"Locusts" have eaten my roses! Or maybe deer?

[Swannykazoo]

Admiring the rose buds all about to flower on Sun in the garden, came out Mon and all the tops have been eaten! They are stripped, so too were my aquilegias and sweet pea. Everything has had a serious munching. No sign of the culprit - irregular nibbled leaves, no curling leaves like you get from aphids. There are "urban" deer a km or so away -any of you wise people know if this is their sort of trickery? And if so, how can I keep them away without a band of posh people on horses?

[Purplewithred]

if it's deer - and it does sound deer - like the only surefire solution is deer fencing, 8 foot high and dug down into the ground too. They are absolute bas%*$£s. Just got them on our allotments.

Sorry.

[Swannykazoo]

Sigh! Does anyone have Ray Mears's phone number ? (he culls deer I think)

[Ilovemydogandmydoglovesme]

No but I'll give you DFils, he's a crack shot.

A huuuuge fence is your best bet.

[dreamingofsun]

grazeoff i think its called. you get it from garden centres and mix with water and spray onto plants. i could see the ones i forgot to spray when we had that problem as they got chomped. are there lots of little poos, pea shaped on the ground? if so thats deer. are they not eaten above a high that you would expect a deer to reach?

[Swannykazoo]

No poos to spot sadly. All nibbling too high for rabbits (and again no malteser poos) but nothing in the garden was very high iyswim. Have bought a wildlife camera in Alsi to see if I can get proof!

[LatinForTelly]

Deer have just munched our lovely rose bush too, the bastards, but left our aquilegia (same bed) alone. [puzzled]

Apparently, soap and human hair - basically anything human-smelling - is supposed to deter them.

But I am moving towards a more sustainable solution of not growing anything the buggers like. Sigh.

Good luck!

[Swannykazoo]

I read on RHS that they ignore aquilegia (though the mystery creatures ate the tops off mine!)