Medicinal Herbs: Repel deer with aromatic plants (2023)

FAQs

What plant smell do deer hate the most? ›

What smells work best at deterring deer? Some smells that deer react negatively to include eggs, garlic, cloves, and mint. They're also driven away if they smell danger, so using predator scents, such as wolf urine, may work.

The best natural plant deer repellents include marigolds, lavender, mint, oregano, thyme, sage, rosemary, and tansy.

The deer-resistant herbs with these high ratings include basil, Greek oregano, rosemary, sage, and thyme. Deer keep their distance from these delicious herbs because of the plant's strong-smelling essential oils or the foliage's intense aroma.

Some not-so-awful smells that keep deer away include mint oils (often combined with pepper and garlic), cloves and cinnamon, and citrus.

Deer have a strong sense of smell and dislike the scent of peppermint oil. In fact, deer have a stronger olfactory sense than bloodhounds. You can use peppermint oil to repel deer by using a diffuser or a commercial repellent containing peppermint oil near your backyard or garden.

So, you may wonder – do Deer eat Eucalyptus plants? Fortunately, Deer do not favor Eucalyptus trees. Therefore, Eucalyptus trees are deer-resistant and can be grown in areas where growers need to deter Deer.

Mint is also a good choice for a deer-resistant herb garden. The strong scent of mint is off-putting to deer, who will avoid eating plants that smell strongly of mint. In addition, the leaves of mint plants are usually quite fuzzy, which can also deter deer from taking a bite.

Deer often feed on plants you wish to preserve. Create a homemade cinnamon mixture to deter deer from your yard and to take back control of your space. Using cinnamon is cheaper than erecting expensive and unsightly fencing and safer than using toxic substances as deer repellents.

What really keeps deer away from plants? ›

Deer repellents are most often made from putrified eggs, dried blood, garlic, or soaps. Several studies, including this one, have found that egg-based products are the most effective. These include Deer Away, Bobbex, and Liquid Fence. I've used all of these and have had good results.

Rosemary – The wonderful aroma makes this herb popular in kitchens, but it can keep even hungry deer away. Russian Sage – With heavily scented foliage and flowers, this lovely herb deters deer from eating nearby plants.

What is this? Buy plants deer don't like to eat – In addition to odors, they also don't like eating plants that have a strong flavor. Some good examples are herbs like cilantro, lavender, mint, rosemary, basil, and oregano. This wildflower mix contains several plants that deer don't like the taste of.

Sometimes deer will even munch on some strong smelling herbs. However this will happen only if deer have no better alternative. If they have plenty of green leaves of other, more appetizing types at their disposal, they will not even get near your thyme and basil.

Deer are attracted to the smell of soil as is, but if you want to up the attraction factor, pour some buck or doe urine, or scrape starter into it. This will create an exceptional trail camera site, as bucks will continue to check the scrape every time they pass by or are in the area.

Deer, as well as other animals, “including cats, dogs, rabbits, foxes and racoons, [don't like] the scent of vinegar even after it has dried.

Sprinkle Soap

It may seem silly, but sprinkling soap is a tried and true method of deterring deer from entering and destroying your garden. Cut Irish Spring Original soap into cubes, and place the pieces into the ground around newly growing plants.

Research shows that predator urine, from bobcats and coyotes, are the most effective repellents in deterring white-tailed deer specifically. Odor-based repellents can be used to treat individual plants or for area treatments.

Some gardeners swear by hanging fabric softener strips and/or wrapped bars of soap from trees, both of which can confuse a deer's sense of smell. Others point to using hot pepper sprays, garlic and rotten egg mixtures, ammonia-soaked rags, and bags of hair and/or blood meal around the garden for the same reason.

Deer Hate Citrus

Their smell should repel deer and, not only that, but your yard will smell nice and fruity too!

Does neem oil deter deer? ›

A neem oil spray infused with capsaicin. The oil is for killing powdery mildew, but the pepper will be unpleasant to the deer.

It's best to use lighter weight plant extraction oils (aka essential oils) like those from the very plants that deer rarely eat. Deer don't like mint, rosemary, cinnamon and clove.

Ever wondered, do deer eat Citronella plants? Citronella plants are deer resistant and heat and drought tolerant. Citronella plants looks great in containers and are ideal for use as a patio or house plant.

Fortunately, Rosemary is a perfect deer resistant plant. It also has a beautiful smell that transforms the ambience in your home and gardens. However, deer do not like such scents, so you can enjoy the aroma while keeping deer away.

These fragrant perennials, most commonly known as herbs, are a lovely addition to any garden. Whether you want them for aesthetic purposes or their utility in the home, Lavender's potent fragrance is the exact reason why deer avoid this plant altogether.

You may think they keep deer away because they taste and smell so bad. But the sulfur odor actually promotes a fear response in deer and other herbivores. In the deer brain, the smell of rotting eggs is associated with predator activity.

Even with its strong smell, cinnamon will not cause any harm to the plants. In fact, not only will it not injure plants, its antibacterial qualities can also help to prevent mold or mildew from appearing on the soil surface as well, further protecting the plants.

Mint Scent and Spice Scent

Both deer repellents contain eggs and garlic - substances that by themselves repel deer. However, I Must Garden takes repellency to an even higher level by adding botanical oils from plants that deer won't eat - plants such as peppermint, lemongrass, cinnamon and clove.

Deer have a strong sense of smell, which means that the bitter smell of coffee grounds can be used to keep deer away from your property. However, there is no scientific evidence to prove that coffee grounds repel deer, but ground coffee does exude a bitter odor that can support deterring deer nearby your home.

Deer don't like to walk on unstable surfaces. If they make a beeline for certain plants, place a sheet of welded-wire fencing on the ground in their pathway.

How do farmers keep deer away? ›

Fencing. Fencing, the construction of a barrier between the crop and the deer, is the most effective long-term solution to deer damage. The basics of fencing apply to both electric and non-electric fencing. It is important to understand that deer can easily jump a fence 10 feet high, but much prefer not to.

Lemon Balm: Repels deer. Deer resistant garden, Deer resistant plants, Garden pests.

Due to the strong aroma and flavor of lemongrass, deer tend to avoid this plant. In instances when food is scarce, however, deer will occasionally graze on lemongrass if nothing else is available.

No, they don't. This is why many gardeners use garlic as a natural deer deterrent. However, if you cannot tolerate the pungent scent of garlic around your home, plants like sage and lavender are also great.

Sage (Salvia spp.)

Deer generally stay away from aromatic herbs and other plants, such as sage, rosemary, and lavender. However, if they do eat one of these plants, they'll likely go for the flowers before the foliage.

Now what? Nothing; deer can smell the salt for miles. They will smell it, crave it and come to you; they need those minerals, guaranteed.

Hormones are chemicals in the body that regulate some function. Deer have a Jacobson's organ, or more technically, a “vomeronasal organ,” that transports pheromones to the brain for interpretation.

Herbs like mint, rosemary, Russian sage and lavender are a good bet, as are peonies, boxwood, onion and garlic. Bitter Taste – Deer tend to avoid yarrow and most ferns, as well as bulbous flowers such as poppies, daffodils and snowdrops.

Generally, deer stay away from aromatic herbs and other plants like Rosemary, Lavender, Salvia, etc. However, if they do decide to take a bite of your plant, it is typically the flowers and not the foliage.

Mint is a member of the Lamiaceae family, which also includes other deer-resistant herbs like rosemary, basil, and thyme. Mint is also a good choice for a deer-resistant herb garden. The strong scent of mint is off-putting to deer, who will avoid eating plants that smell strongly of mint.

What scares a deer away? ›

A radio, activated by a motion detector can scare off deer. Pie pans, metal cans, or wind chimes suspended by strings make noise when they rattle in the wind, and have also been used to deter damage.

Common hardy plants that are poisonous or irritating: daffodil (Narcissus), monkshood (Aconitum), bleeding heart (Dicentra), foxglove (Digitalis), spurge (Euphorbia), Lenten and Christmas roses (Helleborus), irises, milkweed (Asclepias), peonies (Paeonia), azaleas and rhododendrons, wisteria and yew (Taxus).

Essential Oil Deer Repellent

Add 6 drops of peppermint essential oil and 4 drops of rosemary essential oil to the spray bottle with the vinegar. Tightly close the spray bottle lid and shake to mix the contents together. Spray this mixture onto plants, refraining from spraying anything you plan to eat.

They can pick out short (blue) and middle (green) wavelength colors, but they're less sensitive to long wavelength colors such as red and orange. “They're essentially red-green color blind,” said Brian Murphy, a wildlife biologist and the CEO of Quality Deer Management Association.

Lemon Balm: Repels deer. Deer resistant garden, Deer resistant plants, Garden pests.

Yes, they exist! Deer hate fragrant blooms from certain herbs like lavender and especially sweet-smelling flowers, like peonies.

One more reason we all love it is that the Eucalyptus grows incredibly fast and requires low maintenance. So, you may wonder – do Deer eat Eucalyptus plants? Fortunately, Deer do not favor Eucalyptus trees. Therefore, Eucalyptus trees are deer-resistant and can be grown in areas where growers need to deter Deer.