The deer got into my garden this year as never before and DECIMATED my plants. They are eating stuff they usually leave alone. Would it be a good, bad, or neutral idea to really cut back the remaining plants, foliage as well as any remaining flowers? I'm talking about daylilies, tiger lilies, obedient plant, hosta, echinacea, rudbeckia, salvia, campanula, columbine, mallow. I want to A) not kill or stunt the plants so they come back next year and B) keep the deer from seeing my garden as their go-to salad bar for the rest of the season.

I'm not in need of tips for keeping them out; I'm aware of the options. I just want to cut my losses for this year and look forward to next year. Appreciate any advice!

What are the options you are aware of?

The deer already see your yard as their go to salad bar. Cutting the plants down won't discourage the deer. Deer are browsers, not grazers but once they find food, they will continue to take that route. You would have to cut the plants to the ground to keep them from being eaten and the deer will continue to look. They must be really hungry this year to seek out new food sources.

I wouldn't cut anything back.

Cutting back even further would likely kill the plants.
Deer are something most gardeners have to deal with eventually.

In my gardens, nothing beats a fence run along the wood line.
A fence out in the open... May as well not bother.

Raw egg in a blender of water poured over affected plants with a sprinkling can works... If you reapply weekly and after every single rain event...

Eggs work because rabbit and deer are strictly vegan.
Will not stop squirrels or rats.

UlsterCoGardener said: daylilies, tiger lilies, obedient plant, hosta, echinacea, rudbeckia, salvia, campanula, columbine, mallow

They're eating salvia?
Salvia and monarda are usually not bothered... or not bothered much...

There is a third option that I've had pretty decent luck with...
That's when the population becomes herds... and no amount of fencing is effective due to their desperation...

And, that's when anything with a bite taken out of it gets dug out and removed...
Then grow what's left... and only plant stuff for the pharmacological garden, psychotropics, and stuff from the poison garden:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com...

I would not cut plants.
Deer are visiting me this year which has almost never happened. ( one summer, at all the daylily buds) But, it's only been 2 or 3 nights, when I see in daytime that a plant (tomato, evening primrose) is eaten off the top at about 3 to 4 feet off the ground. Daylilies are blooming fine. Point being, if this hasn't been a constant thing, it may not happen again, or for some weeks, by which time the plants may recover some. And deer might not eat as much as you cut.

I agree with Stone and SallyG. Don't cut the plants down. Leave whatever leaves and stems they have left on them to photosynthesis as much as possible and try to recover to the best of their abilities and hope most of them survive.
And you said you wanted to.... B) keep the deer from seeing my garden as their go-to salad bar for the rest of the season. I'm afraid that is a waste of efforts and far beyond our capabilities! Sorry, but they've seen it, they've eaten it and they will remember it and be back.
The deer crowd into my front yard for 2-3 months and then disappear for 2-3-4 months. I used to think it was random but now I know better. In March hundreds of royal purple iris bloom in my front yard. They are supposed to bloom for 4-6 weeks but they would all be gone just a couple of days later. Every last flower! I originally thought it was because of the intense winds we get at that time each spring. Just blew the blossoms off. It wasn't. The deer keep a tighter schedule than Saint Nick on Christmas eve. They do the same thing when all the beautiful yellow birds of paradise bloom in June. They show up just 1-2 days after they start to bloom and enjoy the delicacy. They have a memory as good as any elephant that lasts for years!
Very few things ever work besides a tall fence or big dogs. And I'm sorry for your loss.
Debbie

SedonaDebbie said: I agree with Stone and SallyG. Don't cut the plants down. Leave whatever leaves and stems they have left on them to photosynthesis as much as possible and try to recover to the best of their abilities and hope most of them survive.
And you said you wanted to.... B) keep the deer from seeing my garden as their go-to salad bar for the rest of the season. I'm afraid that is a waste of efforts and far beyond our capabilities! Sorry, but they've seen it, they've eaten it and they will remember it and be back.
The deer crowd into my front yard for 2-3 months and then disappear for 2-3-4 months. I used to think it was random but now I know better. In March hundreds of royal purple iris bloom in my front yard. They are supposed to bloom for 4-6 weeks but they would all be gone just a couple of days later. Every last flower! I originally thought it was because of the intense winds we get at that time each spring. Just blew the blossoms off. It wasn't. The deer keep a tighter schedule than Saint Nick on Christmas eve. They do the same thing when all the beautiful yellow birds of paradise bloom in June. They show up just 1-2 days after they start to bloom and enjoy the delicacy. They have a memory as good as any elephant that lasts for years!
Very few things ever work besides a tall fence or big dogs. And I'm sorry for your loss.
Debbie

Exactly! But apparently I didn't say it plainly enough.

Many see this site as a social gathering place. Folks like to tell their stories and/or add their affirmation to whatever advice came before.
New folks post questions here assuming some level of 'expertise' -but
people answering new questions here have no credentials to say how good their information is. I think it's better to have a few different members comment..

sallyg said: Many see this site as a social gathering place. Folks like to tell their stories and/or add their affirmation to whatever advice came before.
New folks post questions here assuming some level of 'expertise' -but
people answering new questions here have no credentials to say how good their information is. I think it's better to have a few different members comment..