How to Keep Deer Out of Your Garden?

When you see a tiger chasing a deer, you naturally feel pity for the deer. But if a group of deer enters your garden and devours everything you’ve nurtured—vegetables, fruits, flowers, shrubs, and even young trees—how would you feel then? 

Yes, these gorgeous-looking creatures can become your nightmare, if you don’t take effective precautions to prevent them from entering your garden. So, how to keep deer out of garden and protect the plants of your garden? 

Here, we will discuss 7 simple ways to protect your garden from deer-attacks. So, keep reading and keep deer out of your garden. 

1.Install High Wire Fencing

The first and most effective thing you can do to prevent deer attacks is to install high wire fencing around your garden. Deer can be strong and tall; therefore, you should choose high wire fencing rather than weak, aesthetic fencing. However, wire fencing might not look very appealing. You have to compromise on that and may only use wire fencing for backyards.

2.Grow Deer-Resistant Plants

While fruit and vegetable plants attract deer, plants like herbs, scented blooms, and boxwood hedges are considered deer-resistant. Deer don’t like the texture and strong odor of these plants. You can grow these plants in the surrounding area of your favorite plants or along the garden boundary so that deer do not find your garden attractive.

3.Protect Trees Individually

Apart from installing wire fencing, you can try to protect small fruit and flower trees individually by installing chicken wire fencing or plant cages. If you grow vegetables in your garden, you can elevate the vegetable bed and then install a physical barrier around the bed.

4.Use Natural Deer-Repellent Spray

You can use a strong odor to keep deer out of the garden. For that, I would recommend creating your own deer-repellent spray naturally.
For one liter of natural deer-repellent spray:

• Take 1 liter of water,
• Add 6 tablespoons of cayenne pepper 
• Add 2 tablespoon of clove dust, and mix it well in the water.

Then pour the mixture into a spray bottle and regularly spray it all over your garden. This spray will also help keep rabbits out of your garden.

5.Keep Your Favorite Plants Close to Home

A group of deer needs a lot of food for survival, and this is why they can eat different types of greenery. However, they look for nutritious plants for their babies. Therefore, they might target your fruit-bearing trees and vegetables for their high nutrient and protein content. You can plant these trees near your home so that you can keep an eye on them.

6.Use Motion-Activated Deterrents 

There are different types modern motion-sensor devices available in the market or online that can scare deer away from your garden. These devices include a sprinklers, ultrasonic sound emitters, or lights and a sensor to detect the movement. When the device will detect any movement by deer, it will sprinkle water, emit sound, or flash lights to frighten the deer. Therefore, motion-activated device can be an effective option to discourage deer from entering your backyard.

7.Work on Your Garden Landscape

You can strategically plant all the trees in your garden to naturally deter deer. To protect the deer-favorite plants, you can surround them by fragrant herbs. So, basically, you will create a physical boundary of the plants that deer tend to avoid and you can do it while uplifting beauty of your garden. If you know which plants deer like and which they tend to avoid, you can choose your plants wisely and organize your garden better to avoid deer-attacks.

Here’s a list of deer-attractive plants and deer-repellent plants-

Frequently Asked Questions: