Effective Ways to Safely Get Rid of Deer on Your Property

Do you have deer that visit your property?  Don’t worry, you can still have beautiful landscaping, but you’ll need to learn what to do and what not to do so that your landscaping doesn’t get ruined by these beautiful creatures.

Creating a Deer-Resistant Landscape

If you have Hosta and Arborvitae, then you’re sure to have noticed that the deer have been eating them like crazy!  As a Landscape Designer, I suggest that if you have existing deer problems, that you try things such as taking advantage of barking dogs, spray repellents, and other tactics that I’ll mention shortly.  If you are planning on new landscaping, the best course of action is to start with only planting those types of plants that the deer tend not to eat.  I will always work in ‘deer-resistant’ plants into your landscape design if you have deer present. That’s what a Landscape Designer does!  

Back to existing landscapes: If you already have plants that the deer are munching on, then definitely try some alternatives like deer repellent sprays. These types of sprays smell bad (at least at first) and need to be reapplied regularly, so be sure to follow the package instructions. Deer are clever and will know when the spray has washed off in a rainstorm and will eat your plants before the next day, so be diligent!  

There are a lot of ideas on how to deter deer out there. As a Landscape Designer, I will also consider things such as fencing and other things that may deter deer. These ‘other things’ may be such things as dogs, distance from a woods line, other barriers to the deer such as a retaining wall, etc.  

As far as fencing, technically, deer can jump up to 10’ high, but like humans, they can be lazy, and shorter fences can do the trick.  If they’re not starving, they may not jump over a shorter fence. An 8’ high fence is usually very effective though. A high tensile electric fence may be effective if it would work in your situation. This would be especially good to consider if you have a small fruit tree orchard or vegetable garden area. Fencing can be cost prohibitive for an entire yard and landscape, so let’s move on to some other ideas.  

Another idea is to remove anything from your property that’s already there that is attracting the deer such as feeders. Get rid of any deer feeding stations or mineral blocks. Pick up fallen fruit right away.  When fallen fruit rots, it will easily attract deer. If you are feeding any wildlife at all, you should stop!  

The best bet is to always use ‘deer-resistant’ plants.

I mentioned the distance from the woods line earlier. If at all possible, plant anything that the deer would find palatable as far away from the woods line as possible. Put plants in places that seem like they’d be scary for a deer to get to, such as crossing over a tall retaining wall, or in a small door courtyard. There’s no guarantees, but I’ve found that in certain instances like this that the plants in these kinds of places tend to get ignored and the deer will find easier pickings!  

Getting rid of deer with dogs

Dogs are quite effective at scaring away deer. Let your dogs out!  Of course, you don’t want to bother the neighbors or have the dogs chase deer, but if you have dogs, their presence is a big deterrent. When the dogs are in at night time, be careful! Deer will know that they’re not there and will eat you out of house and home literally overnight. Perhaps you could consider a fenced dog run where your dog is on guard for you at night time.  Another thing people have tried is hanging Irish Spring Soap bars around on branches, or leaving piles of human hair around. These types of tricks won’t work for long, because deer will catch on pretty quickly. Therefore, you might need to change tactics like these regularly.  

I’ve even seen people use tactics like motion sensor lights, motion sensor water spray heads, clanging sound makers in wind, and motion sensor noise makers. Keep in mind that NONE of these ideas in this blog are guaranteed to keep deer at bay. They may even eat their least favorite plants if they’re hungry enough.   

Considering the large investment that landscaping is, the best plan of action is to plant only those varieties that deer tend to stay away from.

Here’s a few plants that you’ll want to consider:

Evergreen (and Broadleaf evergreen) Shrubs:

Juniper (not all) Some varieties of Juniper will be susceptible, so be careful!!

Spruce

Boxwood

Holly

Pieris

Mountain Laurel

Gold Mops Cypress

Mugo Pine

Deciduous  Shrubs:

Spirea

Lilac

Bayberry

Butterfly Bush

Witch Hazel

Rose of Sharon

Wisteria

Ligustrum

Forsythia

Weigela

Perennials:

Nepeta

Coreopsis

Foxglove

Yucca

Brunnera

Sweet Woodruff

Lambs Ear

Bee Balm

Dianthus

Lungwort

Russian Sage

Ornamental Grasses

Ferns

Again, there are no guarantees that any of these ideas will be ‘iron clad’ in keeping deer away.  

As a landscape designer, I will always work with you to incorporate as many of your favorite plants as possible while advising you on what ones may get totally eaten!  

Now, if you’ve read this far into my blog, then I’ve got a last minute surprise for you!

One last bonus for all of you who really want Arborvitae:  There’s one variety that stands out as being deer resistant.  Try “Green Giant Arborvitae”.