The summer’s heat is beginning to wane, and soon the fall season will be upon us!

But whether you are still tending to the summer garden or prepping for fall, be aware that the calendar is approaching the mating season for deer.

I spoke with Matt Breda of Breda Pest Management for the best ways to deter deer from eating beautiful summer blooms.

Q: Tell us about deer here in Metro Atlanta.

“They are a problem -- we’ll go and plant nice annuals and perennials, and they’ll look great, and you wake up two days later... and they’re gone. They’re eating all of them!”

“That’s how quickly deer do it!”

“So the biggest mistake DIYers make is deer repellant. It’s okay -- but it’s only going to last a couple days. Why? Because we have afternoon rain showers, and it’s just going to wash it away.”

“So the best thing you can do as a homeowner is deer netting. I know it’s a little bit of a pain to do -- you planted the pretty flowers, you want to look at them -- but if you really want to keep the deer off, you really have to use the deer netting.”

Q: When should I start to apply the deer netting into my landscape?

“We always say, you need to put it out there every evening, and just take it off every morning -- that’s what some people do.”

“I know it’s not the easiest thing as a homeowner to remember to do before you go to bed, go put the deer netting up and then you got to put it on your list to take it off the next morning.”

“But it’s really the best thing for you to do as a homeowner.”

Q: Do I buy the deer netting online? Do I buy it from a local big-box store?

“The easiest thing to do is to go online to buy the deer netting. It’s going to be readily available. Very easy to install.”

“The stakes to stake it down really does help, because when we get those afternoon thunderstorms, they can blow the netting up.”

“So you can just place it over your shrubs, but it really does needs to be staked down.”

Q: When is Deer Season here in Metro Atlanta?

“You are going to have what’s called the “rut” or “rutting season” which is in October, that is when they are going to be mating and reproducing. In spring, the young are born, and they are looking to feed. So in the spring, you have the young, the mature mom and dad -- and they are all looking to eat.”

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