Best way to deter deer?

I don't know if this has been covered earlier, but I need to find a good way to keep the deer out of the 12 fruit trees I just planted. I see deer fence (very expensive), various repellents, liquid fences, electronic devices. I would appreciate any advice of things that have worked for you in the past. Thank you so much. Mary

Hi Mary I think the only thing that works is fencing. I planted fruit trees years ago and what the deer didn't eat the bear pulled down the broke the ops off. ! neighbor planted fruit trees last year and they are ruined by the deer the other neighbor has them fenced and hers are fine. I would go to home depot of cenex and buy 4 post and field fence or hog wire around them until they get bigger. It shouldn't be that expensive. Deer netting is more. Good luck. Heidi and Dragonfly

Mary, I used Liquid Fence and it seemed to work. My dogs kept chasing them out of the yard, but they would return later during the night while the boys were in their kennel (which would make them bark and wake me up) or in the house sleeping. So I got some Liquid Fence and sprayed my Arborvitae twice with it and that seemed to deter the deer. I've seen them down the road from us but haven't seen any tracks in the yard or even the driveway outside the fence. It's made of rotten eggs and garlic, it smells real foul but I used it anyway. It's kind of spendy, but I think in the long run it's worth it and it doesn't wash off in the rain. My Aunt and Uncle live in Hoquium and they're the ones that told me about it, they swear by it.
My poor Arborvitae really got the worst of it last year as the boys were just puppies and the deer had a hayday literally eating holes in them. It's taking quite awhile for them to fill out again. I'll post pics from last yr, then I'll post pic from now. Hopefully I'll be able to see some growth difference.
Good luck!
Susan

I've seen deer 'fences' that are not really fences at all but apparently keep the deer out. Just posts in the ground with wire at certain heights. Seems they will not try to jump them because they cannot really tell if they are clearing the wire or not.

It sounds like different deer are harder to keep out than others. Another thing you might try - just to see if it works with yours - is to hang a bar of strong-smelling (Irish Spring) soap from a tree over the plants you're tring to protect.

Gardener,
I used to live in Aberdeen, and some of my family still live there. Who is your aunt and uncle? BTW, I HATE DEER!!!! They think our yard is their all you can eat buffet.

Lynn I agree. Their names are Gene and Deetie Wallace. They lived there quite a few yrs ago then moved to OR and now are back in Aberdeen not Hoquium, my mistake.

I've heard of using human hair around the tree or plants, but if it rains you have to do it all over again. And I think sporting good stores carry repellents.