiting to grow vegetables. There are plenty of vegetables in our garden. We spend our time watering and taking care of the plants. Our home is bordering a forest and something is continuously entering the garden and ruining it . Last year we lost a lot of vegetables and fruits. A group of deers is creating the mess. We build a fence around the garden but they came jumping the fence. I"m really afraid of deers . What can we do? My dad suggested me to spray animal urine near the fence but was of no use. I had tried many things to solve the issue but nothing worked out. Now we are planning to call an agency ( http://www.hawkeye.ca ) providing animal control services. Is it legal to evacuate wild deers? I didn"t wish to evacuate them but make them stay away from my garden. What is your opinion regarding consulting this agency?

Welcome, Leslie. There are a lot of things that will repel deer but nothing is a total success. The urine is one thing, Soap is another. I think it is non-coconut oil based soaps.
I found this and many others by googling soap as deer deterrent. "The best known deer repellent is ordinary bar soap. Hung from strings in trees or large shrubs, whether wrapped or unwrapped, the scent of the soap is said to keep deer away. Some people even attach soap bars to stakes, placed at 10- to 15-foot intervals along the perimeter of their property or garden area."
I hope this is helpful. Good luck!

very good idea, Tina, thanks

We are rural and can do this without any neighbor seeing - my husband urinates around the perimeter of our garden as often as he can. We see a lot of deer in other parts of our yard but have only had a deer in our garden once. Not sure if it's the urine or coincidence but he's gonna keep it up. Also deer do not like marigolds. My sister lives in WV and had a terrible time with herds of deer eating everything in her yard from shrubs to fruit to vegetables. They eat them to the ground. My sister and her husband planted I don't know how many marigolds along with their vegetables and the deer have stayed out of the garden. In the fall she's going to try planting shrubs around her house with marigolds interspersed but of course the marigolds will die when it gets freezing so we shall see.

I've heard of predator pee but never even considered human pee would actually be a deterrent, who knew. Glad I know this now. I'll have to tell my neighbor to pee near his hostas! The deer eat them like candy.

I don't think it really works because something ate the tops out of the sunflowers anyway. I've heard that deer love hosta but I have tons of it and it's never been bothered. Hope I didn't just jinx myself.