Deer in the Garden: A Love Hate Relationship

Deer at the Bird Feeders

I am thrilled to see deer meandering through the woods skirting my property. The spotted fawns are so cute. 

Sadly, our electric-fenced vegetable garden was breached by deer that destroyed the pepper plants and defoliated the tomato plants as well as eating entire clusters of cherry tomatoes. The devastation was complete. All that was left was squash and eggplant.

Our 4 foot high 5-strand electrified fence was 3-sided. The 4^th side was a wire fence covered with brambles and vines. That was non-electric access into the garden. The other vulnerability is that deer can jump a 4 foot fence.

 My husband was disgusted with the carnage. He threw down a perimeter of tarpaulins reasoning a horse would spook at walking on a tarp so maybe a deer would too.

After the peppers had fresh new growth, the tarps were breached as well, and more destruction ensued. One of the culprits was spotted in the early morning hours, and made his frantic escape losing hair on the non-electric fence.

This time, my solution was to use temporary stakes and add electricity to the 4^th side plus a series of wires running parallel through the garden. It’s a labyrinth of wire-both hot and cold. It’s sure to annoy the heck out of the deer, and maybe it’ll keep them from finishing off the struggling plants.

Electrified fence is my answer to deer problems, but now I must amend that with a higher fence requirement. 4 feet is too short, so perhaps 6 or 8 feet will do the trick. I am not a fan of chemical deer sprays because they are expensive and need to be reapplied after rain. I know deer dislike prickly squash so I’ll try planting tomato plants inside a perimeter of squash next year.

Update: August 23, 2012

The labyrinth of wire added to keep the deer out worked! 

Pepper plants that were chewed in half on two different occasions have sprouted peppers to be harvested next week. Likewise, the tomato plants recovered, and we’re looking for things to do with all the tomatoes. After the deer debacle, I let many tomatoes and peppers grow from last year’s dropped seeds, and those plants have also produced tomatoes and jalapeño peppers. It’s not the prettiest garden, but it’s yielding wonderful vegetables.

The lesson is to not give up when deer [or bugs] rampage your garden. Come up with creative solutions to keep them out the next time. A garden can recover.