Not In My Back Yard

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Deer Off. All opinions are 100% mine.

It's really starting to feel like Spring (even a glimpse of summer) in the Roxiticus Valley... today the temperatures are supposed to hit 80 degrees, tomorrow promises 90 degrees from London and Maddie's softball games. We're taking Grammy (Rex's mom) to see the girls play softball, and then out to an early Mother's Day celebration dinner at the Grand Cafe in Morristown, New Jersey. Ignacio's team mowed the lawn for the first time this week and the scent of honeysuckle is already in the air.

Of course, these are all signs that it is time for Rex to get started on our garden, which includes the hilarious preparations we take to keep the groundhogs and deer away from our trees, shrubbery, and tomato plants. We've used a combination of fencing, netting, and a device called the Scarecrow that hooks up to our garden hose and uses a motion sensor to try to scare off the deer and other critters by hosing them down as they peek into Rex's garden. Despite these attempts at prevention, every year the deer seem to steal the best heirloom tomatoes and cause a great deal of damage to our garden and trees.

This year, as London and Maddie are getting ready to bring home a new cockapoo puppy in July, we have the added worry about the risk of ticks and Lyme Disease that deer can bring, so we've been looking into deer repellent. Rex found the Havahart® Deer Off II Battery-Powered Sprayer with a patented Dual Deterrent System™ formula that provides both scent and taste barriers to repel deer, rabbits, and squirrels.... with apologies to our very own Roxiticus Roxy who comes out looking for her shadow every February and comes out looking for the best of Rex's heirloom tomatoes in August, I sure hope it works on groundhogs, too. The formula's putrescent eggs solids and garlic (no vampires or deer at twilight in Rex's garden!), combined with the red hot chili pepper taste of capsaicin, should dissuade the deer, rabbits, and squirrels from eating our plants. Even if the critters get past the odor, they should be repelled by the taste.

With a lot of lawn and garden to cover, we're expecting the Deer Off® II Battery-Powered motorized sprayer to really come in handy. It's designed for large lawns and can treat up to 100 ornamental shrubs four feet tall or approximately 1000 square feet of plantings quickly, before the deer can get to them. When applied as directed, this animal repellent lasts up to 90 days, so we'll get started in May and remember to re-apply in early August when the heirloom tomatoes start to ripen... we'll let you know how it goes.