Do deer eat green beans?

Do deer eat green beans? If you have found that tons of your green beans disappear mysteriously, you might ask this question. This article will talk about how to identify deer damage and what to do about it.

Deer has such a voracious appetite. They can turn your garden into a buffet, browsing, eating, and damaging whatever they find in their path. A single deer can eat up to 12 pounds of meal a day. However, if you plan on cultivating beans, you might ask, do deer eat green beans? The short answer is – they do.

Identifying deer damage

Deer can eat almost every type of bean to the dirt. They will eat the blooms, vines, and even the actual beans. You can identify them by their habit of feeding from top to bottom. They will begin with the leaves and work their way to the stems, flowers, and finally beans. Whatever they don’t eat to the ground, you can immediately distinguish. The plant will appear sheared off, especially around the top, with lots of leaves missing. You may also find some stems, beans, and leaves on the upper side missing on pole beans.

If you have deer in your area, there is a good chance they might eat from your garden. Therefore, you must protect your precious plantings from them. To help you, we have put together a few methods you can use to deter deer from your green beans.

Repellents

Odor and taste repellents can help protect your green beans from deer. You will need to reapply them after watering or rain. Also, repellents don’t work overtime as deer become familiar with them. To keep them from getting comfortable, consider alternating between different repellents. You can always try using DIY repellents such as bar soap shavings or tufts of human hair. However, if your area also has a lot of human traffic or a high deer population, these deterrents might not work. In such cases, deer around are either too used to humans or very desperate for food.

Disguise

You can also consider cultivating pole beans instead of string beans. You can easily disguise pole beans within deer-resistant plants and keep them away from these ferocious eaters. Some plants you can consider interplanting your beans include chives (Allium schoenoprasum), marigolds ( Tagetes patula), cucumber ( Cucumis sativus), and annual onions (Allium cepa). However, do note that a desperate and ravenous deer may still much on everything they find.

Protective covering

You can consider using bird netting, cloches, or floating row covers to protect your beans from deer. They also help keep your green beans from other pests, including birds.

Fencing

Fencing is one of the most effective ways to keep deer out of your garden. Whether you decide to install a wire, wood, or electric fence, make sure it is at least 8 feet tall. Also, ensure that you can effectively keep deer from going around, over, and underneath the fence.

Concluding Thoughts

Do deer eat green beans? Yes, they do and will most likely eat entire gardens of green beans to the ground. We recommend that you combine the deer deterrent methods we have outlined to create effective deer control measures. While planning your strategy, you should also consider other pests like chipmunks, voles, squirrels, woodchucks, and rabbits, which can do a fair share of damage.

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