I love to have flowers in my Manalapan backyard. My yard backs up to beautifully manicured woods and I love to plant flowers along the border. The pop of color adds so much to greenery. I also have many pots scattered all around especially in the front yard. Since I am a Manalapan Realtor, I recognize the value of curb appeal. A buyer needs to feel that your home is well maintained and manicured landscaping is key. Many buyers just drive by and won't even go inside if they don't like the way the outside of the house looks. I digress...I was writing about flowers!
When I first moved to this home my husband painstakingly dug out beds for me all along the back of the property. Since it is partially shaded from the woods and trees, I plant impatiens. Every spring I buy 7 flats of impatiens, usually in 2 different colors, and spend 2 - 3 days planting them in the ground. I no time they are huge and gorgeous.
Every morning when I wake up, I look at my bedroom window to see them. They make me happy to be alive. Several years back, we were planning a family BBQ and my husband made sure that the yard was just perfect. He takes a lot of pride in manicuring his property. The morning of the BBQ, I awoke and looked out the window as I always do, and I could not believe my eyes. Every single flower was gone!! All that was left was the green stalks. My friendly neighborhood deer must have gotten word that we were having a party and didn't invite them, so they decided to help themselves to my precious flowers. I was devastated. Why on THAT particular day? They couldn't wait one more day until everyone had left and seen my beautiful blooms?
Needless to say my yard was dismal the rest of the year. I proceeded to do my research and found out that deer love impatiens. Who knew? So, the next year I planted begonias. Pretty, but not the same. They need more sun to grow large and I have too much shade. I decided that I was going back to impatiens the following year but was going to use one of the deer repellent sprays and hope for the best.
I came to find out that deer prefer a bland diet of plant material. Deer repellents are sprays that protect plants from being browsed by covering their leaves and flowers with a smell suggestive of either animal elements (from eggs or bloodmeal ingredients) or spicy taste (from minty oils, garlic or hot pepper ingredients). I was afraid of a chemical because my dog goes into the woods. Upon further investigation I determined that all of these repellents contain natural ingredients and are safe to use even with children and pets around. I spent a lot of time researching and decided to go with a product called Deer Off. Catchy name, I liked that. Deer Off protects two ways, by odor (from putrescent whole egg solids) and, in case Bambi has a stuffy noise, by taste (from capsaicin and garlic). OMRI certified organic. Dries clear.
I am here to report that Deer Off is hands down the best product I have every used. It works just as it advertises. Its smells really, really bad at first and then you hardly notice it. I see deer strolling around the yard and they make no attempt at all to go near my flowers. YAY!!! Until....you forget to follow up. You need to spray every few weeks to ensure safety. What we have been doing the past few years is that in mid to late September we just stop spraying and let the deer have their feast. They fill up for the winter. This past week, all the little Bambi's were out having a major feast at my expense. As much as I love seeing my flowers all summer, I do like to see the young deer munching on my flowers. I feel like I'm contributing to nature!
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