When you’ve taken the time, and money to plant flowers, shrubs, or a vegetable garden, you want to keep them safe from nibbling deer. How do you do it? Well here’s five simple tips to remember when deciding on using deer repellent.

Start early - Protect your plants early. Start by spraying deer repellent in early Spring. Give your garden, shrubs, or other area you want protected, a shot of deer repellent at the beginning of the planting season. Your deterrent will be in place before the deer start coming around, and inflicting damage.

Change it up - Deer become accustomed to tastes or smells. Deer also become timid when something new is introduced into their environment. Rather than just changing the brand of deer repellent you’re using, identify what the active ingredient is. Then, change the active ingredient. Some competing brands may use the same active ingredient, yet in different strengths.

Trigger all the senses - When possible, try to affect as many senses of the deer as possible. Sight, sound, smell, and taste are all vulnerable areas of our four-legged friends. Targeting two of the senses at the same time will make it that much more intimidating to the deer. That’s why we suggest using a deer repellent spray (which deters the deer by making your plants taste foul, or carry an offensive odor), in combination with a motion activated repellent such as a scarecrow sprinkler. This way you also affect the deer’s sight and sound vulnerabilities.

Edible or inedible - Determine which type of deer repellent you’ll be using on your edible and inedible plants. Be sure to spray both types of forage when they are completely dry. Reapply your deterrent to the inedible plants more frequently, and after heavy rain showers. There are different strengths of deer repellents for garden plants. You’ll be eating vegetables from those, so the repellent washes off. Repellent for shrubs and flowers usually contains an ingredient to help it stick. Make sure and read the label carefully.

Deterrent plants - We all have our favorite plants that we grow. When possible though, remove the initial temptation from the equation. Introducing deer resistant plants with certain types of flowers or shrubs that the deer don’t have a sweet tooth for, is a deer repellent in an indirect way.

Following these five steps will lead you on the way to keeping your plants safe, and the deer where they belong, out of your garden!

Repellent Review will be testing some popular brands of deer repellent this summer, and into the Fall, when deer grazing becomes busy. Be sure to bookmark us, and return back then to get the results of our deer repellent showdown!

Children, like Seth and Taylor here, are just as susceptible to getting bitten by a bug as adults are. As parents or guardians of children, we want to make sure they’re able to avoid getting attacked by those flying pests in the safest way possible. Here are a few tips on protecting children when using insect repellent.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has long been an advocate for the welfare of our children. They advise some of the following procedures:

• Use an insect repellent containing Deet because of its effectiveness.
• Only use bug repellents that have a concentratation of DEET no higher than 30%.
• Do not use a DEET-based insect repellent on an infant younger than 2 months old.
• Do not overapply DEET-based deterrents.
• Monitor the use of repellents on children under 12 years old.
• Avoid applying insect repellent around the eyes, hands, or mouths of small children.
• Follow the directions of the insect repellent manufacturer.
• If a child produces a rash after applying a deterrent, wash the skin with soap and water.
• Always have children wash their hands before eating (Bring towlettes to a picnic or outdoor barbeque).
• Preferably apply calamine or follow an effective homemade bug bite remedy if any bites do occur.

Following a few simple guidelines when using insect repellent with children will help keep them bite-free, and safe from the potential hazards of any chemical-based product. Also, remember to check your child’s hair for ticks before going indoors. Keep their fingernails short in the event the insect repellent allows a few critters through.