En Garde Deer Defense 3– R — With the mild winter and early spring, this year’s deer population is about to explode, causing increasing damage to our valuable and vulnerable landscape plants. (Photography: Francis Angelone)

By Mitch Allen

Our area’s beautiful park systems are among the best things about living here. There are hundreds of acres of parks in the Bay Village/Rocky River area, and thousands of acres if you include the entire Rocky River Reservation.

Of course, one of the challenges of the proximity to this vast area of protected nature is our duty to coexist with the forest creatures that live there. One animal particularly stands out in its ability to cause damage to our property, including our automobiles and our landscaping.

Namely Odocoileus virginianus—the white-tailed deer.

The warm winter and early spring mean white-tailed deer will be pervasive sooner this spring and summer, damaging beautiful and expensive landscape plants throughout Bay Village, Rocky River and beyond.

Deer Overpopulation
According to Jeff Ardo, founder of En Garde Deer Defense, the overpopulation of deer has been an issue in Northeast Ohio for many years.

“When their food source is plentiful, deer reproduce rapidly, and they have few natural predators in our area,” he says. “Plus, this was a very warm winter and we are experiencing an early spring. As a result, there will be an uptick in deer rebirthing, meaning does will likely produce multiple fawns over the season. Deer will be everywhere.”

Controlling deer populations is expensive and the various methods used are controversial, so most municipalities avoid the issue, leaving the task of protecting valuable landscaping to each homeowner.

“Unfortunately, deer love to eat many of the same plant species we find beauty in,” Jeff says, “including tulips, daylilies, hostas, hydrangeas, roses, and geraniums. These are just a few of the summer vulnerables. Winter vulnerables include arborvitae, rhododendrons, azaleas, yews, and euonymus.”

Before treatment, deer had devoured this hydrangea’s blooms and foliage, reducing it to a collection of sticks. The next season—after the application of En Garde’s uniquely formulated spray—deer left it alone to thrive.

And even many plant species labeled “deer- resistant” are now vulnerable. “Deer still come and eat even these plants,” Jeff says. “It’s not unusual to see suburban yards and nearby woods void of greenery from shoulder height to the ground, the deer grazing range. And deer are an ‘edge species.’ They thrive where forests meet fields, that is, suburban landscaping.”

How To Protect Your Property
Homeowners who experience deer damage have often already tried various methods of defending their expensive landscaping, including scented sprays at big box stores and homemade concoctions found on the internet, but few of them work and none work well.

But there is one option that does work.

Jeff’s En Garde Deer Defense is a deer deterrent spray service that prevents deer damage to your floral landscaping. He started the company seven years ago due to his own frustrations with deer damage and uses a proprietary deer spray that is safe and natural. The formula cannot be found online or in stores; due to the nature of its ingredients, it cannot be stored on a shelf, but these ingredients are what makes it work the best.

Among the summer plants vulnerable to deer are tulips, daylilies, hostas, hydrangeas, roses and geraniums.

“We mix our spray fresh every morning,” Jeff says. “It’s effective, weather-resistant, transparent, and virtually odorless to humans.”

But the spray’s unique formula is only one reason for the effectiveness of Jeff’s service. The other is proper application.

Intense Training
En Garde’s spray technicians undergo highly comprehensive training, including an online test in which each tech must identify 90 different species of trees, plants and shrubs, and declare how vulnerable they are to deer. New employees also undergo a six-plus-week, hands-on, in-the-field apprenticeship program with a trained and certified technician before being allowed to work alone. Training also includes a final test to achieve certification. “The test includes 50-plus questions about plants, deer behavior, spraying techniques, and questions our clients may have,” Jeff says.

Get Started with a Free Trial
The sooner you get started, the better. “Once deer develop the habit of dining on your property, it’s harder to get them to stop,” he adds.

The growing team of professional technicians at En Garde Deer Defense is highly trained in the application of the company’s proprietary spray. Each En Garde tech must undergo an apprenticeship program and pass a certification which includes identifying 90 different species of plants and declare how vulnerable they are to deer.

Jeff is so confident in his service he gives every homeowner a free trial. That means your first spray costs you nothing and there is no obligation to continue. That said, once customers see that the service really works, most property owners sign up for the service. In fact, En Garde has 280-plus Google reviews with a whopping five-star average rating.

Jeff’s crews can handle a limited number of free trials during the spring—the busiest part of the season—so it’s a good idea to schedule your own free trial as soon as possible.

En Garde Deer Defense serves all of Northeast Ohio. To schedule your free trial, call 440-447-0022, or fill out a form online at EGDeerDefense.com.

Categories: Westside Home & Garden

If your valuable landscaping plants are being destroyed by deer, you can stop the damage with En Garde Deer Defense