This last month our yard has been the home to the cutest White-tailed Deer triplets. It's fun to watch them frolic, play and graze--as long as it's not in my garden. Earlier this season they leveled 18 hostas, half my raspberry bushes and an assortment of other plants. They're particular fond of my tall garden phlox...
Last year I faithfully applied my home-made deer repellent (a smelly concoction of fermented eggs, garlic and milk) and the deer stayed at a distance of the odoriferous plants. Since I didn't have an issue with the deer destroying anything last season, I guess I assumed that this year would be the same. It probably would have been had I applied the repellent...
Now my plants are soaked in the spray--they stink and supposedly taste terrible--and the triplets haven't even nibbled at a leaf. Here's the yummy recipe:
Home-Made Deer Repellent
1 cup milk
2 eggs
5 cloves of minced garlic
(If I only had a cow, the above ingredients would all be from my property!)
1 tbsp cooking oil
2 tbsp liquid dish soap
Whisk the above ingredients together and transfer to a glass jar. Place the jar in a sunny location for one week. Then add to one gallon water and spray liberally on plants. Reapply after rain.
Those deer are so cute! Wildlife -- a blessing and a curse. So wonderful to have the wildlife right out your back door, but not so wonderful to have them nibbling on your plants! Those deer would have to be pretty hungry to eat your plants after being sprayed with your concoction -- whew, sounds really smelly!
ReplyDeleteDeer...they are cute, as long as their in someone else's yard and not eating your plants, right? Nice job concocting a repellant that worked!
ReplyDeleteThey are just so ethereal looking and beautiful, i often forget they are often unwanted in the garden!
ReplyDeleteNice magic potion. Those deers are so cute.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds interesting, Becks. Worth a go to repel rabbits, pigeons etc., too?
ReplyDeleteI wonder if your recipe will work on rabbits! They are systematically eating everything as this drought continues...
ReplyDeleteYour sunflowers are gorgeous and all the butterflies make me so happy. We aren't seeing many down here this summer. I might need to try a few seeds in my garden next year.