Having problems keeping the Deer from munching your hostas down to nubs?

You have a two-fold problem. The first thing to understand about deer is that they are creatures of habit. If they have found your luscious hosta patch, they will return. The second thing to understand is that Hostas are top-of-the-line gourmet food for deer. And if your hostas are in their field of travel, they WILL stop and eat. Guaranteed.

So what to do. Short of changing their path, there are some fairly simple solutions that I have found to be pretty effective, believe it or not.

My weapon of choice: Dried Blood. Also known as blood meal. Deer and other plant-eaters do not like the smell of this stuff. A good sized handful scattered around the base of your plants will go a long ways to deter them. This method also comes with a big bonus for your hostas....NITROGEN in a natural, slow release form that will give you bigger, healthier and faster growing hostas...that are not all that attractive to deer because of the odor. What is a slight odor to us is simply awful for the deer. The BEST time to put down the first application is in spring as soon as your plants have begun to leaf out a little & before the deer have discovered them for hte year. It is much easier to deter these plant-eaters right off the bat than AFTER they have been dining on your plants for a month. Once they have settled on your Hosta Restaurant, it will be MUCH more difficult to persuade them to eat your neighbor's plants instead.

If you have already discovered Deer damage, try to get an idea of which direction they are coming from and the path they choose to get to your plants. Now comes an addition to the Dried Blood method....Dial Soap. It MUST be dial, and plain old Dial, not the fancy new scents....get the original Dial. Hang these bars of soap about 3' and 3-4" apart in the air on a string at the perimeter of your hosta garden where the deer approach. Deer do not like it. And if they should make it past the soap on a rope, by the time they get to the hostas with blood meal they'll be thinking about moving on to the neighbors house.

I've been religiously using the Dried Blood for about 6 years now and have never had a single nibble. I put it on when the plants are in the tall tender tip stage just before leafing out. (Deer like those tender tips, too) Then, a second handfull in july or so to get them thru the summer. Lightly work the Blood meal into the surface of the soil...but lightly. You want that scent to rise up from the leaves!

In my sister's garden, I recommended doing the  Dial Soap combined with the Dried Blood since the Deer had already discovered her hostas. Since we've done this, NO DEER. They walk on past and not too close, either. Next Spring, she will only have to use the blood IF she gets it down soon enough.

I know there are many, many ideas out there on deterring deer from your garden. These two methods have worked with more success than ANY I've tried. And these methods are beneficial to your plants..and can be used on ANY garden plants....not just your hostas. It will also not harm wildlife...birds, fish or beneficial insects. It's completely natural with NO chemicals!

Hope this helps. I know from experience that 6 or 7 deer passing thru can literally eat a garden in a weeks time. The Blood Meal was an accidental discovery for me. I initially applied it to add nitrogen around my plants....but noticed right away that the deer had stopped their constant eating of my prized plants. I've done the Blood Meal ever since and have not had to worry about deer again.

THanks....hope this helps.