Tips for a Deer Free Garden

While planning out the garden at our new house, I've really had to take the local deer into consideration.  Here are some great tips I've heard for keeping deer out of the backyard and away from your pretty flowers.

1.  Plant strongly smelling herbs (lavender, mint, chives, garlic) throughout the garden to mask the appealing smell of your flowers.


2.  Keep a tidy garden.  Pick ripened fruits and keep the lawn mowed. 

3.  Put up a fence or plant dense hedges to block deer from seeing the contents of your yard.  While deer can jump up to eight feet, this will make your yard less enticing than an exposed plant a few houses down.

4.  Deer are not natural climbers.  Create levels throughout your yard to make it more difficult for deer to reach your more appealing plants.

5.  Wind chimes, motion-activated lights and moving garden ornaments are likely to spook deer into leaving your yard.  Another fun idea is setting up motion-activated sprinklers throughout the yard!

6.  The scent and bark of a dog are excellent deer deterrents.

7.  Use fishing line as a barrier around your veggies!  String it about 2 to 3 feet above ground to confuse deer.  Eventually, they will give up and leave your plants alone.


The one thing I've heard over and over is that nothing is guaranteed to keep deer from snacking on your garden.  Maybe some of these tips will help to protect my yard this year - definitely worth a try!