Plant Eating Deer

I live on an island and wish to plant a privacy hedge but the deer seem to eat anything and everything. Any help or suggestion please.

 

Wire mesh fencing, a two-foot gap, and then whatever hedge you want on the inside.

 

Gee, I was hoping to see a photo of a plant eating a deer. Oh well. ; )

 

You must install and maintain effective fencing or you will be forever subject to their whims.

 

Many thanks Markinwestmich. You haven't seen the size of the Venus Flytrap
Dionaea muscipula, here on Gabriola Island. I'll see what I can do about a photo. Don't bring your pet dog if you decide to visit here. best wishes

 

Thanks Ron B for an answer I didn't want to here. I read a few other postings on the same subject after I made my posting. It seems there are a lot of other plant lover who share your view. Again many thanks. Best Wiches

 

Many thanks IORAX. A wire fence is so out of place here on the island. Thanks, best wishes

 

I know a number of people on Gabriola Island and they've incorporated wire and deer type fencing with cedar hedge. Once the cedars fill in, you'd never know the fence was there.

Cheers, LPN.

 

I am not sure how effective this is but I have heard that deer do not like human hair. So, why not go to a barber shop and get some to put in bags to hang in the branches of whatever you plant. Also deer don't care for a strong smelling plant, or fuzzy leafed plants. Hope this helps a little.

 

Man, mkk, tell that to the deer that were eating my gardens! They'd start with the hibiscus buds, but then they'd go on to munch all of the wooly thyme, most of my lavender and rosemary, my frailejones, and also my marigolds. The only things in my garden they don't touch are the Euphorbias (I grow E. tirucalli and Tithymaloides) the cacti, and the Monstera deliciosa. Everything else is fair game. I tried the hair thing, I tried the soap thing, I tried reflectors, I tried purchasing puma urine from the zoo, I tried borrowing a big dog, I tried shooting birdshot over their heads, and finally I gave up and built an 8 foot brick and fieldstone wall. The wall was the only thing that worked.

 

oops! sorry lorax, I thought maybe that would help because it has here in NC. I guess you are into some cacti,I have apple trees, thyme, Rosemary and Lavender. The deer haven't bothered me like they did when I lived in town. My mom had deer eating all her yews up north and the hair thing helped her out, so....

 

I had, on about 4 hectares, a full vegetable garden, mango trees, five or six banana cultivars (totalling about 30 pseudotrees), senna, a number of Ecuador's edible solanums, a full herb garden, a full medicinal garden, and about 150 mixed citrus, mulberry, loquat, and guava trees. Plus the native acacias, bamboos, and a number of other trees. The deer were an absolute menace until we fenced the entire 4 ha; the only thing in that list they wouldn't eat was the mangoes, and the aforementioned cacti and euphorbs from the xeriscape.

Hair might not have worked because of deer species and also because these seemed fairly used to human presence. If you're curious about what I occasionally (and with great frustration) refer to as "minideers" just google "Red Brocket Deer" - they are about the same size as German Shepherds, but appear to eat just as much as the muledeer that I was accustomed to in Canada.

 

Many thanks to all of for your replies and comments. It's obvious there is no one answer except maybe to install a tall substantial fence.