The Best Deer Repellent || How to Deer Proof Your Garden 🌸 Bricks 'n Blooms

Do deer decimate your gardens? Today, I am sharing the best deer repellent products that I use and providing deer proof garden strategies that work for me. I live in northern NJ, Zone 6a and the deer population in my area is very high in my locality. Because deer are a major challenge here, I employ a variety of strategies to keep deer out of my garden. If you have methods that you use to keep deer away from plants, please let me know in the comments below. Thanks for joining me today! 🌸

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Stacy Ling
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[joepugh]

I just had an incredible duh moment I'd like to share. We recently ran out of Liquid Fence and I said as much to one of the landscapers who serve our yard. he mentioned some kind of mint spray that smells a lot better. I thought for a moment about shopping online for it and then I realized...we have invasive spearmint growing in our yard which I have to prune periodically! So I took some, soaked it in water and have been using the effusion to spray our flowers with. Three weeks of biweekly spraying and no deer damage! No harmful chemicals, no plastic packaging, no hydrocarbons to deliver to store, no cost to me! A perfect green solution!

[shauna-leeventola]

I live in New Jersey also. My 1 1/2 acre yard backs up to a very deep wooded area with a stream connected to a lake. There are many critters in there especially deer. When we first moved here the deer used to bed down on my front lawn because this house was abandoned until we bought it. I guess they got used to being here. I wanted to start landscaping my new house but the deer would not leave! I have tried many things that were mentioned by others, the Irish Spring soap, the pepper, commercial repellants (which are costly)…etc. I tried it all. One day I decided to try making my own. I bought a 2 gallon sprayer, put two-3 squirts of Dr Bonners Peppermint Castile Soap plus 20 drops or so of Peppermint Essential Oil (cheap one) and fill with water. I spray that on my gardens at night once a week when there is no rain and for the past 7 years I get no deer or rabbits eating my gardens. I have Hydrangea and Hostas galore ….my flower gardens are lush and large filled with all kinds of perennial flowers like Cone flowers, Black Eyed Susan’s, African Daises, Day Lillies, you name it I have it…with pathways and little “rooms”. The deer will sometimes walk up but they smell that minty smell around the perimeter and never cross it. Occasionally there is a brave one, but I have witnessed one nibble on a burning bush that I sprayed a few days before and it ran off. It is a very affordable tactic and works wonderfully. Does not use harsh chemicals and does not harm the plants or pollinators. Give it a try…it works great.

[Afterburner]

I started playing the sounds of deer predators on random nights here on my ranch in Northern California outside of my kitchen garden which was under heavy deer pressure. Since I started doing this, the deer have left the area and do not come back. I'm alternating with sounds of coyotes, mountain lions and even the T-Rex sounds of Jurrasic Park - The deer literally are terrified to be anywhere near the place ;>) My garden has never been so thankful ;>)

[SnoqualmieValleyGardenGirl]

Last year the deer ate my apple trees, flowers almost everything I planted.
I started looking up deterrents and found some recipes.
The one I make is 2 cups of water, two eggs, 1 garlic clove or 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 TVs vegetable oil, 1 tbs dish soap and 1 tsp cayenne pepper. I blend it in my Nutra-bullet, run it through a strainer then put it in a spray bottle. I let the bottle sit in the sun a couple days so the eggs rot. I apply it to my plants once every couple weeks in dry weather and directly after a rain. So far it’s working well. I am in the outskirts of the Seattle Wa area. We have deer, elk, rabbits and raccoons. It is a battle for sure!

[ropaynter]

We use moth balls and they seem to work and you don’t have to replace after rain! Also slivers of Irish Spring soap we tie on some branches with small netting bags gotten at Michaels (found in the wedding shower section)! Hope this helps someone! Good luck everyone!

[cherengland]

I put the flower pinwheels you get at the dollar store all over my garden. It has kept the deer for the most part out of my garden. Once in a while I'll get one that sneakes it's head over my fence, but it has worked. I use a ton of them It looks like I'm growing them. my neighbors joke that I'm trying to grow. My garden has grown for 5 years now and we have deer that will sit across the street, but not in my yard.

[Pets-n-Treats]

I read somewhere to put bay leaves in the holes of rodents and pests and they will leave. I tried it on the mouse holes (I only suspect its mice) on my property and it worked. I no longer find piles of freshly dug dirt in my grass. I wonder if it would work for groundhogs. Bay leaves are easy to get and cheap, if you have never tried that it's worth a try.

[claytonbenignus]

I use Firecrackers, Bird Tape, and Wolf Urine. My second line of defense is a Hunting License, a Deep Freeze, and a Friendship with a Meat Processor/Sausage Maker.

[amberlyonferguson]

Oh my goodness I needed this video! I just spent over an hour putting up deer netting on all my plants they love. I do this every evening and it wears me out. Most of my herbaceous border plants are deer resistant but they have been known to eat anything in our neighborhood. I am going to try the spray for sure!

[ernestmezei]

Groundhogs: We had a problem with a groundhog digging a hole on the side of a concrete staircase at the front of the house. It actually dug a hole on both sides of the stair case and probably used the inside of the stairs to escape a predator. I kept on filling up the holes on both sides and it kept on digging it out again. I ended up purchasing two 12x12 inch mirrors and blocked both sides of the hole. I never had a problem with it after that and I assumed that the pest came around and saw its reflection and it figured that there is another groundhog living there.

[vickiesorenson]

Lots of money going out on these products .

[msnetnetjones]

Great info! Beginner gardener here so I will be applying these techniques. Deer practically live on our streets! lol Thanks bunches!

[susanschellberg]

Excellent advice. I've been combining deer resistant plants and non resistant. I use many of the techniques you mentioned. This year I switched to a concentrate spray, with a minty scent, called We Must Garden. I apply every Monday (so I don't forget) and more often after extended rain. Maryland 7a. Last winter I planted garlic cloves around my pansies and the deer and rabbits completely left them alone. I currently only plant deer resistant plants but have a large number of hostas and daylilies that predate the deer problem. I also use deer scram and start spraying as soon as plants break ground. I have a lot of plants but spraying usually takes no more than 30 minutes.

[jrockafellow]

5/31/2022. I appreciate the effort you made in producing this video. I believe it can really help me to protect my flowers from the deer, possibly even the rabbits.

[lydiannaturalslydiasaunder]

Thank you so much for this video!🙌💓🙌 I’m also wondering if it will hurt any of my pollinator insects? I’m planning a native pollinator garden for the butterflies and bees wanna make sure it’s gonna be OK for them if they’re on the flowers.

[irvingluna]

I lived in Jersey for over 25 years and luckily never had an issue with deer, now I live in SC and they’re visiting my yard. My question is how far apart do you have your fence (double) from each other. Great advice!! Thanks

[jeannesmith]

Yeah another thing is that last year I didn't spray with the egg yolk and water Hayden Hayden my hostas but this year I'm going to do it and make sure I've been doing for years so that's it really does work I use other stuff like hot sauce and garlic and even with eggshells I just put it all in there take a paintbrush and just throw it animals it seems to keep everything

[HookedandRooted]

Hi there! New sub here and glad to have found your channel. Your formal garden and zen garden are beautiful!! Did you build these gardens from scratch? That's what we're currently doing in our gardens since we started with a blank slate. These are great tips for deer control. We have a ton of deer!! I actually cried when they took out all my day lilies in 1 night (petty I know but they only bloom 1 time a year!). I have used deer scram, but not the other spray. I'll add that to my arsenal! I have also used invisible fence and bobbex which work well when I'm consistent. That's the hard part! Thanks for sharing.

[lydiannaturalslydiasaunder]

Are the deer scram spray and granules natural? Safe for eating? Thanks!

[dianegentry]

I Must Garden deer repellent is good too. Minty smell. Does well.
Thanks for the info.