Back Issue
May/June 2001

Recipe for Deer and Vole Repellent

The original recipe was first published in Heather Notes, a publication of the Northeast Heather Society and reprinted in the September/October 1999 issue of Connecticut Gardener.

“In a blender throw three large eggs, shells included. Add a large clove of sliced garlic, 2 cups of fresh green onion tops, and 2 cups of water. Liquefy, for about two minutes. Add this mixture to a pail which contains one or two quarts of warm water and some melted deodorant soap. Stir together, then add two tablespoons of chili powder or hot pepper and mix well.

With a kitchen scrub brush flick this mixture over the plants to be protected, being sure to get bits of eggshell on them. When used every two weeks or so, this mixture is totally effective — even in winter. Save a bit of this brew in a tightly closed jar to add to the next batch. It develops a ‘ripe’ odor, offensive up close but not noticeable in the garden.”

The recipe has been modified by Leigh Tunick, a subscriber living in Sharon, Connecticut. Her “brew” controls both deer and voles.

Place in blender: 2 cups water, 2 whole eggs (including shells), 3 cloves garlic, 1 tablespoon cayenne, a drop of dish soap, and 2 cups of green onion tops (or regular onions). Blend on high to chop eggshells. put in covered container and allow to ferment (a couple of days in the sun will do it). Use 1/3 of the mix in a pail of water.

“I pour this down vole holes,” says Tunick. “They really hate it and go somewhere else.” Last fall the voles attacked a large miscanthus grass and an area in her garden that was heavily planted with daylilies and Japanese irises. They left after being “brewed” and she hasn’t seen them since.

It keeps deer away, too. “I flick it around about once a week, more or less, depending on the rain,” says Tunick. She finds that she has to apply it less often than she did a commercial repellent. “I had to reapply Hinder after every rain,” she says.

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