I went grocery shopping today. I figured I would get that accomplished while it was cold and get everything stocked up and would be ready no matter what . . . because when we get some nice weather I intend to be outside doing SOMETHING!!!
While I was at the store I picked up an 8-pack of original Irish Spring soap. No offense, but I'm just not a big fan of Irish Spring for bathing purposes but it is my best friend in the garden. I quite by accident found out that deer really, really do not like Irish Spring. Each year when my green beans begin to come up the deer, and I haven't figured out how, just know that those 1 to 2 inch tender plants are waiting there for them to feast upon when the sun goes down. Dogged if I can figure out how they seem to know when they're up, but each year they will eat my green bean plants right down to the ground. When they do I stomp and carry on about how I'm going to get even with them - - - but about 3 to 4 weeks later those poor little stubs have once again reached a hopeful stage. Now what do you think happens AGAIN!! Yep!!! This could make one despise Bambi. This continued for about 3 years when we first moved here and then I read that if there are a lot of scents around it confuses the deer and they tend to not want to go where they cannot discern one scent from another. Now if that is true or not I'm not sure - but I started putting little metal stakes up in my garden and took what I considered to be the smelliest soap, Irish Spring, and screwed them on the tops of the stakes and then I hung dryer sheets everywhere I could find a spot to hang them and would you believe - not one green bean was lost that year. Over the years I've found that they don't mind quite as much the other types of soaps but they do NOT like Irish Spring. Hey, it may not work for you but if you have a problem with deer it might be worth a try!! It worked for me!!!