August . . . is always a rough month in a garden. Things tend to be overgrown by late summer. Or dead. And even in the best of gardening years, there aren’t all that many plants that bloom well in August (although soon the dahlias will arrive to save the day). The weather has had its way with everything. Fall color is still a long way off.  And gardeners themselves (including this one) . . . are generally tired by this point in the season.

My garden is having a particularly rough year. The weather in my corner of the world has been . . . well, better than it has been for many of you. We’ve had plenty of rain (p.l.e.n.t.y.). It’s been hot, but not unbearably so. My biggest problem this year, of course, has been the deer. And their little companions, the bunnies.

We’ve tried lots of things . . . the flags, the solar lights, creating “barriers” with structures, putting up little “critter-fences” around specific plants/shrubs. Results have been mixed. There is a lot of trial and error at play, and I’m learning a lot. (I can see which plants they choose NOT to nibble, for example.)

We have not tried any of the deer-resistant spray products. Although some people claim they work, I have never heard a recommendation from any gardener (professional or amateur) with a big garden and serious deer-pressure. In fact, I hear the opposite – Don’t Bother.

Except one product: Plantskyyd.

While most of the deer-resistant spray products on the market are made up of “pleasant” (to humans; not to deer) (allegedly) scents, Plantskyyd takes a different route. It is . . . pig’s blood. Yeah. That’s right. Plantskyyd is nasty business. But. It works to keep the deer from munching . . . because it makes it seem like you have deer-predators roaming your garden. AND once you spray it, it lasts for several weeks – even through rain or snow. Plantskyyd gets high marks from serious gardeners, and I’ve wanted to try it for years.

But. Yuck. And Tom was definitely Not Excited about it. Not because of “chemistry concerns” (it is very safe; totally organic and nontoxic) . . . but because he is very sensitive to smells and has an easily-triggered gag reflex . . . and the whole smell-factor just kept us from giving it a try. (And even though the product claims that the smell is temporary, it’s like . . . how bad IS IT??? Y’know?)

So . . . in the ultimate Garden Love Story, my smell-averse Hero donned his nitrile gloves, smeared Vicks Vapo-Rub under his nostrils, and sprayed pig’s blood all over my plants. (I acted as cheerleader/support personnel while pointing at plants.)

             

Results? It’s pretty gross. It smells really bad, but not as bad as I feared. (Tom only gagged once.) The smell IS temporary. And although it’s hard to tell if the deer are still munching (there is so much damage at this point it’s just hard to tell for sure), I will say that my zinnia plants have leaves for the first time since I planted them this year, and my dahlias have buds again. The hardest thing for us to manage was the timing . . . because you need to have no rain for 24 hours after spraying . . . and that has been hard to find this year. (I told you. LOTS of rain.)

I’ll keep you posted on our progress. (And if you are interested in trying Plantskyyd for your own garden, let me know. I have tips and can probably allay some of your fears.)

In the meantime, I think spraying Plantskyyd for me . . . shows the depth of Tom’s love! Because nothing says “I love you” like spraying gross, gaggy pig’s blood on your wife’s garden, y’know?