1. Choose deer resistant alternatives as much as possible. Categorize the plants you need by form, function,color, and size. There are several charts of rarely damaged plants to use to substitute plants of similar size, flower color, growth habit, etc.
2. Determine the main entryway of deer and make it as discouraging as possible. Position plants that are poisonous to deer or at least plants on the rarely damaged list. If you have to use plants that are occasionally damaged, then keep the plants sprayed with repellent. Deer are creatures of habit. Find their path that they have been using when entering your landscape and make sure it is not appealing to the deer.
3. Plant deer resistant plants around the outside edges of the landscape.This may be enough to discourage deer from coming in further to find your more susceptible plants on the interior.
4. Use deer repelling shrubs and flowers in combination with susceptible plants. If the odor of the repellent plants is stronger than that of the susceptible plants, the deer won't find the plants you are trying to disguise.
5. Hide susceptible plants from the deer. Deer won't go were they can't see past or see over. Plant border hedges or large plants to hide smaller susceptible plants under larger deer resistant trees and shrubs.
6. Keep border grasses cut down and keep edibles picked up. If there is tall grass, the deer are encouraged to make beds. If fruit, nuts, or unharvested vegetables are left on the ground, the deer will find it hard to resist entering the landscape.
7. Use unobtrusive electronic deer control, or other deterrents such as repellents as needed. Devices such as Wireless Deer Fence can be placed inconspicuously around the landscape to train deer not to enter.
Homemade Deer Repellent Mechanical Deer Deterrents
8. Determine the deer density in your area if possible. There is a great white-tail deer density map that takes the populations down to a county level at
QDMA Deer Density Map Page
