When you planted your garden, chances are you did so to create a picturesque and peaceful environment for your home, not an all-you-can-eat buffet for the local deer population. But that’s exactly what your lush landscape is to deer: it’s dinner — and breakfast and lunch.
When you planted your garden, chances are you did so to create a picturesque and peaceful environment for your home, not an all-you-can-eat buffet for the local deer population.
But that’s exactly what your lush landscape is to deer: it’s dinner — and breakfast and lunch.
However, there are a few ways to prevent deer from pigging out on your perennials, tearing down your trees and hogging your hosta. WTOP Garden Editor Mike McGrath shares his best advice.
(AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)
AP Photo/Amy Sancetta
Deer: D.C.’s Invasive Species
In the D.C. area, deer are everywhere. They wander into Virginia’s suburban gardens, hang out alongside commuter roads in Northwest D.C. and waltz through Maryland neighborhoods. The heavily-populated urban environment of the metropolitan area does not scare them away.
McGrath says one reason Washington has such a problem with deer is because the local deer are not native.
He says all of the deer in this part of the country were hunted to extinction pre-1900. To satisfy demand from hunters, deer were brought to the area on railroad cars from other parts of the county.
“The deer that came in are like an invasive species, and they’re probably presenting more of a problem than if we had coexisted with the native deer all those years,” McGrath says.
(AP Photo/Paula Froke)
AP Photo/Paula Froke
Dining Out: Deer and Their Diet
Like many Washingtonians, deer like to dine. In fact, they eat about eight pounds of green material a day. “It’s an enormous amount,” McGrath says.
They have their preferences — deer love hosta, azaleas, arborvitae and any vegetable garden — and tend to stay away from thick, heavy and thorny plants. However, nothing is off limits.
“If they are starving, deer will eat those plants as well,” McGrath says.
To keep deer at bay, many homeowners design their gardens to include only the plants that deter deer — although, this usually happens after replacing one too many hosta, McGrath says.
Interested in pursuing this option? McGrath recommends “Dr. Bridgen’s List of Plants that Deer Do Not Like to Eat” from Cornell University and “Plant Recommendations for the Deer-Infested Garden” from Mohonk Mountain House. Gardeners are generally pleased to find options such as snapdragon, verbena and boxwood on the list of plants rarely eaten by deer.
(AP Photo/Gary C. Knapp)
AP Photo/Gary C. Knapp
Deer-Resistant Gardening: A Local Example
Kay Taub’s home in Silver Spring, Maryland, backs up to the Northwest Branch — a park that’s home to hundreds of deer. After having several plants destroyed, Taub decided to plant a garden that’s, for the most part, not attractive to deer. It’s taken her about seven or eight years to build, but now she rarely has a problem.
In her front yard, Taub has daffodils instead of tulips, as well as peonies and mums, all of which the deer stay away from. In the back, she’s landscaped her garden to include a variety of ferns, hellebores and bishop’s weed. There are also native wildflowers, such as bluebells and bleeding heart, scattered throughout.
“It’s nothing spectacular; it’s just what the deer don’t eat,” Taub says.
She explains that deer are not deep-forest feeders, they’re border feeders, so growing the plants they like to eat encourages them to stop in for a meal.
“Everyone’s created the perfect habitat for them to eat in their yards,” she says. “We’re making it more deer-friendly by planting all of the things they like to eat.”
(WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
Raise the Fence
Perhaps the best option to keep deer from eating your garden and ruining your plants is to put up a fence. But McGrath is not talking about the average white picket.
“Lots of experimentation and research has led the universities to be completely happy with what’s called a deer fence,” McGrath says.
He describes this special fence as 8-feet tall and made of a fabric-like material that’s designed to be invisible from a distance.
“It’s kind of like a camouflage net; it blends into the background.”
Anything lower than that, and McGrath says, deer, who are excellent jumpers, will find their way in. They may even injure themselves in the process.
“That’s when people wake up to find a deer thrashing around in their yard or in their vegetable garden,” McGrath says.
“People with expensive landscaping who have the money just need to do it — they need to budget for [a professional deer fence] and get it done.”
(AP Photo/Dean Fosdick)
AP Photo/Dean Fosdick
Dog vs. Deer
Another way to ensure deer don’t come into your yard is to get a dog — especially one that likes to hang outside for hours on end.
McGrath says the explanation is simple: “Dogs hate deer, deer hate dogs.”
But if you go with this option, McGrath says it’s wise to also invest in some sort of invisible fence for Fido.
“If you can have a dog roaming free on your property, several hours a day, able to move around independently, but with a reminder not to chase the deer for eight miles, it’s hugely effective.”
(Thinkstock)
Thinkstock
The Hair of the Dog
Don’t have the kind of dog who can patrol your property for hours at a time? Your four-legged friend can still be of assistance in your efforts to protect the garden.
McGrath says mixing mulch with dog hair will also keep deer away, since they pick up on the smell.
“A tulip bed, for instance, mulched with dog hair is probably going to have a better chance of survival than a tulip bed sprayed with deer repellent,” he says.
Plus, the hair, which is full of nitrogen, helps to nourish the plant when it breaks down. Dog hair also keeps slugs away.
“So with hosta, which are prone to both deer and slug attacks, mulching with dog hair is a one-step fix,” McGrath says.
(Thinkstock)
Thinkstock
Do Repellents Really Repel?
McGrath says deer repellents are very effective if they are applied correctly and reapplied frequently, particularly throughout growing seasons and after heavy rain.
For optimal results, it’s best to rotate repellents so the deer don’t get too used to one particular kind. Most repellents are all-natural, made from ingredients such as garlic and hot peppers.
If you’re trying to protect a full-size plant, such as an arborvitae or large azalea, McGrath says to concentrate your spray approximately 32 inches off the ground, which is considered “browsing height” for deer.
This photo shows bushes that were eaten from the ground up to “browsing height.”
(WTOP/Rachel Nania)
WTOP/Rachel Nania
Trees: They’re Not Off Limits
McGrath says the bark on young trees is especially attractive to deer. “In the first few years of the tree, it’s like a salad green,” he says about the bark. “Young deer will nibble the bark, and if they nibble the bark in an entire circle, they’ll kill the tree.”
Older trees are not exempt from deer, either, despite their less-appetizing bark. Male deer use trees to help shape their antlers.
“They need to rub off the velvety coating that’s on their antlers, and they rub that off against landscaped trees and that can do a tremendous amount of damage,” McGrath says.
Protecting your trees is a difficult endeavor, McGrath says, since the best option is to grow the trees inside metal cages, such as 5- to 6-feet tall tomato cages.
“That’s why, if you’ve invested a lot of money in your landscaping and you have a nice house, you get a couple of bids and you pay a professional to put in the deer fencing,” McGrath says.
“Not only will you have rebuilt your landscaping for the last time, I imagine your blood pressure’s going to go down 20 points.”
(AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek)
