I live in DC too, and have a garden plot  next to a wooded area. Deer have been my biggest challenge. They'd invade about every 2 weeks and eat  those scratchy zucchini leaves, beets, peppers (well, all but the habaneros) and tomato plants. Surprisingly, though, they never bothered lettuce or broccoli.

I tried for two years to outwit the deer, and at one point they even tore a hole in my plastic fence to wriggle under it. I wouldn't put anything past this wily, urban ungulates.

This year I secured the perimeter once again, adding another layer of fencing, planted stinky herbs and flowers around the edges of the plot...nothing tasty to entice them. And, if that fails I have been spraying the veggies they like most with a soapy, garlicy spray from Whole Foods. Sort of pricey, though so I'm plannign to refill the spray bottle with one of the home-brew recipes when it's gone.

With a little luck, and several thousand years of evolution, on my side, I may have finally outsmarted them.

Slugs!  I didn't believe it either. The woman I work with at the farmers market warned me that slugs can destroy anything.  

 Every year I take pumpkins to my grandmother's house and we do a display in the front yard for Halloween and Thanksgiving. Some we carve and some we leave natural. For the past two years something had been eating them at night. We couldn't figure it out since there were no teeth marks.  One evening I stopped by her house around 9pm and I coundn't believe me eyes. There were about five on each pumpkin just disolving it with the saliva.

 I have no idea how to fend them off. Maybe someone here knows.

 Now at my house (I live in the Annapolis area) I have something eating my tomatoes. Not when they are little, but when they are just about ripe.  I'm going to try some chicken wire this week.

Is anyone using a raised bed? This is our first year trying to grow some veggies and ours bed is 12 inches high.  We're hoping it is enough of a deterrent for the ground dwelling animals.

 

I know we'd be devastated if our little buds (tomatoes, peppers, beans, and lettuce) were suddenly chomped

My sister in law was eagerly watching her plump, gorgeous tomatoes ripen on the vine, only to have them plucked by squirrels, who would only take a few bites and then leave them strewn nearby on the lawn. She's been trying this squirrel repellent, which is all natural.

I was having a problem with my potted herbs being eaten by tiny little bugs (aphids?) and my mom suggested making a mild solution of dishwashing liquid and water, and spritzing that on them. It seems to have worked; I just have to make sure to rinse my herbs very well before I use them, or they taste soapy!

Good luck finding the culprits... and a solution! 

to keep deer and rabbits from chomping on your garden, you can buy bags of dried blood to sprinkle on them. it wont hurt the plants and itll deter animals from eating them

I have the same problem with my herb garden, herbs! I leave them in the evening looking so young and beautiful, come out the next morning and they are gone, eaten down to the dirt. I think it is the rats but I'm not sure. I never see any evidence, and rats will leave their little calling cards, as will slugs. We did have snails but they seem to prefer the bird seed. Maybe it's the opossums? I do have plenty of mice in my backyard but they seem to enjoy the bird seed as well. I tried some natural powder that was fox and coyote urine scented but that didn't work at all. So I am at my wits end as well. HELP!

If your pests are insects you can usually fend them off by mixing 1/4 cup of castile soap in a 32oz spray bottle of water and adding about 10 drops of orange, tea tree, and peppermint essential oil.  This fends off most bacterial and fungal problems as well as plant eating insects.  Rodents are another problem.  If they are getting to the plants from the bottom you can line the bed with chicken wire or make a chicken wire cage for the top.  Not the most attractive solution but... Good luck!

I can understand your frustrataion.  I have a pear tree in my yard and have never eaten one from it and I have lived here five years.  Every year they look beautiful, just getting ripen enough for me to eat and what would you know, just when they are at their peak, overnight animals descend on my property and eat every last one.  I mean every last one.  This year I just might stay up all night and catch them in the act.

If your problem is deer, you will have to cage your plants to keep them away.  They also *hate* both marigolds and dahlias, so those flowers work in borders, but only to the extent that they aren't eaten.  To keep deer out of a yard, if you are willing, have a male member of the family eat a whole bunch of protein, preferably animal if it isn't a problem, drink a gallon of beer and then - at 3am so as not to alarm the  neighbours, have that male pee around the perimeter of the yard.  (I know it sounds gross!)  The smell won't be detectable to humans the next day but the deer will stay away from the 'marked territory'.

The same beer, placed in saucers or jar lids and set out around the garden, will attract the slugs, who will then drown in it for disposal.  I don't think there is any way to live symbiotically with slugs.  Either you kill 'em or you hand over your plants.  I live in the Pacific Northwest, where the deer are all over the place and the slugs get so big that visitors take pictures of 'em to show the folks back home, and I've had both pests to deal with.

Aphids are easily controlled with lady bugs, and they are actually available for sale if they don't occur naturally.

None of these remedies is even slightly harmful to the plants you are trying to protect.

Best of luck!

Hey - did you ever think of Raccoons or Chipmunks?

I've seen the slugs all over my Dahlias, Daiseys and some other flowers similar. I baited the slugs with beer, cans and bowls - only to find the beer gone by next morning!

My garden is located in between a corner of two walls on my house, I don't see any tracks - so it can't be deer. But the fact that they are digging into my potted herbs and flowers are showing signs of some varmint digging for the slugs? Several nights we did catch Raccoons on our deck, but have not caught them in action with the plants yet. We have seen them climbing in our Mulberrry trees to eat the berries and on our deck eating Cicadas. Keeping the outside lights on shining in the garden and deck all night does seem to deter them.

One other suggestion that just might work is to find out "who did it" by applying baby powder or cornstarch all around perimeter of the subject and next morning look to see what kind of tracks might be there. Then you may possibly get your army itinerary going.

 Good Luck!

Gotta be a rabbit - they love greens - try a net or chicken wire -

Wow, who knew that getting a guy to pee outside at midnight after a massive steak and gallon of beer was the ticket? Something tells me most guys would not be too resistant to this ;-)
These are great suggestions, but I gotta say putting soap or pee near the veggies doesn't make them all that appetizing. Guess I need to get over that.
It's just at the point now that when I'm in the grocery store, I stare at all those perfect rows of purple plums, fluffy green broccoli heads, etc, and think how DID they do it?
"Vir prudens non contra ventum mingit." --Pliny the Elder

Hey Dianne, I like the idea of checking out the little foot prints, if it is indeed a four-footed critter! I have some concerns that they might be coming from the top if it's the rats and/or opossums as we have our plants in whiskey barrels and have fencing all around. Still a good idea. think I'll use the cornstarch and see what I discover. Thanks! 

If you mix Garlic Powder and Cayenne Powder and Water together and spray them on the plant, it will keep most insects off including aphids and beetles.