Do deer eat mum plants? Commonly this question is a worry, because when you maintain a garden outside, you must protect it from different kinds of herbivorous animals like deer, squirrels, elk, or buffalo.
So, if you are the owner of a garden and confused about deer eating habits regarding mum plants and how to save your garden from them, we are here to help you. Our experts will give you some valuable advice to secure your mum plants from deer.
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Do Deer Eat Mum Plants?
The short answer is yes, deer eat mums frequently. Suppose you plant your mums in an open space where the deer population has easy access. In that case, they will obviously eat them.
Fortunately, mums are not the favorite food for the animals, and they can sometimes not eat them, but deer have strong smelling sense and strong vision as well, which helps them to see mums from a distance, they will find and chew the mums easily.
It would be best to keep in mind that there are plenty of deer-resistant plants, but mums are not deer resistant, so taking some prerequisites can only save your mums from deer.
How To Save My Mums Plant From Deer?
We have arranged some ideas; by utilizing them, you can ensure that your mums will be secured from the deer population.
– Putting a Fence around the Garden
The most effortless way to keep the members of deer population away from your garden or yard full of mum plants is to put a strong fence around the arena. Install a fence that is at least 7-8 feet in height, as deer can jump and cross the barrier lower in elevation than it.
Metal wire fencing, Polypropylene Mesh Fencing, and chain link fencing are great choices for deterring beer from your garden or yard. You can also ustilize an electric fence, but it can be life-threatening for both deer and your kids and pets, which you may not want.
A privacy Fence made of solid wood is a great solution at a low cost to save your garden though it has around only 6 feet in height because due to having a congested structure made of wood, deer cannot see your plants through the fence, and don’t bother to attack your garden.
Wooden poles with barbed wires are another idea at a low cost to save your garden from deer. However, remember to install an entrance or gate to ensure access to the garden.
– Plant a Deer Repellant
You can buy deer-repellent commercial products from a shop and spray them around your garden or near the fence.
You can even try to plant some bee balm plants which will help your garden stay protected through simple garden plants, because the smell and the chemicals that these plants would surround the environment with, will be revolting to the deer, and they will not be able to reach to your mums plant.
The reason why is that the bee balm is one of the deer-resistant plants that you can cultivate.
If you do not wish to grow this plant, you may also opt for other options that are also deer resistant plants such as the butterfly bush or even the bleeding heart which would also give your place a very nice aesthetic from the exterior in addition to the mums.
– Install Motion-Activated Sprinklers
Motion-activated sprinklers are modern and effective tools that spray water to the animals detecting their body movement when they try to attack your garden. When the deer sense a slight motion, coming from the bushes, and then face water coming towards them, they will be in a shock and quickly escape from destroying your flowers, whether in the evening or later at night.
This deterrent is popular among gardeners for being humane and cheap and not having any detrimental chemicals which can be unsafe for your pets and children. Place the sprinkler close to mum plants for maximum safeguard as a way of investing in deer repellents.
– Hang Human Hair
Human hair is an old-fashioned but hugely useful deer repellant method you won’t regret trying. The reason why they won’t approach is the fact that they get revolted by the smell or the odor of human hair.
Which means you can simply collect a mass of fallen hair from the hairbrush or floor of your shower and simply hang them in a cluster near the mum plants of your garden. The deer will stay away from the mums, because the smell will be terrifying for them and won’t approach any longer.
– Grow Hot Peppers
Using common kitchen ingredients like hot pepper or garlic has proved fruitful in saving mums from deer from ancient times. Grow hot pepper in your garden next to the place where you planted mums.
As deer dislike the taste and odor of hot peppers, they do not come closer to the area where the hot peppers are.
Also note that even if they do not eat the pepper, once they come closer to it, the odor in the air or the atmosphere will repel the deer away.
You can plant them near mums to protect your flowers and crush and sprinkle them near the flowers to make this method more effective, in addition, the flowers from the pepper will add vibrancy and beauty to your garden in a very nice way.
– Guard Dog
Dogs are men’s best friends, and your dog will prove it again by keeping deer away from your garden or yard. Dog barks, and deer don’t come near where the dog walks. So, your pet dog can help you to protect your mum plants. With the slightest motion, the dig will wake up, and bark because it will feel a stranger, or something that it is not familiar with just walked by, hence the deer will run away.
– Use Garlic
Garlic is another spice that is a good choice to make the deer stay away from your mum plants. At first, crush garlic cloves and spread them near plants, and the deer will avoid the plants due to the smell of garlic. This is a cost-effective, homely remedy to save your mums plants from the deer.
On the other hand, note that if you do not wish to make a mess with crushing and placing garlic, you can always plant some near your mums, as the smell of it will repel any pests or bugs in addition to deer as well.
– Use Fox Urine
Deer avoid foxes just like they avoid dogs, and you can use them to prevent deer from eating garden plants. But you cannot use foxes to guard your garden like you made your dogs do; however, you can always use fox urine by spreading it on every corner of your garden, and the deer will think foxes are near, and they won’t come near to your plants.
This option does sound like an impossible plant, but you can always buy it online, or the replica of it, which will still keep the mums plants safe from being bitten.
– Use Mothballs
Putting mothballs near plants or hanging them on your garden bars will protect your mum plants from deer, as deer despise the smell of mothballs. This is one of the aspects that deer cannot resist, as they are a type of pesticides, that will release an odor throughout a long time.
If you place them or hang them, animals will not even know that mums plants are throughout the location.
However, be careful that your kids and pets stay away from them as they are harmful. Which means this would be best if they are hung from a higher place, because you wouldn’t want to intoxicate any kids or pets.
– Home Made Deer Repellant
You don’t need to always buy expensive deer repellants from shops that hold chemicals and are harmful to your pets and kids; instead, you can make some effective repellant at your home using homely components. One of them can be made of rotten egg and spoilt milk, which has a stingy smell and is disliked by deer.
For this, beat an egg at first and pour the egg into an empty 16-ounce spray bottle, and mix one tablespoon of cookery oil, one tablespoon of dish soap, and 1/2 cup of milk with it and load the bottle midway with water, and blend the ingredients perfectly by shaking after closing the mouth of the bottle.
Now spray this mixture on the garden or yard where you planted mum plants but don’t spray on any edible vegetables or fruits because it will make the vegetables not palatable.
You can also use soap to make homemade repellant which is completely safe for vegetable gardens. First, cut the soap into pieces and put them into a sock, securing the sock’s upper part to make a pouch. Hook the soap satchel to a wooden post with a tacker or staple gun and force the wooden stake into the earth where you planted the plants and want to keep the deer out of place.
Vinegar is another great way to make a homemade remedy for making deer disappear. Mix eight ounces of white vinegar into a 16-ounce fountain bottle where you need to mix six drops of peppermint essential oil and four drops of rosemary essential oil. Shake the bottle to blend ingredients and spray it on the desired area to keep deer away from your mums.
Will Mums Plant Grow Back If Deer Eat Them?
Yes, even when the deer eat mums these plant will grow back even after being eaten by deer or other animals. As long as your mum plants are always healthy and well taken care of, they will grow back easily, because of their resilient nature.
– Time of Growth
Another name for mum plants is Chrysanthemums, which are also known as chrysanths. They are perennial, flowering plants belonging to the genus Chrysanthemum in the family Asteraceae and come from East Asia and northeastern Europe.
August or early September is the ideal span to plant mum plants before frost strikes, and early bloomers of these plants initiate to flower in late July, while premature fall bloomers blossom in September as the tiny days in late summer and early fall instigate their blooming and late fall bloomers flower in October.
– Growing Rate
The bloom time of mums will be expanded, even taking twice the time due to getting a strong root system if the mum plants get on the ground before blooming happens.
Having different varieties, mum plants grow best between zone 5 to 9, and they can be tall up to one to three feet according to the specific kinds. Mum plants bloom in various beautiful colors, including white, yellow, orange, purple, red, and lavender flowers.
Full sunlight is mandatory for the healthy growth of these plants, and it causes blossoming of vast numbers of flowers. If the plants don’t receive adequate daylight, your plants will be deprived of enough flowers.
However, after the blooming is completed, then you should manage a shed for the plants, which will secure the maximum lifespan of the flowers. Regarding soil, mum plants demand rich soil with a good drainage system.
Conclusion
Our experts have gathered some techniques to help you save your plants, and let’s focus on the article’s main points now quickly.
- These plants are popular, just like roses, due to their being flowery and beautiful, and enjoying their beauty is possible until a hard frost strikes.
- Though mum plants are not top priority food for deer but deer love to munch the plants frequently.
- As mum plants are not deer resistant, you have to take proper security steps to save your plants from deer.
- Setting up the fence around the garden, using deer repellant, installing motion-activated sprinklers, and making your dog guard the garden is a fabulous idea to keep deer away from your plants.
- Besides, common kitchen elements like hot garlic pepper, along with handy tricks like hanging human hair or using fox urine or mothballs, also work excellently to deter deer from your plants.
After reading the article enriched with the solutions given by experts, you should not be in trouble in the future to find a way how to save your mums plants.
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