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Some of the most effective and natural deer deterrents are: hot pepper wax, garlic oil, predator urine and fragrant soaps. Hot pepper wax is possibly the most effective deterrent available that works on the sense of taste. Deer hate spicy foods! Combined with a deterrent that offends the sense of smell, hot pepper wax will render your plants almost deer proof. Garlic oil, predator urine and fragrant soaps are all highly effective companions to hot pepper wax. When deer smell the urine of their natural predator, the coyote, they literally run for their lives. If a brave deer decides he or she needs a quick bite to eat before they start running they will think again once they bite into a plant covered in hot pepper wax. A deer would have to be on the verge of starvation to eat a plant covered in hot pepper wax, when the scent of his or her enemy is nearby and the food smells like soap or garlic. It just doesn't get worse than this for deer.

I am using deer deterrents, including hot pepper wax, garlic oil and deodorant soap. The food products are sprinkled on the leaves. The soap is hanging in between the two plants, suspended from one of the tomato cages. Deer loathe spicy or pungent foods or things.

A friend of mine uses hair, either from a barber shop or donated from my
hairbrush....she puts it in mesh or cloth bags and hangs it on the plants.
Looks goofy, but apparently it works to some degree; I believe the UW Arboretum
in Madison also uses this method. I'm suspecting moth balls might also work.

Here are a few landscaping plants that deer will typically avoid:

* Plants with stickers and needles in their foliage, like Colorado blue spruce (figure D) tend to escape deer appetites.


* Some ornamental grasses such as switch grass have evolved saw-toothed edges along their foliage that tends to deter deer and other grazing animals.


* Miscanthus also has a sticker-like texture that deer don't find appealing.


* Russian sage deters deer by means of the unpleasant smell of its blooms.


* Purple cone flower (figure E) has a prickly texture along its stem that probably provides an unpleasant sensation on deer's tongue. Deer may eat the foliage, but they won't eat the stem.


* Annuals that deer tend to avoid include dusty miller (figure F), salvia , yarrow and lamb's ear.