Two sweet little fawns still wearing their spots gazed at me with large, liquid eyes. Their noses twitched, testing the breeze, and their heads turned on delicate necks, back and forth between me and mother doe who stood watching warily. One of the fawns decided I was OK and advanced on spindly legs to the edge of the garden where it nibbled daintily on the lamb’s ears growing in the border. This little guy still had yet to discover that deer don’t like fuzzy leaves. I stood as if frozen like a deer caught in car headlights, but finally I roused myself from enchantment and made enough noise and motion to chase away, once again, these semi-wild visitors to the Schillen Deer Cafe.

Enchantment and frustration -- those are two emotions that often trip over each other when gardeners come face-to-face with the ubiquitous deer. Part of you wants to run for the camera, another part of you wants to run wildly towards them with windmilling arms until they get the message: "This garden is not a salad bar for deer!”
 
After ten years of battling Bambi, and talking to many gardeners who have been doing the same, I have come to one conclusion: The only foolproof deterrent to deer is a tall fence. Other tactics work for a while, but deer are not dumb and they get used to things. Without that tall fence, you have to keep changing your approach, since nothing works indefinitely.

During summer, deer browse around and do little damage, just taking a nibble or two here and there. They increase their garden raids, however, as fall advances and wild foods become more scarce. Here is the lowdown on how you can try to protect your garden. But I make no promises.

Build a fence that is seven feet tall, and even taller on slopes. Deer supposedly cannot jump any higher than seven feet unless they have an uphill advantage. The fence doesn't have to be nearly solid, like chainlink or boards, but deer do crawl under and between strands of wire that are set too far apart. Electric fences may or may not work. For three years we had good luck with a five-foot electric fence strung around a field. One young buck finally became hungry and bold enough to ignore the shock. When we startled him inside the garden one day, he butted his head repeatedly against the wires, feet in solid contact with the ground all the while, until he finally crashed through.

My husband, accommodating spouse that he is, personally tested the wires to make sure they were, indeed, hot. Yeow!! They sure were.

After that first break-in, the garden was raided regularly, so we gave up on the electric fence and added more strands of wire to make them closer, and a chicken wire extension on the top to make it taller. We called it our garden gulag.

Chicken wire is reputed to deter deer, and it has consistently worked for us at a different garden site. Closer to the house we have a fence that is merely five feet tall constructed of chicken wire attached to cedar posts. Giving lie to my previous advice to build tall fences, I have to say this shorter fence has kept the deer out for ten years, even though they have worn a path around the perimeter. This garden is packed full of raised beds built from cedar boards. The beds eliminate clear landing areas, so we speculate that the deer are wary of being injured by trying to jump in. They are not dummies.

In tough situations with particularly persistent deer, you can build a double fence, with five feet between them. It’s spendy, but this set-up also keeps deer from attempting to jump in.

Curtain fences are another practical style of fence in some settings. To construct one, hang 1/8-inch cable between trees, posts, or structures, eight feet above the ground. Then use wire to suspend six-foot orchard fence from the cable, hanging so it just touches the ground. Anchor it with u-shaped staples made from rebar. You don't have to dig fence post holes with this construction method, but be careful you don't girdle any trees.

One gardener told me about a fence with a top section that faces outward: It starts out with a vertical fence four feet tall, and an additional four-foot extension on top points away from the garden, creating a 45° overhang. This type of fence should be no more than six feet from garden plants to be effective.

Cages
Build cages from chicken wire or other materials you have on hand around individual plants that need protection. Cages are not usually what people have in mind for visual appeal, but they do protect young fruit trees and shrubs from being nibbled away until they have a chance to outgrow the deer’s reach.

Repellents
Virtually dozens of repellents have been tried by inventive and very desperate gardeners. They all work for a short while, but none works forever, because deer get accustomed to them. The trick, therefore, is to switch repellents every few weeks. Here are the ones most often recommended.

Egg and water spray is made by whizzing two eggs in a blender filled with water. Spray plants regularly, from every few days to every week, and repeat after rain.

Ro-Pel and other commercial animal repellents also do the job for a while. It is the most God-awful bitter tasting stuff you will ever encounter, if you somehow get it in your mouth. Stand upwind of plants you are spraying; and before beginning, put a plastic bag over your hand to keep the repellent from dripping onto your skin. Better yet, two or three plastic bags would be better.

Dry bloodmeal sprinkled in a thin band around plants or garden beds seems to work pretty well, but it has to be reapplied every few weeks and after rain. Some dogs will lap up bloodmeal as if you put it down just for them. Bloodmeal adds nitrogen to the soil that can be advantageous during most of the year, but it can stimulate unwanted growth when used in late summer and fall just before frost occurs.

Dogs also keep deer away. At least that's what I hear from gardeners who have big dogs that are given free rein to run around the property. A toothless bark from a non-mobile dog will not frighten deer for very long, since deer soon catch on that there is no real threat.

Other miscellaneous repellents used with varying degrees of success include bird netting, dog hair, human hair, bags of blood meal, chunks of soap (everyone has their favorite brand that is the best), clothes dryer fabric softener sheets, garlic spray, and fishing line hung or strung from branches of the plants that are at risk.

Some gardeners have gone to great lengths to obtain wild animal manure and urine from zoos and wildlife preserves. Coyote urine is actually bottled for sale for this purpose. Plopped and dribbled strategically around the garden, reports are that it does not faze deer for very long. And don’t ask how they collect urine from a coyote.

Now this last suggestion we have not tried, but some gardeners swear by marking their territories themselves, much like other animals do. They claim that a little au natural stroll around the garden perimeter, with strategic rest stops along the way, does the job with great efficiency.

Deer-Proof Plants (But don’t get your hopes up!)
Sunset Western Garden Book and several other publications offer lists of plants that deer will not eat. The only problem is, deer have not read those lists. I haven’t seen a list yet that the deer in my own neighborhood have not made a liar out of.

A little more accurate are the lists of plants that deer do eat. That’s because they will eat just about anything.

In general, however, deer pass up the strong-scented and strong-tasting plants. I use perennial herbs successfully as landscape plants that co-exist happily among the herds. Their strong flavors don't please the palates of most deer. They might sample a little here and there, but they don't graze them down to the ground.

Tests and experiments on deer control are going on at universities around the country at this very moment, and it will probably always be thus. Whenever researchers figure out something new, it is only a matter of time before the deer seem to figure it out too, and we are right back to square one. You might as well get used to it.