Comments on: Deer, Deer http://blog.plantsgalore.com/?p=70 Tue, 07 Oct 2014 20:39:27 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5 By: mrpgc http://blog.plantsgalore.com/?p=70#comment-314177 mrpgc Tue, 16 Sep 2014 22:43:23 +0000 http://blog.plantsgalore.com/?p=70#comment-314177 Eric,

Sorry for the extreme delay in responding to your question. I had to suspend work on the blog for a while to attend to some personal demands.

Anyway, repellants are about the only real option for most hosta gardens. In working with gardeners for several decades, I have heard people swear by and swear at every type of repellant both commercial or home-made. In the end, they all work as long as they are kept on the leaf consistently throughout the growing season. The real problem is that most gardeners are busy doing other things and they let the repellants wear off in the rain. It can be tough keeping it on all the time especially if you have heavy deer populations that will eat the hostas the night that it has worn off enough.

In my garden, I am able to prevent most damage with routine sprays. However, if new flower buds form after the last time I sprayed the plants, I find that the deer will eat them but not eat the leaves that have repellent on them.

So, regardless of what you use the key is that it must be on the leaf surface when the deer bends over to take a whiff.

Ralph aka Mr PGC

]]> By: Eric Eggen http://blog.plantsgalore.com/?p=70#comment-261731 Eric Eggen Mon, 05 May 2014 00:36:16 +0000 http://blog.plantsgalore.com/?p=70#comment-261731 Thank you for your very thoughtful and thought-provoking blog. I just moved to my retirement home on a ridge in the Blue Ridge Mountains. My property is bordered by a national forest, so I expect deer and lots of other critters to visit. I am a fan of hostas, aka “deer lettuce”. I am going to try to grow them here, limiting my prevention attempts to using repellants. Are there any brands that show superior results? Should more than one brand be used on an alternating basis to change the odor?

Thanks for your contributions to my knowledge and that of other gardeners.

]]> By: mrpgc http://blog.plantsgalore.com/?p=70#comment-626 mrpgc Tue, 05 Mar 2013 16:46:49 +0000 http://blog.plantsgalore.com/?p=70#comment-626 Hi,
The key parts of your question include the words fence and low cost. Those two factors are usually not compatible unfortunately. Other than electric fencing, the only other “low cost” fence I have heard of is placing two rows of snow fence (about 4 feet tall) with about a 4 or 5 foot space in between the two rows. Deer seem to be unwilling to make the two leaps that close together for some reason. A hostaphile in Ohio who has several thousand cultivars in his collection has used this method for years with great success. The downside, as I see it, is that it is not very aesthetically pleasing.
Good Luck!

]]> By: Tina Siebers http://blog.plantsgalore.com/?p=70#comment-622 Tina Siebers Mon, 04 Mar 2013 19:46:19 +0000 http://blog.plantsgalore.com/?p=70#comment-622 We have a huge problem with deer (herd) in our yard/gardens. Our back yard is bordered by a county park. I am looking into a way to keep them out.. A fence seems to be the only alternative. With the cost of fencing is a problem for we have 1 1/3 yard. Part of which is an orchard. Any suggests on a low cost fence. Electric is not a question.

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