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| Male deer photographed in my neighbors yard a few years ago. |
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| Mother and baby deer photographed using my drone just last year. |
I have grown daylilies for over 25 years. In that time I have found the deer population has grown immensely in my area. Deer love to eat daylilies. It's like ice cream to them. And once they get a taste of them, they remember and they come back. Usually until the food source is completely depleted. I live in Mayfield Heights, Ohio. It is a small suburb on the east side of Cleveland. There are no predators here for the deer and hunting is not allowed. Houses are right next to one another so shooting would be too dangerous for the people living here. This has allowed the deer population to explode here. It is not unusual to see deer in my neighborhood on a daily basis. I tried to put up a 7.5 foot fence around my property in the front yard in 2021, (which worked perfectly to keep the deer out) but the city I live in forced me to take down the fence. I had to figure out the best options to keep the deer away without using fencing. Before I show you what I use, let me say that there is no singular thing you can use that will keep them away. You have to use deterrents and repellants in combination. Here are the things that I use to keep the deer away:
Patriot plug in fence chargers connected to electric wires. I like this model above because it sends a strong shock to the deer. It does not kill them or hurt them, but it's strong enough for them to remember it. I tried using solar fence chargers in the beginning but the shock wasn't strong enough to keep them away. The plug in models are the absolute best. I put the wires around the garden on 6 foot posts about 12 inches apart. Once a deer is shocked, it usually avoids that area. This is probably the most important part of my protection around the garden.
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| Orbit motion detecting sprinkler |
I mainly use this at night, but it is excellent at all times of the day. The one thing you need to figure out is how to have a continuous flow of water going to the sprinkler. I found you have to use plumbers tape and gaskets to keep the hoses from leaking. I don't turn the spigot on full either. Just enough to refill the sprinkler once it's set off. The only downside to using these is that they are useless when it rains. That's a problem. That's where the electric wires come in to back this up. Now we get on to the liquid repellents.
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| Trico Pro Deer Repellent |
This comes in a 2.5 gallon jug pre mixed. I use a one gallon pump sprayer to apply it, but I would recommend a backpack sprayer for better coverage. I have found that this is ideal to apply to the foliage of the daylilies, but when I have sprayed it on the daylilies buds, the deer would still eat them. When I spray Trico Pro around the outside perimeter of the garden, this is the first thing the deer smell that repels them. Now here's the best part....it's rain proof. Rain proof for about 3 months. Trico Pro is very expensive. Over $200 for this pre mixed jug, but for me it's a necessary evil. Like I said earlier, you have to use these things in combination. Trico Pro is a good tool to keep the deer away.
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| Green Screen baggies |
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| Larger image of a Green Screen baggie |
This is one of my MOST important tools in my arsenal of repellents. These baggies are made out of meat meal and cayenne pepper. You hang them on stakes around the garden. They too last about 2 to 3 months, even if they get rained on. I have found when a daylily is in bloom and not protected by the electric wires, I will surround the flower buds with these baggies and it really works well. The combination of these baggies and the Trico Pro are almost bullet proof. They do an excellent job of repelling the deer, but you still need more.
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| Bobbex deer repellent |
This is probably the best pre mixed spray I have used spraying on the daylily buds. I have to warn you it does stink. Not the most pleasant smelling stuff, but works better than others I have tried. Bobbex is NOT rain proof, so you do have to re apply after rains. It does tend to stay on to a degree after repeated sprayings. I would not count on this product by itself. You have to use the others above in combination.
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| Hellfire Doomed Hot Sauce |
Now here is something new I have just started to try. Deer have very sensitive senses of smell. So, I figured what better way to keep them away then to put hot sauce in various locations. I decided to put some of the hot sauce on a couple of the Green Screen baggies. Problem is the rain will wash the hot sauce off, so I put the baggies in protected locations. I was fairly impressed with the results. The deer appear to avoid these baggies. They were eating our Rose of Sharon bushes out front, so I hung baggies with some hot sauce on them in the bushes and the deer stopped eating them. WARNING! You have to use gloves and wear a mask when working with this sauce. It has capsaicin in it and it's nothing to mess around with. BE CAREFUL! I wouldn't count on this as being full proof yet, as I am just experimenting with it. I will be trying it again this year to see if it helps.
Now, there are a lot of other products on the market. Every one brags about using Milorganite, but I have found the deer eventually get used to it and pass right by it to eat daylilies. Also there are people that claim that Irish Spring soap or using human hair from the barber shop will deter them, but I can give you video proof that neither work. There are other deer spray repellants that work to a degree. Liquid Fence has worked for some, but not me. I have sprayed it on the daylily buds and the deer just consume them any way. There are motion detecting lights that flash. They kind of annoy the deer at first, but then the deer just walk by them once they are used to them. I am always looking for new technology. I wanted to share some of my experience here today and I hope they invent something that works better. For now, these things are the best that I've used.
