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Monday, April 19, 2010

Milorganite For Deer Control

   When I first heard about this in the forums, I figured it was probably just another thing too good to be true like Irish Spring Soap, dog hair etc. To be honest I was a little put off about what it was made of as well. Then a friend said she had been to a local nursery that used it and swore by it.She said they simply hung up bags made of hose with Milorganite in it around the perimeter of their nursery.Finally, I decided to give it a try. 
    
The website says it is a "dependable, slow-release, non burning organic fertilizer". It also states "research done at Barry College and other sources says Milorganite has an efficacy of being a deer deterrent". Now for the "not-so-good" part. It is made from processed Milwaukee sewage. If you are like me, your probably screwing up your face pretty good right about now. It took me awhile to get past that. You can find out more HERE..
   Here is what it looks like to the right. As you can see, nothing like its former self, thank goodness.There is a slight odd odor about it, nothing strong. Once its in your garden or hanging up, I notice no odor at all. Its easy to forget its there. According to the site, its safe around your family, and even safe to use it on your veggy garden. However, thats where I personally draw the line. Aged horse manure was bad enough.
    I have to tell you though, it works! I dont know about the fertilizer part, since in the beginning I hung up pouches around the perimeter of my backyard, but it does keep the deer away. It couldnt be easier. Late last fall, I hung up satchels of this stuff just around the perimeter of my backyard. Remember, I was just beginning my testing of it. I watched during the winter. I saw a deer in this area once all winter. When warm weather started, I found the deer had rubbed my small, 6 ft  willowtree almost in half. Shrubs around my side yard had been eaten down to the branches, and there was deer droppings all around my front walk. Then when tulips season started, I noticed I actually had buds! I havent had buds on my tulips for at least 5 yrs or more. I have some I have never seen bloom or even bud since they were planted. I thought at first that I had just gotten to the early enough to apply cayenne. Never thought about the Milorganite. Then I noticed that I had other tulips blooming in other areas that I hadnt put the cayenne on. Now dont get me wrong, that deer concoction I mixed up last yr did the trick, but it needed to be reapplied every couple of months or they came back. I also noticed that not one of my hosta's had been touched, and they hadnt had anything on them as well. Same for the Heuchera, which the deer loved last yr. So I got out my bag and sprinkled it directly around my beds lightly. I am also building a potager.I said how I felt about this stuff in the food garden ( but thats just my quirks). So I just sprinkled it lightly around the outside perimeter of the garden. I had not re-applied or re-filled bags all winter even into early spring. That was at least 7 months of deer relief. I just re-applied to be on the safe side. I have beautiful tulips, heuchera, hosta's and more to enjoy. It couldnt be easier. Here is a link to the Milorganite website for lots of info.


    



16 comments:

  1. Tammy - congratulations on your success! I've heard of Milorganite being used for deer control.

    I've stumbled across something interesting with regard to rabbits--which are more of a problem for me since I grow deer resistant plants. The rabbits were munching the foliage of my Dutch irises. I sprinkled organic PlantTone (which contains blood meal) around the bulbs and the rabbits haven't been back since then. In full disclosure, I have to also add that the hawks are hunting a lot this year and the corn snake is hanging out in the garden.

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  2. I dont have any rabbits. I think my cats take care of that problem. I have heard of blood meal working as a deterrent tho.

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  3. I have a friend who uses Milorganite to fertilize her garden. She doesn't have deer in her suburban yard, but she swears that it's great for the lawn, shrubs, flowers, and, yes, veggies! I haven't used it yet because I have a hard time finding it in my area. However, one nursery near me is carrying it now, so I will try it.

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  4. Must be nice to not have to deal with those buggers,lol

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  5. Hi Tammy, I’m Anne from Life on the Funny Farm (http://annesfunnyfarm.blogspot.com), and I’m visiting from Clever Chicks.

    Who would have thought sewage would be used for something like that? Disgusting. But hey, if it works! Glad you found something that does the trick for you!

    Anyway, thanks for posting this. If you’ve never visited yet, I hope you can pop by my blog sometime to say hi…

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    1. ann, thanks for visitn. I sopped by your blog. I loove your definition of your farm! that was so cute. Great blog1

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  6. I will have to give this a try. The deer have eaten all of our azaleas and hostas. Thanks for the tip.
    Sam

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    1. Thanks for stopping by. This was the only method I have found to keep deer away that didnt require reapplying after every rain. i got a good 2 yrs protection until I started seeing them come around again. Good Luck!

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  7. Wow, compelling testimonial! Thank you for sharing with the Clever Chicks Blog Hop this week; I hope you’ll join us again!

    Cheers,
    Kathy Shea Mormino
    The Chicken Chick
    http://www.The-Chicken-Chick.com

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    1. Thanks for stopping by. I will be back to Clever Chicks, it is a wonderful blog. Last Fall, I started seeing some signs of the deer entering the yard again, and since I had newly planted fruit trees, I hung some around them, and replaced a few sachets around the perimeter again. So far so good.

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  8. Hi Tammy, I appreciate your suggestion here and glad to see what worked for you! I just may have to give this a try. You are so fortunate to have found something that is really working! Thanks so much for visiting me and telling me about this. A concern I have is that it might not be deer...and could be some other critter, even as small as mice/rats or something else, perhaps even rabbits. I didn't think I had rabbits in the back yard since we have a fence...but we do have a small opening under the gate that one could slip through. Ahh, the trials and tribulations we suffer by doing what we love ;)

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    1. Hope you get it figured out. I know how you feel about your prized pants being destroyed. My main problem is deer. we have rabbits and squirrel around but not near my yard. Our cats take care of those critters,lol. They like to bring in their prize catch of the day every now and then.

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  9. Your deer are very smart, staying away from sewage sludge. I wonder if the local sewage sludge (they're calling it "compost" around these parts) would have the same effect. What does Milorganite smell like? The local sludge has a peculiar, somewhat unpleasant smell...it's not something you would want to put your hand in too often. Here it's about 1/3 wood chips (from used pallets) and 2/3 composted sewage.

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    1. In the granular form it comes in, there is only a slight odor. when you are handling it. Nothing real unpleasant. It doesnt smell like manure tho. More of a slight chemical type smell.When its hanging around the yard, I cant smell it at all. Even when right next to it.But you MUST keep the main bag dry in storage. My husband took the bag from where I had it and moved it with bags of soil into the back yard, but didnt shut the bag. It got wet. I went to use it one day, and without thinking anything about it, dug right into the bag.BIG mistake. Once wet, AND disturbed, the smell was so horrible I almost lost my lunch. And I have a strong stomach. i am a nurse and used to unpleasant smells. But this was undescribably horrible. However, I didnt smell it, until I disturbed it.

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  10. With our ravenous deer ransacking the gardens, I was very encouraged to read that this was working for you. However, I did a little research, and it's illegal under the National Organic Standards Act to use any products containing biosolids (aka sewage sludge) in certified organic production, so for us, for now, we'll have to keep hoping our fences hold!

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    1. It shouldnt affect your organic status if it is not being applied to the garden.I am just hanging little panyhose pouches of it around the perimet of my yard. It is definitely not going on my garden, now is it within 40 feet of it. Something to think about. Thanks for stopping by.

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