Oh, Deer...

[GoDawgs]

Well, we haven’t had any rain in three weeks and stuff’s drying up so it was just a matter of time until the deer decided to sample some nice juicy bean leaves.

“Oh! Look, Mabel! Something nice and green. I wonder how it tastes…..mmmm, I think I like this. You oughtta try some.“ Note the lack of foliage and nipped leaf petioles:



So… what to do. Netting, of course. After looking and pondering I decided on an A-frame type affair. I ran a string across the top of the poles and put old tennis balls on top of the poles so they wouldn’t poke through the netting. Then I tied the netting to poles acting as anchors on one side and threw the netting bundle over the string to a waiting Pickles. After much cussin’ and fussin’ (that netting wants to catch on *everything*, including the tread on my garden boots! we eventually got the netting evenly stretched over the string on one half of the trellis, tied to anchor poles on the other side and cut off the bundle. Rinse and repeat on the other half of the trellis.



There’s just enough room to tip toe between netting and vines to flick off the occasional Jap beetle into the soap cup now and to pick beans later. I have a feeling though that vines and netting will eventually become one and be a heck of a mess. Heavy sigh. It is what it is.

Then it seemed only prudent to put a netting tunnel over the good bush bean bed in case the deer decided to stroll up to the other end of the garden and sample those too. Those beans are starting to flower. “Nay, Mabel! Thou shalt not partake of yon flowering beans!” It didn’t take but ten minutes to deploy. If they want to mess with the scantily germinated bean bed next to it, no great loss. And it will tell me if they’ve actually wandered up in that area.

Good luck in your battle. That’s one thing I certainly don’t miss - battling the chipmunks. rabbits, deer, turkeys, ground hogs, squirrels and Japanese beetles.

[GoDawgs]

It's funny what they'll eat or not eat and it depends on how droughty it gets. It's like the drier it gets, the more unpalatable stuff they'll eat. At my old nursery job the deer were actually munching on spiny holly plants (Dwarf Burford) during a really bad drought ('04?).

Beans seem to be their favorite but early in the season I've had them gladly munch on turnip greens, broccoli leaves, kale and collards. They like brassicas! But so far I've never had them munch on any cucurbits. Too prickly a mouth feel? They've only sampled carrot fronds and then left them alone. Maybe kind of strong tasting to them.

[brooksville]

Peas and beans are deer favorites, no matter how dry. Last year we had rain every other day and the deer were reduced to eating okra leaves. We plant cow peas for the the deer patches and they destroy them.
Kinda worried about the upcoming planting of Christmas speckled Lima beans.

[GoDawgs]

Oh yeah, cow peas! I've never had deer mess with the English peas, maybe because deer don't normally eat too many things in the garden until we hit summer dry spells. But cow peas? Oh yeah!

[brownrexx]

I recently planted some perennials that were supposed to be "deer resistant". I planted purple coneflowers and bee balm and the next time I looked, I only had bee balm!

Supposedly they do not eat strong smelling plants but I'm sure that you're right and they would eat it if there was nothing else. Bee balm has a strong small and they left it alone and they have never touched my onions or garlic.

Supposedly hanging pieces of Irish spring soap will deter them with it's strong smell.

[Worth1]

My father used to shoot deer for meat grazing on a 10 acre turnip patch.
Good luck with the deer.

[ContainerTed]

It's pictures like these that remind me that homeowners have the right to protect their property. And, besides, I really like venison.

[jtjmartin]

Love the tennis ball idea!

I finally put up Tenax deer fencing 3 years ago. Before that, I hardly got a single tomato between the deer and squirrels.

[GoDawgs]

Sometimes you just have to change things. Two days after a tunnel of deer netting was deployed over the bush beans (see pic further down the thread), it was evident that something taller was needed because in just two days the beans were starting to grow up through the netting. That would be one unholy mess.


Time for the stake, tennis ball, baling twine and clothespins trick to support the netting, which worked just fine:



There are both Golden Rod and Serengeti beans in the bed. This is the first year trying Serengeti, which is a French filet bean that is supposed to be very prolific and set 5-6" very straight beans high on the plant. In this pic the Serengeti are in the front and the Golden Rod in the back. So far it looks like a ton of flowers high on the Serengeti plants.

[MissS]

The deer here are terrible too. I have a next door neighbor who has been feeding the deer. He was asked by a few neighbors 4 times to please stop. He then was reported to our HMO and still he continued feeding the deer. Finally our HMO president reported him to the DNR. He got fined. I am so happy because it was not uncommon to have 16-26 come through my yard on a daily basis. They ate all of my tomato plants last year.
Fences are not allowed in this subdivision, but netting is. I will try again but have great reservations that I will succeed. The deer took down the protective fences put up around the arborvitae this past winter and had a feast. If the deer want my tomatoes, they are pros at fence destruction.

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[Worth1]

As you all know and if you dont my neighbor lady has a deer feeder up too.
I has attracted all manner of rodents and deer.
I can't have any kind of a large garden because of it.
The deer walk within just a few feet of my house.
The feeder is about 100 feet from my house and even less from the garden.
I can't afford a deer fence.

[brownrexx]

It is not legal to feed deer in PA. The PA Game commission has determined that it causes the Chronic Wasting Disease to spread when many deer are eating in the same place.

[Worth1]

Deer in my neighborhood.
They dont need to be fed.
There are almost 2000 of them right where I live about 1 mile away.
Link is about deer not just our fire we had.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...OYHaM8NC4IKm0s

[GoDawgs]

The deer netting over the bean bed has sagged in the middle so this afternoon I added some stakes in the middle to hold up the sag. That did the trick. Third time's a charm.





And tonight while on my evening walk about the garden I discovered that overnight the deer had sampled some sweet potato leaves.





Netting would be a nightmare, catching on everything as the sweet potatoes are in an open area along with two rowdy pumpkin vines. No netting. But I can probably just lay a small piece of row cover over them in the evening.