I fought the battle with deer for 14 years in my last house. Deer get used to being near humans and get used to all the tricks we try: sounds, scarecrows, flashing sheet metal, big cat urine (zoos sell), Irish Spring, dryer sheets, pepper spray, 6 foot fencing, etc. My garden always lost, and I was starting to look like Bill Murray in his battle with the ground hogs. (Catty Shack) Roses (and other flowers) are deer truffles; they came for dessert and would stay for dinner, wiping out all my flowers, hydrangea, shrubs and many trees, even some described as deer proof.

I gave my roses away. With the "truffles" gone, I planted more of what they disliked such as most herbs, rhododendron, pyracantha, madrone, and needled shrubs and trees, and moved the vegetable garden to a compact rectangle on a ledge 3 feet up, completely enclosed in chicken wire.

Then I sat on the deck drinking my mint julep and enjoyed them, knowing the the ivy and periwinkle the poor starving creatures were eating will recover just fine.