Gardeners...Need Some Advice

**AmyBoz** · 07-09-2008, 10:47 PM

Okay, the older I get, the more interested I become in living more self-sufficiently. I'm not selling my house and moving my family to the prairie (not quite yet, at least) but I am interested...REALLY interested in starting a garden. Small, to begin with, but I'd love to give it a try.

HOWEVER, we are in a deer infested area. Our backyard is woods and it's not uncommon for us to eat dinner watching 10-15 deer munching on our front yard. They eat grass, they eat bushes...they will definitely eat my garden.

Do any of you garden in a deer infested area? And, if so, how do you work around that? These deer are pretty darn bold...as is the rest of the wildlife in our area. We have a chipmunk that lives on our back deck and thinks that we are infringing on his space when we go out there.

**Sara Noel** · 07-09-2008, 11:07 PM

In NY we had herds walk through the yard daily. I still had a garden. I had to put chicken wire around most things. My next door neighbor had a garden coop. Basically, a totally framed in and chicken wired in garden. (wooden and chicken wire enclosure) His garden was huge. I used a lot of plants like holly and planted that around my garden. That helped.

The only advice I have is to overplant to compensate for the amount that will get munched. The deer in my yard would get on their hind legs to get high branches. I've read about tips like human hair or pet urine to help deter deer. I have no idea if they work.

**suki** · 07-10-2008, 11:14 AM

This morning I had a doe and her fawn eating from the wild pear tree in our back yard. Yes, we have a high deer population. But, they leave our garden alone.

In organic gardening our approach is to plant extra for mother nature rather than fight her.

**Russ** · 07-10-2008, 11:23 AM

You could buy one of those sprinklers that works on movement. Anytime it sees movement it turns on, just don't forget to turn it off before you go out there.

lots of deer repellant chems out there, I have never used them but have heard that sometimes the deer ignore them.

Fence - you could install a field fence, easily jumped though but may be enough of a deterrant. The fence will keep rabbits out though.

**Michelle** · 07-10-2008, 12:35 PM

I am having a similar problem (I think) with a chipmunk. I think he munched on a few of my strawberries this year, and I wouldn't be surprised if he destroyed my tomatoes last year. Do they eat those kinds of things?

I really don't want to lose what little garden I have this year.