Deer Eating Iris??

Okay, Iris appears on the all the lists on plants that deer will not touch but the deer have eaten my iris down to the ground! Along with a lot of other things... These were year old iris that I grew from seed, will they be okay now that they're missing a good portion of their foliage?

If the deer didn't damage or uproot the rhizomes, your seedlings should recover. Deer will graze my irises to the ground in early spring before their natural browse leafs out and again at this time of year when their browse has defoliated for winter.

Laurie

Hi!
What kind of irises are you referring to? It is the bearded irises deer won't eat and they usually are not planted by seed. I can vouch for deer not eating bearded irises...there are very few plants deer truly won't eat ( unless they are starving) but bearded irises are one of them. Now if only I can convince the gophers irises aren't palatable!

My local white-tailed deer eat bearded iris foliage anytime their natural browse is not available. They don't tend to bother my beardless irises much, though *something* was nipping off buds this summer.

In any event, white tails will definitely graze on bearded irises up here.

Laurie

Uh, like CaptMicha and laurief, I have had my TBI eaten by deer. While they aren't usually one of their favorite foods, when they have no other browse, they *will* eat Iris, along with just about anything else they can find. This time of year when other food sources are scarce, almost any plant is vulnerable. You are lucky indeed if they never graze your Irises!

I'm one of the few gardeners who don't mind deer and can stand it when they eat my plants but come on! There are sooo many plants out there still in foliage! At least where I am! Not to mention all the berries. I can't help thinking about what my canterburry bells would look like in flower if the deer hadn't cropped them down last year, this spring and this fall.

I bought some deer spray, I think it has coyote urine in it and the smell keeps me away so I hope it'll work on them.

Oh my! I learned something new today and from now on I will count my blessings that gophers are the only iris predators I have. I hope our local deer never get in touch with your deer and find out about eating irises! We have way too many deer here around my town due to local hunting restrictions on park land. The only way for the population to be reduced is by disease.....and they all look healthy to me!

I have had serious deer traffic ever since we moved to the house we live in. I have used so many different products, with still getting plenty of things nibbled up. . . but this year I used this regularly (sprayed once every week - 2 weeks) and I had no problems. I buy it in concentrate so it seems to be cheaper than the stuff I would get off the nursery shelf or even at home depot. It doesn't get washed off by the rain either.

http://greenwoodnursery.com/page.cfm/10240

Hope this helps someone.

I have also heard good things about replex. I have that tablet but haven't used it yet.

This message was edited Oct 12, 2004 12:46 PM

That's great Alyssum (love your handle btw)! You may have to change products periodically. Deer seem to get used to the various substances, and eventually even the best of them aren't as effective. It helps to use one for awhile, then another...hoping to keep the critters off their guard. The Repellex tablets you mentioned worked very well for me for awhile. It's a systemic and makes the plant taste awful to the deer. Watch out though cause if you get it on your hands, you'll know just why they shy away from it. It smells so bad it will make your eyes water. I've used coyote urine, soap on a string, cayenne pepper, products with rotten eggs, human hair, most of the commercial preparations (which are either smell or taste based) and on and on and on. Some of them worked for awhile, but where we lived, which was bordered by federal forest land (a giant dorm for every Mule Deer in Southern Oregon) the only thing that eventually worked for me was to build an 8 foot fence around whatever I wanted to completely protect, like the vegetable garden, roses etc. For the rest of the ornamentals, I tried to choose 'deer resistant' plants and develop an attitude like CaptMicha so I didn't pull my hair out cause every year they would eat most everything. Like her, I do enjoy the deer, especially the little ones, but it sure is frustrating to garden in deer country. And Merlie, as difficult as it is, we don't want to wish disease on em, cause they'll just carry it on to other animals, and sometimes humans LOL

Oh yeah, dogs work too, but they have to be mean and aggresive and you have to leave them outside all the time. We had a doe that would just stand up against our dog, (which was not much of a fighter) till she backed down and ran away with her tail between her legs, whimpering. Besides, it is much too cold here in the winter to leave her outside so that took care of the dog theory......

Awww! Poor puppy! I bet her self confidence was knocked down a few pegs. My poodle loves chasing deer too and I keep wandering what will happen the day the deer don't run. I don't think she'd know what to do then! Maybe she thinks they're big doggies to play with!

Okay, I looked at the product, Deerpellex or something like that and the main ingredient is blood, not urine... Yegch

Blood meal either soaked in water or used dry will repel many vegetarian critters. Just the juices from meat you have thawed will work too. It is also a good nitrogen fertilizer. We mixed the meat juices, some garlic powder, and some Hot Sauce and sprinkled it on the tomato plants at the cafe' when the rabbits were eating them and never had another nibble all summer.

Sounds kind of tasty, but I am an omnivore. Is there any possibility that blood products will attract carnivours? My pup goes right over the plants as soon as I've sprayed.

This message was edited Oct 19, 2004 10:17 PM

That's why I won't risk using either blood or bone meal in my garden. With 5 dogs, 10 cats, and a surrounding federal forest full of carnivores, I'm pretty sure the scents of blood and/or bone would mark the destruction of my planting beds.

Laurie

Sharvis, you must be psychic! I was wishing the deer population would be reduced ....somehow, anyhow possible.....and I got my wish, with a twist....
we now have a mountain lion in Port Costa! Scary, but the deer are keeping a low profile....I love it that God has a sense of humor! Like you all said, watch out what you wish for!

The deer around her will not even eat the corn I put out for them this time of year. It even has nice tender shoots of baby corn growing out of it. There are so many acorns, buck eyes and other delectables they are just staying in the woods. Of course it's hunting season too. You can't tell me animals don't know when hunting season starts. I usually see lots of deer year round except for this time of year. I have iris planted down in the holler about 75 feet from the salt lick and the corn 9 as many as 6 or 7 deers will be down there eating corn everyday) but they never touch the iris. But then they never eat any of my plants.

Loretta

It seems like my product doesn't work as well as it should, the deer are drawn like magnets to the new evergreen trees my mom planted. It wouldn't be so bad if they nipped off some of the green but they're stripping the bark and pushing the trees over. I hope they survive the winter, maybe I should go out and dust with cinnamon.

I was thinking about tying cowbells to them, both shiny and to make noise. Or maybe I'll just go ahead and cover them with netting before it's too late.

Shadow, do they use the salt lick? I'd really like to hang one up, well, away from the planted things.

CaptMicha...........been reading the threads and just wondered if anyone ever tried "LIQUID FENCE" http://liquidfence.com/

I live on 200 acres, with the woods all around me. In the past I could never get my veggie garden to grow more then a foot or more before the deer and other critters would feast on the tender plants. This past spring was the first time I ever tried Liquid Fence, and to my surprise it worked. I only put on 3 applications from spring to middle summer and the deer and other critters left my garden alone. This product really worked for me.

It is long lasting, enironmentally safe, won't harm the animals, and is bio-degradable. You can purchase it at your local stores, like Home Depot or Lowes, or where I live, I purchased it a Meijers. I thought the price was very reasonable, for a ready to spray qt container, it was less then $12.00.

Deann

That's alot less than most of the other products I've seen and I'd have no problem paying a little extra, if that was the case, if the product actually works! Thanks, I'll have to try this one.

I've tried Liquid Fence. It worked well the first time I applied it, but by the time I reapplied, the deer had apparently decided it wasn't so bad, after all. It didn't deter them at all after that.

The salt lick idea does help a bit. I place a 50# white salt block waaaaay out in the hayfields to draw the deer away from the yard and garden area. It does tend to diminish deer traffic through the iris beds somewhat. The trick is to place the salt blocks as far away from your garden as possible.

Cowbells? I have windchimes right next to my primary iris beds. The deer don't even notice them. I also dangle bright orange streamers from fence posts around the perimeter of the beds. Again, the deer don't notice. I pound on the windows from inside the house just feet away from the iris beds and deer, and still they ignore me.

Of course, deer in other parts of the country/world may be far less used to human incursions into "their" natural environment, and therefore considerably easier to spook off. Up here, though, I think I could darn near ride the things around the yard.

Laurie

Laurie
































Laurie..........LOL @ you. You sure do have some mighty friendly deer.











Laurie...........LOL @ you. You sure have some mighty friendly deer where you live. Maybe you need to apply it stronger, and more frequently. Now that I know it works for me, I will again plant pumpkins. The deer have never touched my flower beds, but the small critter have, rabbits. Again, I sware by Liquid Fence.

Happy Gardening!
Deann

My experience has been exactly the same as Laurie. Several of the preparations have worked for awhile, but then the deer became used to them and they weren't effective any longer. All of the deterrents are based either on offensive odor or taste (not counting those that startle or scare the animals). The deer in our area have lived with humans for a very long time. They are so tame that they will graze in the front yard just a few feet away from the porch. I swear I've actually seen them wink at me just before they take a big mouthful of a rose bush. ;=

If I apply something with a smell like rotten eggs, they stay away from it until they decide to hold their nose while they eat....hehehe. My father used to love Limberger cheese. It was so stinky that none of us would go near it, but he enjoyed the flavor so much that he overlooked the smell and dug right in. I think deer do that too. Once they figure out that the odor, while repellent, won't hurt them, they ignore it and it no longer works.

Maybe because you are surrounded by so much forest land Deann, the repellents will work for you. Hopefully, your pumpkins and flower beds will thrive and you can thumb your nose at the rest of us who have been soundly defeated by the four-legged critters who are certainly paying us back for moving into their land.

sharvis

Sharvis,

Your deer certainly do sound like kissin' cousins to mine. I think the reason mine are so tame are two-fold: 1) VERY DENSE deer population here, and 2) lots of neighbors who feed deer throughout the winter.

Long before we adopted the Bossy Aussies, the deer used to graze in our yard while the other three dogs slept out there with them. I remember walking out of the house one afternoon only to find Raggie (cocker mix) "grazing" right next to a yearling. Raggie turned and looked at me when he heard the door open, then looked back at the yearling by his side and gave a little half-hearted bark. The yearling and I both looked at him like, "Who do you think you're trying to kid?" LOL!

The deer no longer come into the yard during the daylight hours if the Bossy Aussies are out. Those determined Aussies actually think they need to herd Bambi. LOL! Bambi frequently has the last laugh, though. Anytime I hear Tasha or Pippin barking furiously out in the hayfield, I know they're trying to move a deer who ain't budging! Worse yet is the indignity suffered by the Bossy Aussies when Bambi decides to chase them around the field! I just LOVE it when that happens! LOL!

Laurie

Yep, dogs and fences are the only good deterrents for the kind of deer we have. LOL But, of course, not the wimpy kind like Raggie or our Bubba. One time she was trying to chase some out of the yard when a big doe decided to stand her ground. She stopped in her tracks, pawed the ground and stared Bubba down. The dog put her tail between her legs and skedaddled out of there in short order. No, the only dogs that can do the job have to be strong and brave herders like your 'Bossy Aussies'. BTW, exactly what are 'Bossy Aussies'? Are they Australian Shephards? If so, I loooove them; they are so smart and beautiful and have such lovely eyes.

Sharvis,

Here are my deer herding Bossy Aussies. Pippin (on left) is an Australian Shepherd, and Tasha (on right) is an Australian Shepherd mix. Tasha actually has the stronger herding instinct, but I heard Pippin out there yesterday evening as I was doing barn chores trying his best to get a beligerant Bambi to leave the hay shed. As far as I could tell, the deer never would relinquish her feeding spot. I finally called Pippin in when I finished up and headed back to the house. As tenacious as the Bossy Aussies can be, they're no match for a deer who decides to stay put. They don't have much luck with the horses, either.

Poor kids. I really ought to buy them a few sheep to push around.

Laurie

P.S. Talk about Aussie eyes, Pippin's are an absorbing, almost ghostly, pale blue.

P.P.S. I think the only fence that could keep deer out of the my iris beds would be 6' chain link. I've tried a fence made with deer netting, and they push right through it.

Wonderful looking dogs!!!

What cuties, no wonder they don't have the deer running! Lol. My standard poodle has the same problem. I swear I see those deer egging her on!