Deer like to eat sunflowers. Due to the presence of high protein, it is the favorite source of food for deer. Seed heads and young sunflower plants are particularly delicious to deer.
So deer grazing can be a concern for people with them in their garden.
The diet of deer includes things like bark, grass, berries, twigs, young shoots, alfalfa pellets, hay, and other types of vegetation. Deer consumes around two pounds of dry food daily for every 100 pounds of body weight.
Deer have been thought of as agricultural pests due to their propensity of feeding on crops. In some areas, they can also create a nuisance by invading yards at night and grazing on as much as ornamental plants as they can.
This is bad news for sunflower planters that deer love eating sunflowers and they especially like grazing on the leaves. Even the high reaching sunflower varieties are within their reach. Most people consider sunflowers great dove field plots, but these plants also draw antelopes.
Therefore gardeners have problems with deer as they had plants (generally sunflowers) in the gardens. When you don’t know about the right ways to stop these, they can also destroy the garden.
Keeping the Deer away From Sunflower Garden
To keep deer away, it is vital to work with fresh methods for keeping the deer out of the garden.
There is a possibility that when you’re not available at your home, deer will arrive and start invading the sunflowers. To keep the deer from eating through the garden, we’ve got many solutions that can be followed:
Using Deer Deterrents
Various deer deterrent sprays are available in the market like water and rotten eggs, soap spray, pepper spray, and much more. However, after applying the method, you have to be sure that the deer spray is organic. Many gardeners also lure the deer away after growing favorite foods in other areas far away from the sunflower garden.
Planting Taste-based Deer Repellents
Deer heavily rely on their smell. When something is repelling for them, they’ll avoid it anyhow. Deer want trees and plants that taste well, such as humans.
When you make the plants unattractive to taste deer or sense of smell, they go elsewhere to get the food. For such reasons, many gardeners also plant spicy hot herbs with other plants around shrubs and trees they’ll have to protect.
Many deer-repelling plants have a strong aroma like lavender, chives, garlic, or mint.
Installing Fences
This is the simplest solution to deter deer. The fence should partly expand underground and shouldn’t have gaps larger than 6×6 inches, where the deer squeezes through or crawls under. The deer goes around the fence for finding a way to attack inside to make sure that you’ve enclosed the garden.
A minimum 8 feet tall or higher fence should be installed. Some deer can also clear 8-foot fences if there aren’t any obstacles.
What Plants are Deer Resistant?
If you’ve got an orchid or a garden with flowers and plants that deer love grazing on, you can replace them with the simple-care and attractive alternatives.
The ornamental shrubs and plants in your garden area should be lovely looking, rather than being a food source for the deer around. Although making your backyard deer-proof wouldn’t be possible, you can fill it with plants hated by deer and minimize the damage.
Due to the presence of poisonous compounds, bristly texture, and aromatic leaves many plants are unpalatable to the deer population. These are the best deer-resistant plants that you can include in your garden.
Signet Marigold – All marigold varieties draw deer due to their pungent odor. However, many marigolds have a light citrus flavor and smell, making them ideal for culinary use.
Snapdragon – Vibrant and dramatic flower spikes make the snapdragon a great addition to a deer-resistant garden. Snapdragons can bloom well in fall and spring cool weather and are available in various cultivars.
Russian Sage – The silvery finely-cut foliage makes the Russian Sage a highly attractive plant in a perennial sunny garden. Small flowers bloom on tall stalks and produce lovely color plumes. The flowers last often well in October.
Bleeding Fringed Heart – These are among the few native woodland plants avoided by deer. Although the plant is a little bit less presentable compared to the common variety the bleeding heart, its heart shape flowers have various color ranges from pink shades to white.
What bugs and animals get attracted to sunflowers?
A lot of animals, bugs, beetles, ladybugs, snails, bees, seed Weevils, squirrels, birds, deer, rabbits, chipmunks, rabbits, moths, rats, raccoons, hedgehogs, etc. are drawn to sunflower plantations. Have some of these around the sunflowers can be good and some can be bad.
Not only seeds and sunflower plants are great tasting for pets. It is shared with wildlife visiting the garden as well. Here is vital information on are sunflower seeds safe for Pets.
While bright and cheery flowers are a visual feast for people, the seeds can be sought after by different animals. Animals saving seeds for winters like chipmunks or tree squirrels love sunflower seeds. Garden mice also eat sunflower seeds and raccoons might also indulge.
Before sunflower grows, and while it is a young plant, there would be various bugs and beetles visiting. Butterflies also lay eggs on the plants, solitary bees feed on them for building nests. Caterpillars and spiders also occupy the sunflowers. Ladybugs, lightning bugs, and ladybirds also feast on aphids.
Based on where you’re growing the sunflowers, here is a list of insects drawn to these:
- Bees
- Lady Bugs
- Glassy winged sharpshooters
- Butterflies
- Head clipper
- Slugs
- Flies
- Snails
- Moths
- Head clipper
- Leaf cutters
- Wasps
- Spiders
- Blooming Lovely
If you wish to grow sunflowers in the garden you can try these methods for sure. If the deer population in your area is destroying your plantation, it would be sensible to take various steps for the protection of flowers.
