This weekend I noticed that the two local deer defoliated the bottom 1/3 of my apple tree late last week. 
I applied a decent amount of plantskydd to the tree prior to them feasting on it and thought that would have sent them packing. Do I need to do anything special when I mix this stuff up? I read that Ivory soap (which is supposed to be made from bone) is also an effective deterrent so Iām going to spritz my trees tonight with plantskydd and hang slices of ivory from various branches. Would love to hear how your mixing your plantskydd for optimal effectiveness.
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I used to use Ivory soap pieces (made for deer repellent) hanging all over my trees. Not sure if it repelled any deer but itās an amusing sight for my neighbors, not as amusing as hanging Bounce fabric softener sheets, though. For thatās ones, my neighbors laughed out loud. Never tried Plantskydd.
I now spray Liquid Fence repellent. There are a lot of other trees/bushes in my neighborhood. Deer have chosen to eat other trees that donāt have Liquid Fence on instead. The fact that deer have other alternative trees to eat and deer pressure in my neighborhood is not severe, could be why it has worked for me.
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I and others on here can sure relate to your angst regarding those infernal animals. Iāve been dealing with them ever since we moved onto this farm. They are so destructive, and sometimes it doesnāt matter what you do, youāre never going to totally stop them.
I havenāt tried any repellants on my trees, but I did try it on my veggie plots. I was using physical deterrents (fencing, fishing line, tape) as well, so canāt say anything about the sprayās effectiveness. I think it was the physical items that do a better job than the spray.
I had some damage to the trees I planted last year, and just resolved to put 4ft cages around each one. Costs more, but want to make sure my trees arenāt exposed.
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How did you use fishing line? Did you just run it between trees to stop them from entering? Curious how that works. Might try that as well.
I found this interesting tidbit, poking around on Milorganiteās website for a recommended application date for lawns. I am going to use Milorganite on my lawn after doing a terrible job with burning it the last few years with the synthetics.
Sorry for the confusing statement, I didnāt use the fishing line for my trees, only with my garden plots. With my trees I went from no protection at all to the welded wire fencing.
For the veggie plots, I first used yellow caution tape running between 4ft tall tobacco stakes. I ran them at three levels about a foot, two feet and three foot levels. That worked for a while, but a determined deer will push thru it or simply jump it.
For the fishing line, I used the same stakes, but ran the line at the same interval heights. I ran this āfenceā about two feet outside the the tape fence. It seemed to work really well for a few months, a few deer did get thru and did some damage, but not as much.
I think it worked because it offers a firm, almost invisible resistance that spooks the deer, and itās hard for them to gauge to jump over. Like I said, it didnāt work 100%, but it was better than the tape.
I also tried a āhybridā fence where I used both the fishing line and tape on the same stakes. That spared my sweet potatoes from any deer attacks long enough that they were able to grow long enough for a harvest.
All that being said, this year it may not work, but Iām going to try it again.
It might work around a fruit tree patch, but Iāve never tried it, Iām not sure Iād trust it over the wire fencing Iām using now.
I like the fishing line idea. Iām going to pick up a few large reels and try to loop it around the trees where the deer enter our property. Iām all for trying as many things as possible to keep them out. If this gets too bad I may have to get my buddy to bring his bow over just before dawn.
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Iāve used Milorganite a few times in different locations for different plants and have had good luck. You do need to reapply every 2 weeks or so, and I think deer eventually get used to the smell. It does perform adequately for short term protection IME
Every year I get some minor damage to some obscure out of the way tree. Never sprayed my trees with ex lax but if I had your problem I might try it.
Canāt say that itās the silver bullet butt over here I have a nursery a baby apple trees and plum trees and stuffā¦ The deer wanted that bad last winter towards the end of the winter . This year I wrapped the whole enclosure with chicken wire and then a foot above it with fish line plus on the corners and on a couple trees I just tied plastic bags to them . Any wind at all in those bags are moving, between that and the monofilament it seems to of kept them away this entire winter. I started the bags last year about February and it kept the deer out of there all last winter too.
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I finally learned to just live with the deer. I grow my trees up high and they get the lower fruit and I get the ones higher up. Though this year I will have to build about a 6ā fence around my garden to try to keep them out some. I also am planting a big patch of black eyed peas in the pasture just for them.
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