• Deer are a major garden pest, especially for vulnerable plants like tomatoes.
• Fences can be effective but impractical due to cost, regulations, and deer’s ability to find openings.
• Numerous deer repellents exist, including human hair, putrescent egg solids, animal waste, animal fats, eggs, and milk, each with varying effectiveness and practicality.

Sometimes it seems like the seven plagues of Egypt have nothing on the plight of the gardener.

Last I checked, the Ohio River hasn’t turned to blood but that would be about the only insult my garden has avoided this spring. Floods, locusts (OK, cicadas!) hail, and the generalized pestilence … all present and accounted for. There even seems to have been more than the usual amount of darkness this spring.

But with all the biblical assaults I’ve (OK, my garden has) endured over the last few years, it’s the deer that have been the most infuriating. I mean they nonchalantly wander up the driveway, in broad daylight, lean precariously over the fresh lettuce, chard, and other tender vittles, and go right to the tomato plants. I mean… the little fellas have just barely started to put out a few new shoots and the deer cut them off right at ground level. The nerve!

But I must fess up here. I know better. I know the moment I put a tomato transplant in the ground, all the deer in a 30-mile radius hear the dinner bell and swim the river, crash through fences, and come storming through the suburbs.

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I know the worst thing a gardener can ever do is say “I’ll spray them first thing tomorrow morning.” Shame on me, but shame on them, too.

Keeping deer out of the garden, or at least keeping them from devouring a few favorite plants, continues to become a bigger and bigger problem. As we continue to encroach on their turf (sorry gardeners, they were here first!) their growing populations and our sprawling development were always bound to clash.

But there are a few things we can do in our gardens to limit what they eat.

What plants won’t deer eat?

Of course the easiest thing we can do to keep deer from eating us out of house and garden, is plant plants deer don’t like to eat. If I go to a lunch event that consists of Brussels sprouts, lima beans, and raw clams, I’m rooting through the console in my car for an old granola bar.

If you plant things the deer don’t like all that much, they’ll just hop the fence and eat your neighbor’s hydrangeas.

The problem is, I might want a hydrangea in my garden. I certainly want a few tomato plants in my garden. Plant choice doesn’t solve all the problems.

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Will a fence keep deer out of the garden?

Fences work well at keeping deer out of the yard. The problem with fences is that they aren’t always the most practical solution. Deer have an uncanny ability to wander by the one 3-minute time slot that you left the gate open and went inside for a quick drink of water. Fences are also prohibited by some municipalities or homeowner associations. They’re expensive, have to be maintained, and are generally a bit of a pain to live with — at least in some situations.

What is the most effective deer repellent?

Last I checked, there was somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,454, 221 deer repellent products for sale on the internet. Some work. Some don’t.  Here’s a rundown of a few options.

Human Hair – Yup. For generations, gardeners have wrapped handfuls of hair in little mesh bags to be hung about the garden. The theory is that if deer smell human presence in the garden, they’ll run screaming into the night and leave your plants alone. So, let me get this straight. The deer, that have exploded in population in your suburban neighborhood, that are being hand fed sauteed chicken livers by your neighbors, are going to be scared away by a few locks of human hair swept up at the local barber shop? Hmmm. Interested in buying a bridge in New York City?

Putrescent Egg Solids – Picture yourself trying to mix a cold stick of butter into a bucket of water. Now imagine that butter smells like rotting eggs. That’s quite a vision, isn’t it? There are quite a few of these on the market and I’ve played with several. They all seem to work fairly well. They stand up to rain a bit better than some others (see below) but are generally difficult to mix, excellent at clogging sprayers, and can be expensive.

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Animal Waste Products – Ok, I got a little euphemistic on that label but trying to be a little delicate here. I know of at least one gardener who purchases coyote urine (yes, you can buy that online!), soaks tennis balls in the stuff and sets them about in his garden beds. He swears by it, but I don’t know. If I have to resort to keeping a pen of coyotes behind the garage and having them pee on tennis balls on command in order to grow a tomato in my garden, I think I’ll just walk up the street to the farmer’s market once a week!

Animal Fats – Goat fat, to be specific. This is all the rage this season among the horticultural glitterati across the US. And while I have no personal experience, this and various other rendered animal fat products or animal fatty acids, seem to get pretty good reports. They seem especially good at staying around longer than many other products.

Eggs – Not rotten eggs but just a good old egg. Drop an egg in a little hand sprayer, add a pint or so of water, shake vigorously and spray on the plants you want to protect. It mixes easily, doesn’t stink, lasts through a couple of light to moderate rains, and gives you a way to avoid being over-run by your over productive flock of suburban chickens. I have used this one with pretty good success.

Milk – Have a few cups of whole milk left when you start to wonder if you should open that new container? Drop that old milk in a little sprayer and add an equal volume of water. Shake and spray. This is not as persistent as the above egg mixture but is a close second and it is what I use most often.

Whatever you use, start early in the season, use it consistently, and change up your product from time to time to keep the deer off balance.

And keep an eye on the color of the river.

Paul Cappiello is the executive director at Yew Dell Botanical Gardens, 6220 Old Lagrange Road, yewdellgardens.org.