As every homeowner knows, deer can be a major landscape menace. Unfortunately, few plants are fully deer-proof, although there are several plant varieties that deer will generally leave alone. But in certain situations, such as drought or hard winters, deer may eat things they would otherwise leave alone - as hungry deer tend to eat anything that lies in their path. However, there are landscaping strategies, repellants and deer resistant plants (generally deer resistant anyway) that homeowners can incorporate to lessen the chances that deer will decide your yard is their own fine dining establishment.

To begin, look around your landscape and the neighboring areas. Are there any particular plants that the deer tend to leave alone? Have neighbors in the area had particular success with any one type of deer repellant or strategy? Look around for deer pathways. Try to avoid plantings where deer generally travel. Even consider installing additional hardscaping structures (such as boulders, rocks, gravel, stepping stones) into these areas. One note of caution, don't plant deer resistant plant varieties around more desirable plants to try and wart off the deer. Deer tend to trample the untasty plant varieties to get to their favorites.

Fencing. When deer pressure is extreme, the best way to deter deer may be to install a fence. An effective deer fence must be tall (at least 7 feet) and/or electrified. However, fencing the entire area may not be practical or feasible. Instead you may want to fence in (or cage) individual or specimen plants to protect them. This can be done by entirely covering the plant with chicken wire type fencing or a lightweight birdnetting. Or, you can place a wire mesh on the ground around the plant as deer tend to avoid stepping on wire mesh. Some people have had good luck with using a motion detector which sets off a light or water sprinkler when deer activate the sensor. This trains the deer to avoid that area.