Like all gardeners, nothing chaps my hide more than garden pests. And tiny nibbling bugs are one thing but large fur-covered mammals that eat, dig around or poop near my tropical plants really boil my blood. I was therefore quite delighted when the nice folks at Dog Fence DIY sent me a sample of Liquid Fence Deer & Rabbit Repellent to try. Granted, in Pasadena, California we don't really have a problem with deers or free-range bunnies (I'd probably pass out in shock if I found either of these in my garden). But I do have a real problem with squirrels who love to dig around the base of my plants in search of grubs and neighborhood cats who've declared my garden a 'potty zone'.
Although I don't know how effective a deer and rabbit repellent would be against these other critters, I'm more than happy to give it a try. You basically spray Liquid Fence around your plants and garden perimeter and again a week later and once per month after that. It works by training pest animals to avoid your garden. The key ingredients in this concoction are putrescent whole egg solids and garlic. And, OOOH DOGGY, it smells as horrible as it sounds! One whiff nearly knocked me out. But I'll do anything to deter pests so I bravely sprayed the entire perimeter of my garden. The smell was quite overpowering but according to the directions, once it dries, the smell isn't noticeable to humans. I would recommend that if you are in close proximity to neighbors you might want to be courteous and do the spraying when they aren't home. Otherwise you may no longer have neighbors (Wait, maybe that's a good thing!). I actually had an amusing experience with this. My apartment garden faces a pre-school playground, which was packed with dozens of kids when I did the spraying. As if the power of the smell wasn't evident enough, the air was suddenly filled with many kids screaming "Oh, my God, what is that smell!?" and "Oooh, it's horrible!!" while their teachers quickly rounded them up and brought them back into the classrooms. Oops, my bad! I honestly didn't realize how strong the smell would be but I have to admit, I got a good diabolical chuckle out of this.
The following day, just as promised, the smell was almost completely unnoticeable, to my human nose, anyway. Although I can't testify to how well this will work at repelling squirrels and cats, I'm sure it's quite effective against deers and rabbits as well as any other mammal with a strong sense of smell.
The generous folks at Dog Fence DIY provided me with this product to facilitate my review and compensated me with a gift card but the opinion is my own. Liquid Fence is available at the Wireless Fencing DIY Store.
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