Critters Feasting on Your Garden?

Photo by: Paul Poole

Last year, I fell in love with gardening. It was the first year I had the chance to plant a garden and – if you ask anyone who saw it – I may have gone a touch overboard on the planting, but the harvest was unbelievable.

Along with all those vegetables came a few very important lessons:

1. Less really is more. I planted way too much of everything, way too close together (30 tomato plants… what was I thinking?)

2. Pick zucchini when they’re small – don’t wait until they are the size of your arm!

3. You are not the only creature looking forward to the feast!

The first two are pretty standard. Even my mom and grandma who have been gardening for years bend those two on occasion. But that third lesson – the critters – that’s what I become obsessed with.

I tried everything I read may keep the animals away. I tied CDs, pie tins and aluminum cans to posts in my yard because I’d heard the reflections and noises would scare away the critters. I tried sprinkling moth balls and grated soap around the garden because I read animals (rabbits, in particular) don’t like the smell of either. I even ventured to a hair salon and asked for a bag of hair in hopes it would keep the critters away and deer proof my garden.

None of that really worked, and I started to get very frustrated watching my hard work being destroyed. One day, I walked into my local garden store knowing there had to be a solution. That’s where I found Deer Off® deer repellent and decided to give it a shot. Boy, am I glad I did! The stuff is easy to mix up and apply – not like grating soap or collecting hair – and it actually worked as a deer proof gardening method.

The rest of the season went smoothly thanks to this particular deer repellent. No more moth balls, grated soap or pie tins. And, most importantly, no more deer or rabbits in my garden! The harvest (from planting too much, too close together, remember!) was enough to eat, can and freeze.

It’s now April and I’m beginning to think about this year’s garden and I know one product I will have on hand from the get-go this year is Deer Off® repellent. If you have similar problems in your garden, I suggest you do the same and use deer repellents!