Anyone Have Luck With Deer Netting?

[Nyboy]

Not sure if I even have any fruit trees left, deer did a number on them. I had deer off (sitting in shed) which I sprayed trees with. I picked up 7 foot deer netting which will be put up Sunday. Netting seems very light and flimsy, will it really stop a deer ?

 

[seedcorn]

Only if deer want to be stopped. Best method is shoot them.... Deer are long legged ground hogs.

 

[Nyboy]

I agree with shooting them, but don't think law enforcement would like it, so need other means for now.

 

[Nyboy]

A friend did tell me yesterday if one happens to drop dead, to call him he loves deer steak!

 

[Smart Red]

Flimsy is okay. The deer won't go through the fencing, they will try to go over it. I have seen them jump straight up and over fence lines -- no need for a running start.

I have heard good reports of keeping deer out by double fencing. A deer with a broken leg is a dead deer so they don't seem to want to tackle a fence if there is another barrier that might hurt them if they miss. Both fences to not need to be the same height.

 

[valley ranch]

Electric fencing can work well.

 

[thistlebloom]

How will you be putting the netting up? It is flimsy but can keep them from being able to eat the trees until you have something better. Like a moat with piranhas and alligators. It's a real pain to work with though.
Unfortunately the deer are habituated to getting a meal at your place so it will be twice as hard to keep them away.

This is what I would do in the meantime, get a backpack sprayer and order some Plantskydd. You will want to get the powdered, the ready to use reeks and is much more expensive. You will also need a mesh paint strainer that fits over a 5 gallon bucket, and two 5 gallon buckets for mixing and straining. It's a hassle, but Plantskydd is the most effective deer repellent I have used. It will leave a faint red film on the leaves but this isn't permanent. It needs to be applied when the weather is dry for 24 hours. It lasts up to 3 months, but I reapply every 8 weeks in the heaviest deer infested areas. If you are diligent with the spray it can be very effective. I try to change things up on them to keep them wary. There is also coyote urine granules that I use on tulips and other low growing plants they like to mow. This works well, but needs to applied more often. Rotate the deer repellents so they don't get used to the same one.

Repellex has just introduced a systemic deer repellent tablet that you place in the planting hole. There's a pdf of the study conducted on it that I couldn't link to and didn't want to copy because it's 3 pages. The conclusion was that it may be effective. More effective on some species than others.

 

[Nyboy]

Can plantskydd be used on fruit that will be eaten ?

 

[Smart Red]

If we are talking spraying on something, would Kaolin Clay work? It is a powered clay material that does a good job of keeping insects off plants in the garden and birds off orchard fruit, but is totally non-toxic. Might work? The leaves would look 'wrong' and would taste chalky so they just might give 'em a pass.

I always wondered about photosynthesis with a layer of clay covering the leaves, but have had no problems myself.

 

[thistlebloom]

Plantskydd is OMRI approved and can be used on edibles, but I wouldn't spray too close to harvest. Are these your new fruit trees that you just planted?

Re the kaolin, I've never used it, but my concern would be photosynthesis also...
plus, it's just butt ugly.