My Simple & Cheap Trick for How to Keep Deer Out of the Garden Naturally

If you are looking for ideas of how to deer proof your garden naturally & without smelly chemical sprays, than you have come to the right place! My simple & cheap trick for how to keep deer out of the garden has kept the deer & rabbits from eating our fruit trees & vegetables for over 3 years now & does not require a fence!

In the past, even with our yard being completely fenced in we have struggled with how to keep deer out of the garden.

This past spring, a deer came through and ate all… (EVERY SINGLE ONE) of my fruit tree blooms & I was determined to stop this from happening again without having to spend any more money or time building fencing.

My Simple & Cheap Trick for How to Keep Deer Out of the Garden Naturally

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Some CRAZY Ideas for How to Keep the Deer out of the Garden

After talking to neighbors and researching ideas online it became clear that some people go to crazy, CRAZY  lengths for how to keep deer out of the garden.

Insanely Tall fencing, VERY smelly chemical and organic sprays, coyote urine, dog and human hair & even going to bathroom near their garden… these ideas might work but ummmmm, NO THANK YOU!!!

My next door neighbor had hung CD’s from her trees and despite their yard not being fenced in she was able to have a successful vegetable garden last year. 

Supplies Needed for How to Keep Deer Out of the Garden

• Old CD’s or DVD’s you are no longer Using
• Fishing Line
• A Tree or Tomato Cage to Hang them To

I told Jason about it and he brought home a bunch of old CD’s (similar to these from Amazon, Maxell 625132 700 MB 32x CD-R Music Disc (5-Pack) ) from work and we gave it a try.  

I tied the CD”s to every fruit tree in our home orchard and a few metal cages in our veggie garden with some leftover wool yarn.

Why Hanging CD’s Works for How to Keep Deer Out of the Garden

I suppose the theory behind why this works is that when they move the reflection of the CD’s scares the deer away naturally. 

And so far it has worked well & has kept the deer, rabbits, groundhogs & squirrels from eating all of our flowers, fruit trees & vegetables in our garden.

Why this Solution for How to Keep Deer Out of the Garden Works Naturally

I love that Using CD’s keeps the deer & other animals out naturally without using any chemical & natural sprays or solutions.

If you are using old CD’s it also saves them from going to the trash or landfill so you are recycling as well!

Has this Simple & Cheap Trick Worked for How to Keep Deer Out of the Garden

3 Months later and this simple & cheap trick has been very successful. 

My vegetable garden was left completely untouched and only 1 apple tree was partially eaten before the deer stopped. 

Jason isn’t totally in love with how the CD’s look hanging from the trees and more than one person has asked… “what’s with the CD’s..” 🙂

but I am relieved that we haven’t had to worry about losing any more home grown crops this year thanks to finally having a deer proof garden!

If you are giving my simple trick for how to keep deer out of the garden a try… You should plan on replacing the CD’s every few years.

The CD’s will deteriorate after a year or 2. Especially, if you are hanging them outside through all 4 seasons.

I have also found that hanging the CD’s with fishing line lasts longer & looks prettier than yarn when they are hanging in the trees or on the tomato cages in our vegetable garden.

We also hung the CD’s from our tomato cages & it also keeps the rabbits & groundhogs out of our raised vegetable garden as well despite them living in our yard.

Whether you are an experienced gardener or a beginner, if you are looking for the best ideas of how to keep deer out of the garden naturally & without building a giant fence, I hope you will give this simple & cheap gardening trick a try!

If you have any successful solutions for how to keep deer out of the garden that I have not mentioned, I would love to hear them in the comments below.

by Tara Lehman

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