Reader Comments on Garden Pests: Combat Voles and Deer Damage from YankeeMagazine.com http://www.yankeemagazine.com/rss/index.php Sun, 12 Feb 2012 22:45:31 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.yankeemagazine.com/issues/2007-01/home/solutions My husband took the garden fork, hung an old shirt and hat on it to look like a scare crow, made sure it smelled of fresh aftershave, etc (human scent) it seemed to work better and certainly was cheaper than all the others. We tried store bought repellants and Irish spring, they work a day or two then the deer were back! If you refresh the scent every other night or so, cheap cologne works just as well! Yankee Publishing (rss@ypi.com) Mon, 18 Feb 2008 14:01:13 +0100 http://www.yankeemagazine.com/issues/2007-01/home/solutions I work at a gardencenter, and there are two things we can tell our customers for certain - there is no such thing as a deer-proof plant, and any commercial repellant is only temporary. Beyond that, you have to be either tolerant or diligent. Yankee Publishing (rss@ypi.com) Wed, 20 Feb 2008 00:17:04 +0100 http://www.yankeemagazine.com/issues/2007-01/home/solutions This has nothing to do with deer...they are quite far away from our gardens...However we do have a problem with pigeons...the barn houses quite a few...Last spring I bought an owl and set him out in the back by the bird feeders...for the whole summer into the fall..they stayed away..sometimes sitting in a tree near by and keeping an eye on the owl. I would move it from place to place..thought I had the problem licked...now they are back full force and eat around the base of the owl...I guess they decided it would not do any harm..like the deer get used to human hair..etc...What can I do to keep them away...when we go to the window and knock..they fly off..but come back a few minutes later...any suggestions Evelyn McCarthy Yankee Publishing (rss@ypi.com) Thu, 21 Feb 2008 15:55:00 +0100 http://www.yankeemagazine.com/issues/2007-01/home/solutions I have used this tried and true methods with GREAT results! Put a small amount of water in a blender. Add an egg and whip. Pour this mixture into a half gallon container and fill with additional water. When ready to use, pour into a spay bottle and spray what plants you do not want deer to eat. Do this about once a month or after a rain shower. Your plants will NOT smell like rotten eggs! And this is eco-friendly and safe around kids and pets. Store unused mixture in the frig or else you WILL have a stinky mess. THIS WORKS! Yankee Publishing (rss@ypi.com) Fri, 22 Feb 2008 12:58:01 +0100 http://www.yankeemagazine.com/issues/2007-01/home/solutions Deer used to eat my flowers down to the ground and even ate the English Ivy off the front of my house! I too tried all sorts of commercial NON poisonous products but to no avail. I\'m not sure why I tried this but it worked. I bought a package of the thin (1/4 to 1/2 inch diameter) bamboo sticks (each stick is about 2 to 3 feet high) and stuck them around the perimeter of my gardens about three feet apart like fence posts, slanted OUT from the garden at about a 40 degree angle. Then I strung fishing line around these sticks making the fence \"rails\" at three different levels around these \"bamboo fence posts\". One about three inches off the ground. The second around 1 foot from the ground and the third about 2 feet from the ground. And voila - no deer eating my garden plants! Apparently, they are deterred when their feet get tangled in the fishing line! Hope it works for you. But maybe I\'ll try the water and egg mixture the Kris Johnson suggests too! Yankee Publishing (rss@ypi.com) Tue, 23 Aug 2011 17:39:15 +0100 http://www.yankeemagazine.com/issues/2007-01/home/solutions If you are having problems with deer and/or moles and voles you may want to take a look at my company\'s garden system. We use a variety of fencing around and under the garden to deter them. On top of the practical aspects, they are also attractive additions to your yard. www.teichgardensystems.com Yankee Publishing (rss@ypi.com) Wed, 24 Aug 2011 13:46:48 +0100 http://www.yankeemagazine.com/issues/2007-01/home/solutions Am in need of something to keep field mice from coming in my home. My home runs along conservation land and they (among other wildlife) are more than plentiful. This spring was brutal. I have a cat and he caught 13 from April - June. I tried traps, they didn\'t go near them. I put peppermint oil down on cotton balls and that helped a little. But w/the cold weather coming, I need a better approach. And, it must be non-poisonous because of my cat. I simply can\'t go through another season wondering what my pet is going to bring to me in the middle of the night or what I\'ll wake up to on the floor in the a.m. As for plants/flowers, the chipmunks this year have eaten nearly everything, flowers, leaves, bulbs and tomatoes! I\'ve nearly given up. On the bright side, no deer problems. Any humane and affordable suggestions for the mice/chipmunks is much appreciated. Yankee Publishing (rss@ypi.com) Wed, 24 Aug 2011 16:02:37 +0100 http://www.yankeemagazine.com/issues/2007-01/home/solutions Melissa, We don\'t have any articles on keeping mice out of homes, but here\'s one on how to deter chipmunks from hanging out in your yard http://www.yankeemagazine.com/issues/2008-07/home/home-garden-questions-new-engl. Yankee Publishing (rss@ypi.com) Fri, 26 Aug 2011 13:23:13 +0100