Fact: The only thing that will 100% stop deer from munching on your landscape or in your garden is a fence. When we first moved to Kraemer House and started thinking about a planting a garden, a fence wasn’t in the master plan. But, it soon became clear that unless we wanted to cater a living salad bar for our four legged friends, we needed to plan accordingly.
Even if a plant is labeled “deer resistant” they’ll eat it if they are hungry enough. This past winter was a harsh one and my shrubs took a big hit. Our property covers about 5 acres — most of it wooded — but they’d prefer to munch on the day lilies, hostas, boxwood, and holly — landscape plants on the outside of the garden zone.
Besides destroying expensive landscape plantings, deer are a hazard to motorists causing in excess of 500,000 auto accidents annually. And, worst of all, they carry ticks that spread Lyme disease which can be devastating to humans.
If I had a nickel for every new suggestion I tried or contraption I bought to fight Bambi and her friends, I’d be a rich man. Dryer sheets, Irish Spring soap, motion sensitive floodlights and sprinklers, human hair, coyote urine — the list goes on and on.
There’s not a miracle fix for this problem but through trial and error, you’ll eventually find something that will work for you and this DIY Deer Juice Garden Spray is a great start.
DIY Deer Juice Garden Spray is a double punch for deer:
- Deer rely heavily on their sense of smell for feeding, so the strong scented scallions and garlic, as well as the fragrant soap, works as the first line of defense.
- The cayenne and chili powders should deter them if they decide to munch.
Use the spray weekly and after each rainfall.
Tips:
To speed up the process, I grind up the garlic and scallions in a food processor. You don’t have to do this but I have found it makes the juice a little more potent.
Use a box grater or the shredder attachment on your food processor to grate the soap.
Discount stores usually have very inexpensive spices like the cayenne and chili powder used in this recipe.
- 2 bunches scallions
- 2 heads garlic
- 1 bar Fels Naptha soap
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup cayenne powder
- 1 cup chili powder
- Process the scallions and garlic or coarsely chop.
- Grate the soap.
- Place the scallion mixture, grated soap, eggs, and spices in a large piece of cheese cloth and tie up ends tightly.
- Fill a 5-gallon bucket with hot water.
- Place the pouch in the water and cover tightly. Allow to sit undisturbed for 1 week.
- Transfer in batches to a pump sprayer. Apply to shrubs and plants weekly and after each rainfall.
Use a box grater or the shredder attachment on your food processor to grate the soap.
Discount stores usually have very inexpensive spices like the cayenne and chili powder used in this recipe.
Recipe adapted from This Old House magazine.
The post DIY Deer Juice Garden Spray first appeared on GreenThumbWhiteApron.com.
Nick Elfrink says
September 7, 2014 at 4:24 pmWe too were troubled by deer in our garden, eating everything from strawberry plants, green beans, peanuts, etc. to leaves from our blueberry bushes. Someone said, “Why don’t you try some fish emulsion which you can buy at _________?” The idea was that the smell would keep the smell-sensitive deer from the garden. I, being an avid fisherman, decided to make my own “emulsion”. After cleaning a large batch of fish, I divided up the fillet scales/skins, heads, and entrails into two five-gallon buckets. I dumped the contents of each bucket into one of two 20 gallon plastic barrels and then filled the barrels half full of water. One I left sitting in the garden, the other in our strawberry patch. After three or four days the smell was pretty – no, VERY rank. If you approached to within 10 yards of the garden, you could smell it. After we got used to the smell, we could work in the garden if we stayed upwind! The deer never came back and that particular batch of “stink” lasted for two years with a little replenishing the following spring. I continue to use this method and it still works even though we have plenty of deer in the neighborhood. In the fall, if you want to get rid of the old batch before spring fishing begins again, the liquid and residue from the old batch make an outstanding fertilizer.
JOAN B VARGO says
July 18, 2017 at 1:53 pmDo you have an exact recipe? How long before it is effective? Could several smaller buckets be made and used at the start of the wooded area where the deer enter our yard? Thanks for any help you an provide. We have been battling deer grazing for 30 years, and the only thing that is semi-effective is “Deer Out” – but a little expensive.
Nick says
July 18, 2017 at 5:18 pmHi,
Still using the fish emulsion “scent”. Still effective in the garden area. I see no reason this could not be distributed throughout an area in different buckets. If the buckets would be too small, you might stand the chance of raccoons or possum dumping them over since I don’t think the odor would be a deterrent to those night roamers. Again, it is very strong when fresh and “ripe”, and the smell stays with it for quite some time. There is no “recipe”. The remains of any type fish would work as long as you have several. Good luck.
Jeanne Vogel says
August 3, 2015 at 4:27 pmThis works GREAT! I spray it on every weekend when we are at our cottage and the deer haven’t so much as nibbled on a thing. However, I do think the bear like it. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/533817362060164369/ LOL
Wanda says
June 1, 2017 at 8:10 amWere can I find this soap for the deer recipe I haven’t seen them around as yet but I’m sure they will be popping up in my yard to eat. Thank you
Julia says
July 12, 2017 at 3:02 pmI’ve seen it in the laundry detergent aisle at Walmart. Fels Naptha is primarily a laundry soap; works good when rubbed into a stain before washing.
Ruth Fatur says
June 1, 2017 at 11:35 amDo you have anything for keeping dogs from pooping on your yard?
kris says
July 27, 2017 at 9:25 amwondering if this mixture would work on deterring mice. we live next to a restaurant and WELL….. they come to visit and met the demise of a snap trap, but deterring them from even trying to get to our house would be so much better!!!! Going to try this solution and will post to let you know the outcome
Alene says
March 3, 2018 at 8:41 amThey carry it in our grocery store in the detergent aisle, or you can look in your local hardware store. They usually carry it too.
Melissa Johnson says
April 28, 2018 at 10:08 amWhat purpose do the eggs serve?
WendySue says
April 29, 2018 at 8:23 pmWhen they rot, they stink!
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David J. Tomczak says
July 11, 2018 at 8:00 pmI use two rounded teaspoons of pepper, two rounded teaspoon of garlic, one quart of water. Bring to a slow boil. Let simmer for 10 minutes and turn the heat off, cover and let cool. Strain through fabric (an old tea-shirt would be just fine). You can add a couple of teaspoons of detergent if you like as it adds to the “adhesion” of the liquid to the plant and is also a “taste obnoxiousness” to deer (rabbits and otherwise).
Hint; I only add the detergent to the brew after the cooling and “straining”. After straining I scrape the straining cloth and use the “residue” as a spice. Not quite as potent as the “mother”, but, a pleasing addition to my many other culinary practices.
This mixture has proven harmless at ANY plant I have sprayed it upon. It is only a “foliage fertilizer” as far as the plant is concerned, but “obnoxious” to almost all predators (including most insects). Harmless to humans, organic, no smell after it dries. I.E.: No buckets of “smelly stuff” (mosquito breeder liquid) sitting around forever.
However, the advantage of “smelly stuff” does have it’s advantages in the fact that it is “forever”. Spray must be applied after each heavy rain.
However, what I have found over the past decades is that once the deer consider your “patch” a “no-go zone” they simply avoid it. If they do come back to “sample” your herbs, a re-application quickly reminds them of why they abandoned it in the first place.
G says
August 1, 2018 at 6:00 amDo I spray this on my plants or the mulch? Will the soap hurt my shrubs? Thanks!
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