Never mind keeping the cats out...

[Adam Cheeseman]

Cheapest solution is to soak some strips of absorbent material with human urine. It works wonders at keeping roe deer away, and no it doesn't make the garden smell.

Cheers,

Adam

[Garden Carpet]

Originally Posted by Garden Carpet

b****** the flowers.. give me the dear... she is gorgous!

I have just come back to this thread and seen the spelling mistake... sorry.. the other was deliberate...she is a dear deer

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by Adam Cheeseman

Cheapest solution is to soak some strips of absorbent material with human urine. It works wonders at keeping roe deer away, and no it doesn't make the garden smell.

Cheers,

Adam

How did you work that out.

[jennyb]

Originally Posted by Adam Cheeseman

Cheapest solution is to soak some strips of absorbent material with human urine. It works wonders at keeping roe deer away, and no it doesn't make the garden smell.

Cheers,

Adam

I heard you have to use lion's pee which is quite difficult to get in this country!

Seriously, I don't think there is a foolproof solution to the deer problem other than a high wall or fence which is impossible in my garden (and probably Smartie's).

I think the only way is to plant things that deer don't want to eat. Tragus kindly provided a long list of these in a previous post last year. You can see it here
Flowers that deer don't eat.

However, this is a very limited list - none of your usual pretty "country garden" type flowers. My garden, in July and August is a terrible disappointment with virtually nothing flowering. I have even planted flowers in pots just underneath the windows of the house thinking that the deer would not want to come so close. Even that does not work - they come either during the night or very early in the morning before we get up and nip off all the flowers.

I have spent a fortune trying to dissuade them and have now given up. We get both muntjac and roe deer and they are all just as bad as each other.

On the plus side, of course, I just love to watch them

Here is a roe deer eating my Philadelphus on my back lawn



Jenny

[smartie]

The list of plants above contains a few that I have seen the deer eat, particularly in the spring when the shoots are young, but others that I'd agree are pretty resistant. You could add hellebores, snowdrops, agapanthus, sedum (they nibble the young shoots but it always seems to survive).

The main problem is not the flowers, which I suppose in the last resort I can do without, but the fruit and vegetables, which I would like to be able to eat myself We're trying to concentrate those in an area that we can net. Not the most aesthetically pleasing solution, but probably the best we can do. Though I might try the urine option to see if it works (or at least I might get Derek to ). How often do you need to renew it, Adam? I'm also quite taken with the idea of trying to make a couple of scarecrows, which might be fun. Don't want to scare the birds away, though

[DebbieP]

What a cutie! We've got muntjack deer that live in a cemetery near us - luckily they just live in the cemetery (it's surrounded by roads) so they don't venture out! My Mum is not so lucky however, she's been getting regular visits from roe deer, beautiful as they are they do like to munch everything in sight. I got her a deer repeller for Christmas but I couldn't wait to give it to her and she got it the weekend before last! I've had a couple of phone calls since announcing it's working - there's a sensor on it that the deer trigger and it turns on a radio and light, the deer charge off in the opposite direction without hestitation!! I like the idea because there's no way I'd want to hurt them. The cheapest place I could find was Deer repeller £26.95

I guess you could just stand outside with a torch...!

[dunlin]

Originally Posted by Kayleigh

I agree I would take the deer any day.

Im in the same camp as kayliegh and garden carpet. Id be absolutely over the moon to see deer in my garden.
cheers mark

[juliejam]

what a beautiful sight...I would welcome this with open arms..

Lovely photo..
Julie

[PMG]

I'd love this too - and badgers digging everything up and coming into the kitchen and scratting up the floor ........ if we ever win the lottery (and I don't do it so there prob isn't much chance!) but if his nibs comes up with a big win then we would move house - or poss build a house in a place where this was poss.......... in fact his nibs would start constructing a badger sett in the garden of the new house - before he did anything else!!

Pauline

[Cypress]

Jenny that pic is absolutely beautiful!!!

Smartie yours is too, but if it were me I'd plant whatever they like best and sod the flowers, lol!