If deer have turned your garden into a salad bar, turn up the heat on them by giving your plants a zing of cayenne pepper. Sprinkle the cayenne on your plants and reapply after it rains. Eventually the deer will figure out that the plants are hot—and they’ll make someone else’s garden their favorite mealtime destination. Several bulk-spice outlets sell cayenne pepper in large quantities online. To find their Web sites, search for “bulk spices.”
If the deer are stripping the bark off the trees in your yard, wrap the tree trunks in hardware cloth or wire mesh. This wire mesh will keep the deer from sinking their teeth into the bark. Check your local hardware store, home improvement center, or plant nursery for this material.
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Sprinkling plants with cayenne pepper will cause deer to steer clear of your garden.
