Sure he is cute, but this little guy is the reason we cannot have nice things!

There is a huge family of about 18 deer that live in the woods behind our home. This little one is quite brash. Granted he was born in those woods, so he kinda thinks he owns the place.

We moved out to the country about 4 years ago to get closer to wildlife, never realizing how wild it could really get. These deer ate about $600.00 worth of shrubs and bushes we planted upon moving in! This has lead me into a huge study and practice in deer resistant gardening.

The Re-blooming Lilacs and long Fescue Grass in the background of the image above represent much of that work over the past few years. Deer do not really like Lilac so they very rarely eat it. No one really knows why, but it is theorized that certain plants upset the stomach of deer, so they simply leave it alone. The longer grass gives the deer something else to munch on, other than my prize lilacs so it acts as a distraction. Deer do not stay put for long, so a few distractions like the longer grass can really help.

All of our flowers like Pansies, Petunias, and even our Hostas must go behind the fence in containers or they will all get eaten nearly instantly out in the yard. This little deer in the image above is small enough, where he can actually stick his head through the fence, and eat all my Pansies in a single gulp. Which he has done this year.

The image below is from another post about growing Squirrel's Tail Grass. You can see my Pansies growing in hugely at the bottom. This photo was taken in early June.

Then by August, we noticed something missing... They were pretty flowers too, I bet they tasted like candy to that little guy.

Therefore, pretty much everything posted in the Garden Chronicles will be highly Deer Resistant. The Squirrel's Tail Grass and Lavender we are following here are both highly resistant plants as well. I have seen the way deer behave around the Lavender and something tells me they think it stinks. So they tend to move on quickly.

The Number One Best Defense

The very best defense to keep deer from ruining your yard is a dog. I have seen giant gardens full of juicy tomatoes fully unfenced down the street, but they own 3 dogs. We live with 2 cats in their twenties, so that option is off the table for us.

Animals are going to play a huge part in our gardening, and they can often be a nuisance. Moles, voles, mice, deer, rabbits, squirrels all cause problems to us hard working gardeners. So rather than getting angry and lashing out at nature, we need to expect and plan for such animals. Trust me when I say there is no other way to keep deer from destroying your property. I have tried every gimmick, trick, scent, sound, and scarecrow imaginable, just short of shooting the deer with a gun.

However, I would never shoot a deer with anything but a camera.

Lastly, if you have made it this far. Then you might as well watch this quick video of Comedian Louis CK doing his piece called...

Deer Are Assholes

3 minutes long. Highly profane. I gave you the title. You've been warned. Enjoy!

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