Deer Deterrent

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Deer Deterrent

Every year we have experienced problems with deer deterrent. They just seem to love devouring our shrubs and small trees. Unfortunately with three or more feet of snow on the ground the deer have a difficult time finding something to eat. Typically they eat bark from trees in the forest and whatever else they can find by foraging under the snow. When the snow is several feet deep foraging is more difficult and that is when they approach closer to established home gardens and orchards causing significant harm to shrubs and decorative trees.

In the past we have been somewhat successful at protecting our shrubs by wrapping them in burlap. Deer repellants never really worked very well. The deer still manage to get at the shrubs by nuzzling under the burlap, and in some cases they have torn the burlap completely away from the shrubs to get at the delicate shrubs. And forget about all the things they tell you in the garden magazines how to keep deer away. None of the sprays, pellets, repellents, and alarms are really effective against hungry deer.
Quite by accident we have found an effective deer deterrent that keeps the deer from devouring our shrubs. As we were short on burlap I wrapped old white sheets around the shrubs, securing them in place with string. Not a single deer approached the shrubs although they parade across the back yard within a hundred feet from the shrubs nearly every day. Trying to understand this phenomenon I did some research and found that deer only see in shades of gray. Apparently the shrubs wrapped in white sheets are outside of the spectrum of their vision. Hey it works, I recommend that you try as a DIY project if you are plagued by deer eating your shrubs.

Shrubs Wrapped in White Sheets

See: Preparing Your Trees and Shrubs for Winter

For more DIY information Check out these Resources