2026 gardens

  • Thread starter Thread starter SONNY
  • Start date Start date
  • Featured
tmays said:
DJ54 I’m glad it worked for you. But I will say here in the South a lot depends on available food elsewhere. I can see it now. Deer says ‘I’m hungry and smell something good over there. I’m going in!’ 😂
Click to expand...
I read nearly 10 years ago now about a theory Deer will not jump over anything they cannot see the other side of. I tried it with Sunflowers first and it worked well. Just bought a 2 lb. bag of seeds at TSC that's used for bird food. Apparently, that was before they started sorting them for cover crop seeds and germination of those isn't so great now, so went with the Sudan grass.

Planting 10 rows within a 3' width made a pretty good thick blind, and the direction they come in from prevailing wind carries scent away from them from everything else in the garden. But really surprised they didn't offer to ever browse on it. I guess the main thing is to get it started early enough ahead of everything else. In past years I've experimented with spraying plants with Peppermint and Cinnamon extract bought in bulk which worked very well but had to be sprayed again after a decent rain. So far, this has been so much easier, kinda' like set it and forget it.
 
Ran three strand electric wire around the garden and on the other side of the house where muscadines, peaches, blueberries, etc. are. Everyone says they will get used to it or jump it, but rarely have a problem and been up five years now. If I do, I figure it is a strange one in the area that hasn't touched it before. I think I fixed one stretched wire this year at the garden and replaced a corner post insulator around the muscadines. Road kill in front of the house has gone from a few a year to none, so I guess the fence made them change their path over time.
 
SONNY said:
only found one thing to stop deer here ------ 12ga!
Click to expand...
I agree. Elimination is the most effective. But, that option isn’t always available. Plus, there’s lots of them out there and they keep multiplying. Exclusion is the next best option, IMO. But, fencing is expensive. Depends on how bad you want to keep them out. The various repellents: lights, sounds, smells are the least effective because they adapt to those methods.
 
IF you got sweetcorn PLUS coons--- they been in it!!!!! Thats just the way it is!!!!!!!! --- i quit planting sweetcorn years ago due to coyotes and coons. the fence keeps coyotes out to a certain extent but they still dug under the fence---coons went over it so i just quit planting it---problem solved!
 
SONNY said:
IF you got sweetcorn PLUS coons--- they been in it!!!!! Thats just the way it is!!!!!!!! --- i quit planting sweetcorn years ago due to coyotes and coons. the fence keeps coyotes out to a certain extent but they still dug under the fence---coons went over it so i just quit planting it---problem solved!
Click to expand...
There is a coon hunter club a quarter mile from my house, quite a few woods in this area, plus there is a dead one on the road every so often (never near my house), so I know they are around. Everyone that I tell that I don't have any trouble with critters is amazed. They get into everyone's corn.
 
Last edited:
We run two electric wires around the corn. One about 4" high the other about 10". We are not bothered by coons. They are here. I saw one eating under a bird feeder and decided I didn't want him around. Out with the 12. Missed? Up a tree and since I wasn't sure he was finished when I saw him hanging over a limb, I don't want any animal even a @#$%^& coon to suffer because of me, I tried again. An ounce and 7/8 of #4 at close range took him out of the crotch and hit the ground dead. I later trapped another eating biirdfeed, sunflower. Many coons in this area are carriers of rabies and thhe local nature center won't let you turn them loose there. The field to the west of our yard alternates between corn and beans and that helps also. There isn't an ear left on the outside row. Deer. Saw six cross a few days ago. Our house sits back from the road 300 feet and we enjoy watching most wildlife. Saw two hen turkeys and six young a few days ago. Hadn't seen any in a while although they are commom in the area. Cranes are another common visitor in the field behind us. We have 14 acres. Vern
 
MS State University is doing research on repelling deer. Of course, it’s geared toward the large field and not gardens, but what they find might help the small farmer. One item of research is UAV swarms. When deer are detected, the system sends out drones to run the deer off. Of course, no one here other than large farms would even consider it. But y’all might have a teenage grandson who might jump on the idea of figgering it out on a much smaller scale. 😂
 
tmays said:
MS State University is doing research on repelling deer. Of course, it’s geared toward the large field and not gardens, but what they find might help the small farmer. One item of research is UAV swarms. When deer are detected, the system sends out drones to run the deer off. Of course, no one here other than large farms would even consider it. But y’all might have a teenage grandson who might jump on the idea of figgering it out on a much smaller scale. 😂
Click to expand...
They will find that the deer will very quickly adapt to the sound of the drones and ignore them. The only 100% effective control method is Pb.
 
Don McCombs said:
They will find that the deer will very quickly adapt to the sound of the drones and ignore them. The only 100% effective control method is Pb.
Click to expand...
Most likely. I’ve seen deer just standing there looking at dogs barking at them 😂
I run three strands of electric fence and it has done well so far. I try to keep chickens out when I first start my garden, but after it’s grown for a bit, I don’t mind them being in it so much. Basically I only plant beans, peas and corn. My wife plants everything else we grow in her fenced in garden. We only have chicken wire around that garden and so far the deer have not jumped over it. But she has so many trellises and other things right inside the fence that I’m sure deters the deer from trying it.
 
Last edited:
We have lots of deer that occupy our neighborhood. They frequently feed adjacent to the roads. I have stopped the vehicle within three feet of them and blow the horn long and loud. They just stand there with an expression on their face that I interpret as asking “What do you want?”. Then they go back to feeding. They are completely habituated to humans and do not fear them. I consider them to be in the same category as groundhogs..
 
friends of mine ---a big family with kids and grandkids hunt deer on my farm every year---i put it in crp to draw them in then we harvest them just like a field crop and thats our winter meat. WAY better than any beef you ever find!!! They get a big handfull of deer tags then go fill them---- i provide the field and manage it --- gotta do that anyway so might as well add a little more to the job since i am out there anyway. We try to keep the neighborhood deer population under control so they dont destroy everything in sight and it does help.
 
I've planted some 4 acres of brassicas and so has my neighbor. Can't go out there without running across deer. They still get into my pumpkin patch and eat the fruit way before they get ripe. My partial answer has been Liquid Fence. I've already taken some pumpkins off the vine as soon as they begin to ripen and they ripen just fine off the vine.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top