Deer and rabbits can be frustrating issues to deal with, as both can browse many garden plants, even the species they're not supposed to like. Repellent sprays and physical barriers are the only practical options, and sprays are sometimes inconvenient since they need to be re-applied several times over the course of the growing season. Homemade repellents probably won't be as effective as commercially-manufactured versions that use multiple ingredients (or additives to make them more weather-resistant), though the animals can still get accustomed to the taste/smell and ignore them after a while. Switching between more than one product (whose ingredients differ a bit) sometimes is more successful than sticking to just one.

A physical barrier would entail using fencing or netting to keep the animals from reaching the plants. The black mesh netting widely sold for deer is more aesthetically discreet than metal fencing or wire cages, but might risk tangling birds or snakes that blunder into it without noticing it.

Sometimes, deer and rabbits nibble plants that are newly-installed, and they take less of an interest as the plants mature. Young animals recently weaned will also need to explore as they learn what is good to eat, so may nibble plants they won't revisit later. The longer the plant is in the ground establishing and expanding its root system, the better it will be able to tolerate mild to moderate browsing in the future, since it will have more stored root energy reserves to fuel regrowth.

Miri