What is destroying my vegetable garden? Something is eating tops of the plants.?

Definitely deer...the rule-of-thumb actually where I live is you need at least a 7 foot high fence to stop them.The fact you've never seen them means they've adapted and are almost completely nocturnal-and it doesn't take a herd of them-it only takes one.There can be fields of green grass and all kinds of browse in the woods around but deer are drawn to tomato plants like bees are to honey.If you can't fence them out the best deterrent I found was to string fishing line about 2 feet off of the ground between two stakes..or poles or trees etc.-with an aluminum can (just thread the fishing like through the pop-top-and wrap it once or twice so the cans don't slip on the line))every 8 feet or so-buy a small package of marbles and put two or three in each can-when deer touch the fishing line the can rattles(deer don't like "metallic" sounds)-I tried other noisemakers that relied on wind(but there's generally little wind at night) and they were ineffective.

Had that problem a few times. First time, I was living close to an area in woodland. I had never seen a deer and had a high fence. It was deer. After living there for 20 years I saw that deer were there, just out of sight and they could pop up over a tall fence as if it wasn't there. My Dad said that a top on the garden is all I could do. I gave up.

Later moved into town and again lost plants. Long ways from the woods but I came out one morning to a deer in my back yard. I was once again surprise that deer were there and I never saw them.

Rats will eat plants and rodents can get to the branches. Rabbits are a type of rodent and it is surprising how high they can stand when stretching up on their hind legs.

Find a farmer's feed store in your area and ask them about what can be put out to protect your garden.

Hungry, motivated deer can easily jump an 8 ft. fence. So unless you have a really high fence, it could still be deer. Woodchucks or rabbits could squeeze under with 6" of space and raccoons can climb over. Keep a lookout for tracks. If it is deer, they will be hard to deter now that they have found a new favorite local restaurant. You could try predator urine, such as coyote or bobcat. I've heard of people having success with bars of Irish Spring soap hung at intervals around and throughout the garden (Drill a hole and tie them with rope or string). Others swear by dryer sheets or human hair from their barber shop. Another deterrent is hot pepper spray. Things that make noise and move are often helpful. Mylar strips tied to your fence may confuse the deer as they flash and blow in the breeze. Apparently, they think it is fire. For future gardens, prevention is key. You must stop them before they start. Try planting highly aromatic plants, such as garlic, thyme, rosemary, and sage around your veggies. These and many other herbs help deter four-legged pests as well as many six-legged ones. They also attract beneficial insects to the garden and can be used in cooking.

I put up an electric fence powered by a solar panel. Touch it and you get a shock like rubbing your feet on a nylon rug and touching a metal door knob. Before we turn the fence on, we smear some cheap peanut butter at several places along the fence. I watched one morning as a deer came along and licked the peanut butter. He made a very nice jump back. He then walked around the fence corner and licked again. I haven't seen him since.

The most versatile fencing is wire fence about 5 or 6' tall with about a 2" rectangular opening. I cut a piece about 20' long and stand on one side and pull the other side up to me and bend it so that when I put it down, it forms a tunnel. In spring, I put a tunnel over bean and tomato rows and cover it with plastic to keep the day's heat in at night. In summer, when the bush beans and other short crops are up, I put the tunnel without the plastic over the row. If the tunnel is longer than the row, you can crimp the ends together so nothing bigger than a mouse or chipmunk can get in. A couple of tent pegs will keep the tunnel in place and are easy to remove when picking time rolls around.

Ends of branches has got to be deer. They'll graze anything under about 6 feet high. Can't think of anything else that would do that, unless you've got goats in the neighbourhood, which seems far less likely than deer. How tall is your fence? Deer can usually leap anything less than five feet, if they have the right place to take off from. If they're around, you usually see them sooner or later, but I know they come through my yard in the middle of the night almost daily, even if I don't see one for weeks. I see tracks in winter.

Deer, for sure, they eat tops off plants all the time at my house. Look for tracks. My garden this year is the same way and they have never eaten my tomato plants before, but this year the tops are all gone and the same with my beans. I finally seen them a mother and two fawns grazing at dusk on my tomatos. Try hanging tin pie pans on strings so the wind makes noise with them and also you can find deer away scents from home depot. Deer are active at night you might never see them.

Go out at night or early in the morning before the sun comes up with a good flashlight. There are plenty of creatures that feed on garden plants at night. During the day they go to ground.

Snails are one such critter that has been a plague around here recently. Banded Wood snails which probably hitchhiked in on plants we bought from Home Depot have been a problem. Also another snail which is tan colored.

Some idiot wanted to raise his own escargot snails so turned a bunch of them loose on the east coast several years ago and they have become a scourge. They can decimate a field of grain left unchecked.

But there are other night time bugs that do damage as well. And once you discover what they are you can probably get some organic treatment to get rid of them.

I haven't gotten rid of all the snails in my garden but have reduced their population severely. One thing I do is have ceramic drain tiles split lengthwise laying on the ground. It makes sort of a cool tunnel for them during hot sunny days. They hide there until I check the trap lines and find them. Then they are smashed. These snails are probably the main course for shrews in their native land but here we don't have shrews. Bringing them in would cause another set of problems.

The tops of plants... and it isn't deer? Odd. Maybe a raccoon? You could try:

-Putting lengths of chicken wire down around the garden (secure it however you like). It deters by hurting feet and tripping up critters.

-Getting a motion sensing light to frighten them. (I had a friend who used a small bunch of Christmas lights that worked just as well.)

Could be grasshoppers. They like the fresh new shoots.