It is summer again and many homes in Bedford know that can mean only one thing… That the deer will once again destroy anything you might plant in your yard. Well, this is the year you need to take back your garden and yard from those pesky, long legged critters. Below I have listed some things you can try to help you try to keep those hungry eating machines from using your yard as a buffet.

  1. Try to change their feeding path – Deer tend to eat along the same path, day after day. So if your house keeps getting hit by these flower snatching bandits, you can try to get yourself removed from their itinerary of places to eat. Consider how the deer are both entering and exiting your yard. Is there a way you can block those entrances and exits? Can you put up obstacles that would make it difficult for the deer to travel across you yard? Sometimes even a few well-placed trellises or garden decorations can encourage deer to change where they feed.
  2. Add smells that they don’t like – Deer often times don’t like the smell of things foreign to them or that are from predators. Adding things to your garden that smell strongly to deer like Irish Spring soap, human and dog hair, citrus, and predator pee will make deer nervous and more likely to avoid your garden. You can also buy special sprays that smell offensive to deer.
  3. Try an electronic repeller – There are several electronic repellers available on the market that you can use to chase deer away. They typically are solar powered and motion activated. Some repellers use a high pitch frequency and flashing lights to scare the deer off while others connect to your hose and shoot water when a deer passes near them.

If you have given up on keeping deer out of your garden, you can always fall back on the old stand-by of trying to plant what deer don’t like to eat. The general rule of thumb for shopping for deer resistant plants is that deer don’t like textured plants. Look for plants that have rough, fuzzy or spiky leaves. Deer will only resort to eating these kinds of plants if they can find nothing else to eat.

Here is wishing you the best of luck keeping those pesky deer out of your yard!