Blueberries are some of the most popular summer fruits for baked goods, in addition to being high in antioxidants and a low-calorie snack. They are best eaten between June and August and should be planted in the spring for summer consumption.
Deer will develop a taste for blueberries if you do not take precautions to secure your crops. They will come for your fruit as soon as they see it or smell it. If you want to know how to protect your blueberry fruit bushes, consider the following advice.
Use Fences to Keep Away Deer
Fencing is by far the most effective technique to avoid damage where there are many deer or where important plants need to be protected. Large fences are the most effective, but they are also the most expensive. Smaller fences are more effective at defending smaller areas or when used in conjunction with repellents.
Year-round, permanent woven wire fences with a height of eight feet are employed to safeguard valuable crops. They’re costly to build, but they’re effective even in high-deer-pressure areas and are simple to maintain.
Non-Electric Fences
Non-electric fences must be eight feet or higher to prevent deer from leaping over them, and they must be robust enough to prevent deer from chewing holes in them. Deer should not mistakenly run into the fence, and trees should not fall on it. Therefore, the fence’s perimeter must be kept clear of trees and brush. If any holes appear, fill them right away, so deer don’t become accustomed to feeding within the fence.
Although deer are capable of jumping over a 10- or 12-foot barrier, they rarely do it unless they are starving or scared. Some permanent gates are only 4 to 6 feet tall, but they are positioned at an angle rather than straight up and down to create a visible “three-dimensional” barrier. To increase their effectiveness, fences can be electrified to create a psychological barrier.
Electric Fences
Electric fences can have one or more strands, and they range in price from low-cost temporary installations to high-tensile slanted barriers that last for years. Deer are supposed to avoid electric fences after being shocked by them.
On the other hand, Deer are adequately protected by their fur and can occasionally stroll through without being shocked. Baiting the fence using peanut butter helps to ensure a shock and so influences deer behavior. It’s also crucial to keep the area around the fence clean of grass and other debris, which might ground the fence and diminish the charge.
Electric fences that are relatively short in length will not give complete or deer exclusion, especially in high-pressure circumstances, but they can be quite effective in medium-sized areas with moderate deer pressure.
Deer can be kept out of flower beds and small food gardens with a cotton rope fence and repellent. Combining a visible barrier, such as a rope or other modest fence with an odor repellant can significantly minimize browsing during the growing season. Installing 3- to 4-foot posts around the perimeter can be used to build the fence.
Spray an odor-based repellent straight onto the cotton rope or on strips of cotton cloth attached to the rope at 3- to 4-foot intervals and attach cotton rope at the height of around 30 inches.
Can You Use Repellants to Keep Deer Away?
Deer repellents either have a poor taste or an unpleasant odor. Many commercially available repellents can be sprayed on ornamental shrubs and non-bearing fruit trees during the growing season, but much fewer are allowed for use on fruit-bearing and vegetable trees. Hinder, a soap-based repellent, and Deer-off, a repellent containing putrefied egg particles, garlic, and other chemicals, are two examples.
The efficiency of deer repellents is determined by the number of deer present, their hunger level, and what you’re attempting to protect. Repellents are less likely to operate if wild food supplies are restricted. Even if browsing pressure is low, repellents will usually cause some damage. When rain isn’t forecast for at least a day and the temperature is between 40° and 80°F, repellents should be used.
Non-commercial repellents such as soap bars, cat urine, and human hair may be useful in some situations, but results are highly variable, and regulatory agencies restrict the use of most pest control treatments unless they are registered with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Final Thoughts
Deer love to eat blueberries as this fruit is delicious and nutritious. To ensure that your blueberries don’t get chewed by deer in the wild, consider installing a non-electric or electric fence. They should be able to keep the deer out. If you want an inexpensive method, deer repellants are another option.
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