You will find many species of deer living throughout the United States and Canada.  Gardeners in rural locations or close to a wooded area often observe these animals near their property, especially early in the morning or late in the evening.  Although deer are lovely creatures, they can munch through a lot of greenery in a short time.  In fact, they can be a disaster to your garden.  Fortunately, there are ways to discourage them from coming around without harming either the animals or the environment.  Here are some useful tips for keeping deer away from the garden.

The most effective way to stop deer from visiting your garden is to put up some type of barrier.  A short wall or a fence won’t do the trick, though.  You will need a solid wood or stone wall around six feet tall that conceals the garden from passing deer.  If you don’t like that idea, a wire fence about 8 to 10 feet tall may discourage deer from trying to get to your plants.  Another option is lay wooden pallets down on the ground, because deer don’t like stepping on or jumping over such objects.

Some gardeners deal with a deer problem by planting or growing things that the animals don’t like to eat.  A hungry deer is not too finicky and will consume just about anything.  But he does have his preferences and may turn up his nose at certain types of vegetation when he has other food available.  Bedding plants that seem to be unpalatable to deer include aloe, bleeding heart, columbine, daffodils, dahlias, foxgloves, hyacinths, lamb’s-ears, oriental poppies, and purple coneflowers, among others.  Unappetizing ground covers include ajuga, bittersweet, bougainvillea, periwinkle, sweet woodruff, and wisteria.  When it comes to deer-proof trees and shrubs, you might try ash, beech, ginkgo, honey locust, oak, pine, spruce, boxwood, flowering quince, holly, juniper, lavender, lilac, and viburnum.

The scent of garlic seems to discourage deer appetites.  Try scattering garlic supplement pills (found in most drugstores and health food stores) around your plants.  Or soak pieces of cotton batting in garlic oil or garlic extract and hang them around the garden.  Replace the cotton occasionally to keep the smell fresh.

A dog can be an effective way to keep deer and other wildlife from wandering too close to your garden.  Many dogs love to bark at intruders and chase anything that moves.  Deer are unlikely to tolerate that behavior long enough to get a meal in.  Even the scent of a dog can be sufficient to keep wild animals at a distance.

You probably enjoy the sight of graceful deer in the wild.  Still, one or two of them can devour a home garden overnight if you don’t take some preventative measures.  Not all deterrent strategies will work every time, because animals can be remarkably persistent.  But more often than not, these tips will enable you to discourage deer and other wildlife from seeing your garden as a convenient source of food.