Rippling Waters Organic Farm

Promoting Community Food Security
through Education, Service & Action
Farm, Greenhouse & Community Gardens
55 River Road, Steep Falls, Maine 04085
(207) 642-5161             greengrower@ripplingwaters.org

Deer and wildlife in your backyard can be both a joy and a frustration.  We all love to see the wildlife, but do they have to eat all of our plants!

No one wants to put a lot of money especially in perennials to have them eaten by deer.  So on the perennial pages we included a code to help determine what they love or don't love to eat.  These are just guidelines!  Gathered from our trial & error as well as others in Maine.  Everyone's environment is different and thus the deer's eating habits can be just as different.

Three general guidelines to follow:

1. They don't like things with a strong scents, like onions, garlic, oregano, and salvia.  Try mixing some of these in with your perennials.  These plants will also attract some beneficial insects.
   
2. They don't like rough or fuzzy texture, like artemisia, lamb's ears, or the annual cleome - which would be fun to mix in with your tall perennials or try planting as a border.
   
3. They don't like humans.  Well at least at first they don't.  So plant precious plants nearer your home or better yet scare them off with loud noises - banging pans together might do the trick!

You can also buy books on this topic.

Deer & Wildlife Forum

• What is your experience? 
• What do they eat in your garden?
• What are your preventive measures?

This is a place where we can share ideas.  Please email them to the Webmaster: paradigmjulee@gmail.com and we'll post them here.

1.  Hint for keeping squirrels out of your birdfeeders - feed the squirrels.  I've noticed animals go to the easiest places to get their food.  Squirrels would much rather eat bird seed from a container not hanging on a tree or difficult to get to.  So I put some on stumps, the ground and tables.  Turkeys, bluejays, and other ground feeding birds love these places, too. Once I put some sunflower seeds in a 2 gallon perennial pot which I hadn't taken care of for the winter.  The squirrels loved it; they could crawl right into the pot and not be disturbed.- Julee

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Last updated:  February, 2008