Finally, how to stop deer damage with dramatic results

Mitch Allen • April 6, 2026

En Garde Deer Defense helps stop deer from attacking your expensive landscaping plants—and it really works. Here’s how and why.

A stack of books sits on a wooden table, next to a lit candle and a warm cup of coffee or tea.

Spring growth attracts more than admiration—hungry deer are quick to follow. Find out how En Garde Deer Defense helps protect your landscape and stops the deer damage.


One of the great joys of living in Northeast Ohio is our 115,000 acres of parkland, offering extensive natural areas, trails, and scenic, protected landscapes. But this fabulous amenity also brings with it an overpopulation of deer.


“Deer are an edge species,” explains Jeff Ardo, founder of En Garde Deer Defense, the highly rated deer deterrent spray service. “They use parks and other nearby wooded areas as cover, then explore into neighborhoods to feast on our expensive landscaping plants.”


Jeff is a scholar when it comes to deer habitats, behavior and the many plant species vulnerable to their attack.


“Unfortunately, deer enjoy many of the same plants we admire,” Jeff says. “These include early spring arrivals like daylilies, tulips, hostas, hydrangeas and hyacinths, plus summer favorites like roses and geraniums—all of which have become very expensive in recent years. We protect not only the beauty of your landscaping, but also your sizable investment.”


Why It Works

En Garde Deer Defense is a deer-deterrent spray service that helps protect plants vulnerable to deer attack. Jeff started the company nine years ago due to his own frustrations with deer damage. His team uses a proprietary deer spray that is both safe and natural, but it cannot be found online or in stores. That’s because its ingredients cannot be stored on a shelf, and it’s these ingredients that make the product work so well.


“We mix our spray fresh every morning,” Jeff says. “It’s effective, weather-resistant, transparent and virtually odorless to humans. But to deer—with their keen sense of smell—the odor is irritating and triggers an instinct that makes them think a predator is in the area.”


Most homeowners who contact En Garde have already tried many other options, including off-the-shelf sprays at big-box stores and homemade concoctions found online, but nothing has worked.

“No matter how frustrated you are, please don’t give up,” Jeff says. “When we show up, and the deer damage is dramatically reduced or eliminated, our customers are pleasantly surprised—and sometimes even shocked.”


(This type of customer reaction has resulted in En Garde having 369 Google reviews with a 4.9-star average.)


Start Early

The sooner you get started, the better. “By starting in the early spring, we teach deer right away that your yard is off limits,” Jeff says. “If we wait until later in the summer when damage has already occurred, it’s more difficult for deer to break the grazing habits they’ve already established. Once they discover nutritious food on your property, they put you on their regular path.”


The spray’s unique formula and an early start to the service are not the only reasons for the effectiveness of En Garde’s service. Proper application is also essential.


“Our spray technicians are trained to identify 150 different species of plants vulnerable to deer damage,” Jeff says. “And our new employees undergo a four- to six-week, hands-on, in-the-field apprenticeship with me before being allowed to work alone.”


Training also includes a final test to achieve certification, covering plants, deer behavior, spraying techniques, and questions clients may have.


Get Started with a Free Trial

Jeff is so confident in his service that he offers something few other companies do: a free trial. As a result, your first spray costs you nothing and there is no obligation to continue. However, once customers see that the service really works, most property owners sign up for ongoing service.

Jeff’s crews can handle a limited number of free trials during the spring—the busiest part of the season—so it’s a good idea to schedule your own free trial as soon as possible.


EnGarde Deer Defense

440-447-0022

EGDeerDefense.com

  • Slide title

    After the long, cold winter, hungry deer are beginning to attack our favorite plants, including early spring arrivals like daylilies, tulips, hostas, hydrangeas and hyacinths.

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  • Slide title

    En Garde’s spray technicians are trained to identify 150 different species of plants vulnerable to deer damage. New employees undergo a four- to six-week, hands-on, in-the-field apprenticeship before being allowed to work alone.


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  • Slide title

    Jeff Ardo, founder, En Garde Deer Defense

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  • Slide title

    En Garde’s proprietary spray is irritating to deer and triggers an instinct that makes them think a predator is in the area.

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How a Deer Thinks


It was very cold for a very long time and I am hungry, hunkered down here at the edge of the woods. The sun’s warmth has brought new buds to the trees and bushes, but there are so many of us that most of those fresh buds have already been eaten.


That means I must leave the safety of the woods and go where the people live, where the woods have been cleared, and the grass in the fields is cut short. There, I find delicious, nourishing plants that do not grow in the woods. The people make strange noises with their round mouths and have given names to the plants I love to eat: daylilies, hostas, hydrangeas, hyacinths, and others.


My favorite buffet has many of these delicious plants, and they are easy to access, but something has changed. A man sprays the plants, and they are frightening now. They smell terrible and scary, like my natural predators—wolves and coyotes. The smell makes me afraid to eat them or even go into the fields where the grass is cut low. Even after a refreshing rain, the plants still smell bad.

I do not go there anymore.


But I am hungry, and soon my fawns will be, too. So, I have moved on from my favorite buffet and, thankfully, have found another with more of my beloved plants where they do not smell bad and are not scary.



Today, I ravaged those tender, nutritious buds until I was satisfied. And tomorrow, I will find yet another buffet that doesn’t smell or taste bad.

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