In my area gardeners are struggling with the deer. Over the last few years they have habituated and are living in the neighborhoods. This past spring they were tough on my roses eating the new buds and young foliage. This fall I have planted 24 new to me daylilies and a couple of flats of pansies and now realize that the deer love both. Has anyone had success in using deer repellents? I am anxious to see my newly planted prizes next spring but maybe they weren't a good choice. I would have loved to plant tulips this fall but didn't because of the probability of the deer eating them. What have you experienced grows done if you face hungry deer in your daylilies? Fencing is not an option. Thanks in advance.

I use Bobbex and have very good success. I started spraying this year early, before flowering. The deer did not visit my garden until I slacked off my spraying routine early in Sept. Then they ate all my tomatoes that hadn't been sprayed (you cannot spray things that will be eaten). I sprayed again the next day and they have not been back.

I recommend Bobbex, and the concentrate is much more economical than the ready mixed. I have been using it for at least 10 years, probably longer.

I am going to fence my tomatoes better next year!

Bobbex works well here too.

Whatever you use, start habitual spraying early and reapply religiously. Fawns are the worst; they seem indifferent to the spray. As others will note, there are situations in which no spray seems to work.

Thanks everyone. I'm going to Home Depot for furnace filters and will see what they have.

I found that if I sprayed around edible plants, but not directly on them, that seemed to deter them. I had some snow peas surrounded by some bird mesh, and I sprayed the bamboo stakes holding the mesh. They didn't go after the peas. I had my tomatoes surrounded by five foot bamboo stakes and bird mesh, and I didn't spray it, and they broke it down and ate the tomatoes. I don't know whether the Bobbex had anything to do with my snow peas not being eaten, but next year I am going to do some strong fencing around my tomatoes and not take any chances!

Over the years I've used different things to keep the deer out of the garden. Just leaving a radio on all night was enough through many summers to keep them away. The deer are now unafraid of us humans, eating hosta right outside the living room window while we watched tv I've resorted to a stronger deterrent. I now use cheap motion sensors attached to posts or trees that have a ringer in the house. These stay on all night and when one goes off I go out and chase the deer out, we have 5ft fencing all around the property which they happily jump over. It's a pain to get woke up during the night but if it saves my bloom season it's worth it. I also purchased two Orbitz 62100 Yard Enforcers motion activated sprayers two years ago that back me up if I don't get up fast enough. They work extremely well!!! As the plants grow I fill large pots with dirt and move them up above the foliage so they still motion sense. There is one in the front garden and one in the sdlg area. The deer don't like getting sprayed by them any more than I do when I forget to shut them off in the morning as I rush by to see the sdlgs. Believe me by the time you hear it trigger it's to late, you've already been hit.

Last year the deer wiped out most of my daylily buds and flowers. I got a few flowers, then they got the rest of my Wild Horses.

This year, I started spraying Liquid Fence Deer and Rabbit Repellent as soon as I saw a scape forming. Plus I got a motion activated sprayer and planted chives in front of the Wild Horses bed. Had no problem with deer this past spring.....for whatever reason.

My neighbor feeds deer. We regularly see a doe and two fawns. I saw a nice buck jump our back fence a few days ago...in broad daylight.

I have planted more daylilies this year. I have several jugs of the repellent ready for spring. Will just have to wait and see what happens in the spring.

I do think getting something sprayed on the plants early is key. They have never bothered the foliage of the daylilies, just buds and flowers.

Good luck.

Deer are such a problem here that the city council pasted an ordinance against feeding the deer. I went to Home Depot today and they had a number of sprays and granular application for repelling deer. I'll be trying a couple early next spring. A large bottle doesn't cost as much as some of my new daylilies.......

I have great luck with PlantSkydd, the liquid form.

I put shavings of either yellow Dial soap or Irish Spring around the exterior of the bed. Reapply after rain or dissolved from sprinkler. No deer damage this year.

Also we groom our dogs down there, leaving piles of fur around....

Nothing has worked here. Like char said the deer are no longer affraid of humans. All that over the counter stinky spray stuff failed here. My scarecrow worked for about a month, and pee, hair, soap, and all the other diy internet methods didn't work here either.
I hope to have my daylilies deer proofed next year with some type of enclosure. We will see how that pans out

I've mentioned this before but a friend suggested using Bob Cat Urine but didn't know how to get a catheter into the the cat.

Start with a cat named Bob until you get the hang of it.

We have a 4 ft fence around a bit over an acre of the property. And as you know, that poses no problem for the deer. We are rural with forest all around, yet I never lose so much as one bloom. Lotsa deer. The little beasts in my avatar are why. That and a dog door, so they can hold down the fort night and day. It's foolproof and their batteries never run out.

Those two on the right, are they Australian Shepherds? Looks like a good crew!

I had a bed of sempervivums that the deer and rabbits munched on. I found out that if I planted some potatoes or sweet potatoes around the bed, they would eat only on the potato plants. They don't look too bad, and they seem to love them. I'm happy they like them better than my semps.

Thank you, Sue. They're yappy little monsters, but they keep the varmints out. The two on the right are Miniature Australian Shepherds. The little handsome hunk on the left is a Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

Love the expression on your terrier! And, the miniature part is why I didn't immediately identify the others as Aussies. I thought for a minute, Icelandic Sheepdog (because I know one), but the ears are entirely different.

My husband just got this shirt, maybe he could chase the deer away: