Popular Flower Types

There are many varieties of flowers, each with a different meaning and elegance. Some of the most popular flowers include roses, lilies, and sunflowers.

They come in a variety of colors, and are symbolic of rebirth, new beginnings, and eternal life. Other flowers, like daffodils, symbolize unrequited love.

Who isn’t in awe of the sight of a herd of graceful whitetail deer bounding across a meadow or along the edge of a forest in a Metro Park? With their signature white tails waving, they are truly a remarkable sight.

But their presence in the home garden or landscape is anything but remarkable when they chow down on lettuce and green beans in your vegetable garden, or hostas and arborvitae in your home landscape.

With continued development and wildlife habitat loss in Greater Columbus, as well as the adaptability and docile nature of these creatures in both urban and suburban environments, many gardeners and homeowners face the dilemma of gardening in an environment where deer are present and sometimes hungry. Let’s look at some options for minimizing deer damage to your favorite plants in the garden and home landscape.

Coexisting with critters takes ingenuity to make plant buffet less appetizing

Diagnosing the damage

The first step to managing any pest is to positively identify the culprit. If you experience damage to plants in your garden or landscape, be sure to closely examine the damage to determine if it is being caused by deer, or some other species of wildlife. Foliage and twigs eaten by deer will have ragged edges, as deer lack upper incisor teeth, so they eat by tearing off plant matter. If damaged plants have clean cuts, the damage is likely from rabbits or groundhogs. Another indicator of deer damage is the height of the damage, as deer can feed up to a height of 6 feet.

during the fall breeding season from October through January. As males rub the dried velvet from their antlers, they destroy the bark and cambium layer of young or small trees and woody plants.

Using repellants

The use of repellants can deter deer from specific plants, especially when deer pressure is low. Wildlife repellants typically contain ingredients which have an unpleasant odor, taste or both, making the plants less attractive to deer and other wildlife.

Repellants containing an unpleasant taste seem to work better than those which only contain an unpleasant odor. Most repellants contain a decomposing egg product, or capsaicin, which is a derivative of hot pepper. Some wildlife repellants may also contain blood meal or wildlife urine.

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human hair can sometimes repel deer for a short period of time.  Cut bars of soap into pieces and place them in nylon or cheesecloth and hang around the garden. Human hair from a barbershop or salon, placed around the garden can also repel deer, albeit for a short period of time.

Scare tactics

Deer are easily startled, and motion-detection scare devices which use water, light, or sound can cause deer to avoid plants protected by these devices. Battery- and solar-powered, motion-detected sprinklers and spotlights are inexpensive and can be very effective at keeping deer away from specific areas of your garden or yard. For maximum effectiveness, move these devices around weekly to keep deer confused about their specific location.  Deer are creatures of habit, and they easily get accustomed to these devices if they remain in the same location.

When deer pressure is low, certain low-tech scare devices such as tin pie pans tied to a stake, streamers, mylar strips, and even cloth flags can sometimes deter deer for a short period of time. When these items move with the wind, they can startle deer and cause them to avoid the area.

Physical barriers such as fences can protect plants if the fence is tall enough or designed in a way to exclude these high jumpers. Deer can jump over an 8-foot-tall fence which they can see through, so fences made of woven wire will need to be 10-12 feet tall to completely exclude deer. 

Deer are less comfortable jumping over a solid fence or a wall which they cannot see through, so fences made from solid materials such as a stockade fence, can be shorter, perhaps 6 feet tall, to effectively exclude deer.

Temporary electric fencing can also be an effective method to protect a garden or orchard from deer. String one wire of electric fence on plastic posts about 30 inches above the ground, scatter a few strips of tin foil over the wire and place a dab of peanut butter on the tin foil. The smell of the peanut butter will attract the deer and when they touch the peanut butter with their nose or tongue, they will receive a shock.

April weather good for planting cool-season veggies like lettuce

Another effective deer fencing strategy is to run two wires or fences parallel to each other about 30 inches apart, creating a fence within a fence. While deer have an almost 360-degree line of sight, they have very poor depth perception. They are more comfortable jumping over something 8 feet high, than something 3 feet deep. Fences constructed at a 45-degree angle will also confuse deer, and they avoid jumping over these types of fencing.

Physical barriers such as netting, chicken wire or even cloth row covers typically used for insect exclusion or frost protection can also be used to protect certain crops from deer. In the vegetable garden, this strategy works best with shorter crops.

Choose deer-resistant plants

The best strategy for minimizing deer damage in the garden or home landscape is to select plants which are unpalatable to deer. In general, deer will avoid plants with the following characteristics: bitter or spicy taste; strong fragrance; bitter, milky sap; thorns; and hairy or fuzzy foliage.

go.osu.edu/deerresistantplants. Combining different control strategies discussed above will be more effective than reliance on a single control strategy.

Mike Hogan is an Extension educator, Agriculture and Natural Resources, and associate professor with Ohio State University Extension. hogan.1@osu.edu

Source: dispatch.com