How do I keep deer and rabbits from eating my plants?

Things You'll Need:

• Shovel
• Spade
• Crushed red pepper
• Onions and garlic
• Hot sauce
• Filtered, purified or spring water

Select rabbit and deer-resistant flowers to plant in your garden. Some flowers that rabbits and deer tend to avoid eating include astilbe, daffodils, marigolds, snapdragons, daylilies, primrose and peonies.

Choose a suitable planting location for your rabbit and deer-resistant flowers. Plant flowers labeled "Full Sun" in an area that receives six to eight hours of direct sunlight per day. Plant flowers labeled "Partial Sun" in an area that receives up to four hours of direct sunlight each day. Select a planting location that provides the appropriate amount of sunlight and offers your flowers well-draining soil.

Sprinkle 1 tbsp. of crushed red pepper into each of the planting holes when planting the flowers in your garden to make them even less appealing to rabbits, deer and other garden pests.

Plant onions and garlic around the perimeter of your garden to discourage rabbits and deer from entering. Rabbits generally know better than to eat garlic or onions, which can trigger severe anaphylactic reactions, and even deer seem to find these powerfully potent plants less than appealing.

Mix 2 tbsp. of hot sauce into 10 gallons of filtered, purified or spring water. Spray the flowers in your garden with the hot sauce solution once every two weeks to further discourage rabbits and deer from eating them.