I have many deer in my yard.  My next door neighbor puts a salt lick out all year.  I love lilies and I make found cages from some old cheap fencing a neighbor gave to me.  The fence is about 5 feet high.  I cut about a 3 feet long piece and make a circle out of it.  I also put a cover over the top with fencing so the deer cannot eat the top of the lilies.  Earlier in the season I cover my hostas and brown-eyed-susans and then, when they have bloomed or are large enough that the deer are not interested, I move the cages to the lilies.  I have tried many other ways, but in order for me to at least have them bloom, I must do this.

Jean Schubert

I live in a rural area, so we have plenty of deer. I used to have problems with the deer eating my hostas and fruit trees until I started using yellow Dial soap. I use the bars of yellow Dial soap, drill holes in the bars and hang them from the fruit trees. For my hostas, I just lay pieces of the soap around the plants. It has to be the bars of yellow Dial soap, the others don't work. Ever since I started doing this the deer don't eat my plants and trees. I do this every spring. It works really well.  

Jill Hott

Deer are an ongoing problem for our garden, and while there are lots of plants out there that don't appeal to them, the varieties I want to grow (especially the lilies and daylilies) always seem to be their favorites. Because I am bad at keeping up with sprays and other anti-deer deterrents, I have started planting a few chives in the hole with each bulb or plant the deer like. As the young plants grow the chives grow with them, and the deer quickly learn that a mouthful of daylily tastes like onions, and so on. By the time the more desirable plants outgrow the chives, the deer have learned to feed elsewhere. And, the nodding purple flowers of the chives look great with nearly any other flower.

Karen MacCauley

One of the greatest challenges for gardening in northern Wisconsin is the whitetail deer!  We love to watch them daily ~ but they are supreme browsers!  And chipmunks are a close second ~ especially for spring bulb plants like tulips.  One of my best gardening tips is to plant a ring of daffodils around a clump of tulip bulbs!  Because none of the animals have anything to do with daffodils, there are hundreds of bright yellow daffodils naturalizing the edges of our lawn and wooded areas as well as acting as "guardians" for the more "delectable" bulbs such as tulips!

The Learman Zoo

If you have problems with deer eating your garden, you can use herbs to keep them at bay. I have had great success with Parks Chocolate mint planted in areas the deer used as pathways to reach my garden. Deer will not walk through it. It also repels squash bugs.

Katy Merlin