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I planted Cherry tomatoes in my garden and the plant grew perfectly. However, I live in a deer infested state and all my cherry tomatoes have been eaten by deer for the past two years. This year I am hoping to actually get to taste my tomatoes. I also already tried putting a short of miniature fence around the plant but the deer stuck its head through my fence and ate my tomatoes.

Evergreen
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  • If you don't mind me asking, how big is your garden and what is the relative size of your property? – Rob Apr 23 '19 at 18:02

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Deer take serious fencing.

So, fence seriously, further from the plants, and use deer netting which they cannot stick their heads through (they can fit their entire bodies through spaces you'd not think they could, and they can jump more than 6 feet.)

Otherwise, expect another year of growing plants to feed deer with.

Ecnerwal
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This solution may or may not be available to you but works very well. If you can, get yourself a dog. I would suggjest you get yourself a dog which is very trainable and is... well... rather loud. Personally, I like the idea of a hound. From what I understand it is rather easy to train a hound to chase off dear and other wildlife and their natural propensity is to have more bark than bite but since bark is all you need a hound is ideal for warding off wildlife. I have never done it myself but I know a few people who have and apparently the results are excellent. I have even heard storys of hounds being able to ward off larger wildlife like bears and mountain lions (I live in Montana) so there's that.

Rob
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  • Unless you are farming at a scale where the dog is reasonably considered a "working dog" and you have adequate time to work with it, this is frankly terrible advice (perhaps you should try it before you give it as advice?) – Ecnerwal Apr 23 '19 at 16:14
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    @Ecnerwal How exactly is, getting a dog, terrible advice? You realize billions of people across the world have dogs and nearly every single farmer in history, ever, has one for a similar purpose, right? As opposed to your solution which could cost thousands of dollars? – Rob Apr 23 '19 at 16:32
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    Well, lets's see. Vet bills, dog food, dog care 365 days per year, for someone who only wants to keep deer out of a garden for perhaps 150 days a year and could do that for mere hundreds of dollars for any normal sized garden. The dog will definitely cost thousands, barring cruelty. You get a dog because you want a dog and are willing to care for it, not because you don't want deer. That's without even getting into the fact that dogs chasing deer are very difficult to train to STOP chasing them when they run off your property, and your dog may be legally killed for harassing & killing deer. – Ecnerwal Apr 23 '19 at 16:40
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    Oh and should I start rattling off as many of the benefits of having a dog as I can think of? You wouldn't have to train a dog not to chase off dear, you would just need a leash and a hound is incapable of killing or even catching a deer for that matter. I suppose it wouldn't cost too much if the OP was okay with having a 6 foot high wooden fence around the garden (talk about an eyesore) assuming the garden is only 15x15 feet how sure are you we aren't talking about a 250x250 ft garden? You certainly didn't ask. – Rob Apr 23 '19 at 16:46
  • Besides I already mentioned, in my original post, that a dog may not be an option. That's for the OP to decide and I am pretty sure they would need no help from you doing it. – Rob Apr 23 '19 at 16:49
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    Can you be more specific about breed than "a hound"? AKC recognized 35 vastly different hound breeds from Dachshunds to Irish Wolfhounds. Where did you get the idea that they're "more bark than bite"? They were all bred to **hunt** wildlife -- that's where the word "hound" came from -- and are often very independent from their people on the chase since people generally can't keep up. – Niall C. Apr 23 '19 at 17:38
  • Well define "hunt", they weren't bread to kill wild game if that's what your suggesting. The folks I am specifically referring to have a basset hound. – Rob Apr 23 '19 at 17:51
  • When we had a collie, the deer respected the collie and did not come down from the ridge behind our house much. The collie died, and we replaced it with a (small) sheltie. The deer not only came down to the house then, they liked to line up on the hillside and laugh as we walked the dog. Nothing worse than deer laughter. The larger dog, the better. A better idea is to direct the deer away from your house, if possible. I made trails through my woods for me, but the deer loved the ease of access from one end of the property to the other and rarely bothered us after that. Except in "bad" winters – Jurp Apr 24 '19 at 23:15
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This maybe isn't the best solution and certainly not fool proof, but could be effective when combined with another option, such as the fencing. I've heard of numerous products and tricks to repel deer from desirable plants. I'll list a few cheap, readily available options here.

  1. Human hair - It's been said that the scent of human hair can be enough to repel deer just by association with humans. Try using the hair from your hairbrush or combs and spread it around the base of your plants. A little gross, but my mother uses this trick on her hosta plants.

  2. Irish Spring Soap - Another option of something cheap that deer are repelled by. Grab a pack of Irish Spring bar soap and either cut it into pieces to scatter around your plants or use a knife to scrape off smaller pieces to make more use of the bar. This is another trick my mother uses and this one lasts a fairly good amount of time. The soap doesn't dissolve too rapidly and shouldn't bother your plants too much.

  3. Cayenne Pepper or garlic - Haven't tried this one but more supposedly repellent smells for deer. The main drawback to this one is that you need to reapply often, as rain will quickly wash this away.

  4. Commercial Products - There are numerous spray products that are available that are designed to repel deer. This Washington post article breaks down a lot of different options and products.

In summary, you may need to adjust your fencing and look to a few of these repellent options to effectively protect your garden from pesky deer.

Steve-o169
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