Preventing Deer Problems
When it comes to your garden, deer are one of the biggest pests around. Large numbers in herds around the United States means that deer are a threat to any semi rural home owner’s hobby, and in many cases to landscaping as well. A small number of deer can do a lot of damage in a very short amount of time, so it is important to take preventative measures in so deer don’t realize that your yard may contain a source of food. Here are some ways to keep deer away from your lawn and garden.
* Get a dog. Deer don’t like dogs due to the strong resemblance of man’s best friend to their natural enemy, the wolf. Dogs also tend to bark and scare deer away, so having one around is a great way to make sure the deer don’t come wandering in.
* Plant deer repellent landscaping. There are some types of trees, shrubs, and ground cover that are not appealing to deer, and these can be planted to deter deer from making dinner of your landscaping efforts.
* Pick fallen fruit off of the ground, and off of any low branches. Deer will make a meal out of a number of different fruits when they fall off of a tree. Pick up fallen fruit so the deer don’t make a meal there and then move on to other parts of your yard. You should also take ripened fruit off of lower branches; deer will stand on their hind legs to get at ripe fruit, and may damage the tree when they pull it down.
* Create barriers between deer and the food source. If you have a garden, you will probably want to fence it in so the deer can’t get at your produce. Remember that deer are very adept jumpers, so the fence you build will have to be quite high. In addition, it will have to be sturdy to prevent a determined deer from ploughing right through it.
* If you plan ahead in order to avert a potential deer problem, you will save yourself a lot of time and energy. Without careful planning, you might end up with a yard or garden that has been eaten down right to the ground; of course, you won’t have to worry about a deer problem then either!