Do Deer Eat Petunias? (10+ Ways to Keep Them Away)

Are you living in an area where finding deer is not common? If yes, then I will suggest you learn how to avoid them eating your plants especially if you have grown petunias. Don’t think you can’t because nothing is impossible, so give it a try.

To help you plant lovers, I’ve explained all my conducted ways and successful methods that resulted positively in saving petunias. If you follow each step then the result will be guaranteed perfect. So, what are waiting for? Let’s start to learn and save the petunias.

Quick takeaways:

  • Petunias provide you with flowers that can bloom all long if you maintain them with proper care. But there is a problem that happens to the petunias sometimes, it is that they are getting eaten by the animals.
  • One of the animals that eat petunias is deer, they destroy the garden by eating various fruits and vegetables from it.
  • They develop a problem by eating the petunias of the farmers. It is kind of difficult to protect petunias from deer so that you get to see their blooms. When deer feel hungry, they go to your garden and eat their favorite plants.
  • One of them is petunias. Petunias tend to grow as an annual but they are known as the best perennials that one can grow in the garden. But before that, you have to make sure that you are growing the right variety of petunias that suit your surroundings.

What are Petunias?

Petunias are varieties of flowering plants that have various colors and can be the best example of flowers to plant around your mailbox. They tend to produce a mildly scented vibe that cheers everyone’s mood.

They can be grown easily in your garden area as it makes the garden attractive and colorful. Petunias can give a gardener a long-lasting effect if you grow them properly with proper care. They can blossom in any kind of soil. 

Do Deer Eat Petunias?

Yes, deer eat petunias and even more varieties of food. They can eat any plant that is available in your garden. But they even damage the whole garden in this process. 

Petunias are those flowering plants that are cherished not only by humans but also by animals. So, deer eat them when they feel hungry and find food nearby.

They tend to eat moist plants, which should contain good water content as water is important for them to survive. 

Why Do Deer Like Petunias?

Before knowing the ways to keep the deer away from petunias, it is important to know why deer like petunias. Following are the points that we let you know about their Love for petunias.

  • One of the main reasons is the sweet smell of the petunias then to attracts the deer.
  • Another major reason is the age of the plant that is petunias are one of the young plants that grow as succulents that are loved by the deer.

Because of their moistness, it is loved by the deer. As succulent plants tend to store water in them, it is a great point for deer to get attracted by the petunias to satisfy their hunger by taking the water.

10+ Ways to keep deer away

So, as promised I will let you know about the best ways to keep the deer away from your plants. They are as follows:

  1. Make use of red cat eyes
  2. Grow plants that have wooly foliage
  3. Try to grow your plants at a high level
  4. You can use motion-activated sprinklers 
  5. Make loud noises 
  6. Animal hair can be used 
  7. One can use deer netting 
  8. Repellent sprays can be an option 
  9. Make individual fences
  10. Make use of hanging baskets

Make use of red cat eyes

Guys, it is one of the best ways to keep deer away from your garden area.

You can do so with the help of fake red eyes which do not allow any animal to come to the garden to eat the plants and vegetables. This will work great with the deer too.

Grow plants that have wooly foliage

If you wonder how to keep the deer away from your petunia, then it is a great idea to use those plants that have fuzzy foliage. You can grow those plants that do not have thin hair on their leaves. It is one of the other ways to keep deer away from the plant.

Thick hairy leaves will not be eaten by the deer and they will stay away from your garden. You can check this by rubbing the leaf on your hand if it has tiny hairs, then you can grow it so it won’t be eaten by the deer. 

Try to grow your plants at a high level

Guys, when you grow the plants to a high level, it becomes difficult for the animals to approach them for eating. It is one of the other ways to keep deer away from the plant.

Some of the deer are not good at climbing the trees, so, it would be great if you plant them at higher levels. 

You can use motion-activated sprinklers 

One can use other ways to keep deer away from the garden by using a motion-activated sprinkler.

Deer gets scared to hear loud voices, so it is a great chance for you to use it and protect your petunias from them. 

Make loud noises 

For removing the deer from your garden, you can produce a loud noise by any means that will make the deer nervous. It is one of the other ways to keep deer away from the plant.

You can do so by producing loud noises of shouting, whistles, noisemakers, or even wind chimes to scare the deer.

By listening to the loud noises, he will run away from your garden and you will be successful in protecting your petunias. 

Animal hair can be used 

However, it is not the only option to try to keep the deer away from your petunias. If they feel the scent of human hair, then they will get scared and not come to your garden. It is one of the other ways to keep deer away from the plant.

One can use deer netting 

For keeping away the squirrels you can even make use of deer netting. It won’t let the deer enter the garden area. It gets set up in the same way as a fence.

You should make it much higher so that they cannot cross it. It is one of the other ways to keep deer away from the plant.

Repellent sprays can be an option 

One of the suitable options for you is to use a deer repellent spray that does not allow the deer to come into the garden. It is one of the other ways to keep deer away from the plant.

You can even use the rotten eggs to keep the deer outside your garden. The smell produced by the egg mixed with cloves and garlic can easily help you to get rid of the deer.  

Make individual fences

If you do not manage to fence the whole garden, then you can try to add fences to the individual petunias. It is one of the other ways to keep deer away from the plant.

You can wrap a net and then create a fence around it would be great for you to keep deer away like groundhogs from your garden.  

Make use of hanging baskets

Last but not least, you can try to plant the plants in hanging baskets or pots inside the house. It will not let the deer eat them. It is one of the other ways to keep deer away from the plant.

You can easily enjoy your vegetation if you grow your petunias in hanging baskets that can not be approached by the deer. 

Concluding lines

In this guide, you come to know that Petunias are varieties of flowering plants that have various colors. They tend to produce a mildly scented vibe that cheers everyone’s mood.

They can be grown easily in your garden area as it makes the garden attractive and colorful. Deer loves to eat petunias, so you need to protect them. I hope you understand the guide well. So, we will catch up in another guide. Till then Safe Gardening.

Thanks for reading! Happy Gardening!

FAQs

1. Do petunias repel deer?

Yes, petunias repel deer and there are even more plants that repel deer. They are oregano, daffodils, rosemary, and others. 

2. Are squirrels attracted to petunias?

Yes, squirrels also love to eat petunias. They tend to eat its foliage rather than its flowers. They get attracted to the spicy flavor developed by the leaves of the petunias.

 

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