Hello! And deer....

Hello from Acworth, Georgia (northwest metro-Atlanta)! 

I have tried SFG a few times over the past 20 years. This year I bought a 2x8 raised bed for my upper deck, and it is going very well.  Why the upper deck? The last attempt at SFG was beautiful, but it was eaten in one night, and my DH said “No more” - haha! We are, unfortunately, in the outs with our HOA (who knew windows without grids would evoke such passion?!) and can’t do a fence that would be effective against deer.

But I am toying with the idea of creating a deer-friendly “walkway” where the deer cut through my yard to enter the woods behind my house. My thought is that if I feed the deer what they like there, and surround it with plants they don’t that maybe they might leave the vegetables alone?

I haven’t seen anything like this via Google except for some products designed to lure deer in for hunters, and it would be an ambitious project, especially for a fairly ignorant gardener like myself.  I have scrolled through all the old “deer” posts here, and I will definitely try the Irish Soap around my peach tree, and maybe a few experimental squares near the bottom deck. 

Curious about your thoughts, and thanks!

Hi ATLRhonda. Welcome to the forum from Buford, GA. :-) I'm your Regional Host, Marie. Glad you're here!

HOAs.... What a pain! I've had friends with lots of trouble from them. Even more than deer, lol!

Sounds like a good plan. Certainly worth a try. Please let us know how it works!

ATLRhonda, from Northern California.

I hate to rain on your deer parade, but I am not optimistic. All it takes is one renegade and you're out of business, again.

Our setup isn't as formal as yours, but we feed the deer on both properties (daughter lives next door and also gardens) and they still eat everything else they can find. I had a geranium plant in a pot by the front door. They even found that and ate it right down to the dirt. I moved that to the balcony and it came back.

The only things they don't bother with here are my artichokes, asparagus ( ), rosemary, and bulbs. I also have a high balcony garden and a walled-in, waist-high, "keyhole" garden for everything else.

I certainly understand your frustration. We have all the land we could want, and no hoa, so we can do as we please, but I'm still held to small gardening projects because of those beautiful, awesome !#$%& deer!

Any chance you have a south-facing patio, where you could put one of those attractive glass greenhouse enclosures? Would that be okay with your hoa?

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Palram-Sun-Room-2-Clear-Kit-6-x-6-White-Walk-In-Greenhouse-w-Built-In-Vents/39573019?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&adid=22222222227027840540&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=59501309049&wl4=pla-92845542489&wl5=9032625&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=39573019&veh=sem&gclid=EAIaIQobChMItuDf-MPR6AIVTf7jBx2AXAa7EAQYAiABEgLHkPD_BwE

This one is only 6x6, which isn't big enough -- I've tried it -- but the bigger ones are very pricey. Again, I share your frustration.

Yes, it still gives me a thrill every time I see the deer; they are beautiful!

The south side of our house isn’t the backyard area, unfortunately. And since we hired an attorney to threaten our HOA into leaving us alone about our windows, I’m pretty sure they will never allow us any wiggle room. 

I have started a Pinterest page of forage that deer like.  I may start with that along the edges of the woods and play with that this year.  Maybe next year put in some bushes to create a hedge between the “deer run” and the yard.  Maybe....

ATLRhonda wrote:I have started a Pinterest page of forage that deer like.  I may start with that along the edges of the woods and play with that this year.  Maybe next year put in some bushes to create a hedge between the “deer run” and the yard.  Maybe....

I'll be cheering you on the whole time.

Katie (daughter) will be putting up a deer fence around her box garden. We can't make it high enough, so we're gonna make sure they have no place to land -- that's our next strategy.

I'm not optimistic that your plan of moving your beds to a deck will work out. I had potted plants placed on a deck that was 5' off the ground with steps down to the yard. The deer never hesitated to use the stairs to get at my plants. They even returned during the day for a snack after I removed what plants they left. When I see deer in my neighborhood, I think about tics, a deer's parasite passenger, that can infect you and your loved ones with Lyme's disease. I now use an invisible 7' deer-proof fence that works great, but if your HOA doesn't go for it, try "Not tonight dear" repellent. It works pretty good, but watering over it requires reapplications. Once the deer get a whiff of it they will vacate.

It’s on a second story deck, so they would have to go on the lower deck and up a staircase to get to the upper deck.

I really hope a deer doesn’t follow his nose up there.  I don’t know if he would be able to get back down!

What is the name of your fence?

ATLRhonda, Welcome to the Forum from California!

Regarding wild life, I only have one squirrel that eats the winter bird feed and plants small pine cones in my beds and other locations in the backyard. His name is Scat!.

I hope you are able to solve the deer problem. I like the idea of the deer having their own garden. IF they do climb 2 flights of stairs, I think a gate at the very bottom would hinder their ability to jump over it and land safely on the stairs. Maybe Not Tonight Deer may help around the garden.

  Hi ATLRhonda, welcome.  I got nothing on deer...sorry!  Glad you are here though!

ATLRhonda wrote:Hello from Acworth, Georgia (northwest metro-Atlanta)! 

That reminds me that there's an Acworth, New Hampshire, which is very rural. I remember in recent times going through Acworth, New Hampshire and there was definitely plenty of snow there when there wasn't in Springfield, Vermont.