Re: Deer proof ferns

My experience is that in the winter the four-legged vermin will eat the evergreen ferns. This does not harm the plants since the fronds will wither and die come spring when new fronds emerge. In the spring the only ferns deer have eaten are Ostrich and Interrupted and then only until another more enticing plants emerge. (In one year they even feasted on ramps).

Bill Plummer
Painted Post NY

----- Original Message ----- From: "Marge Talt" <mtalt@hort.net>
To: <ferns@hort.net>
Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2005 7:50 PM
Subject: Re: [ferns] Deer proof ferns


From: mahouse@verizon.net
I live in zone 6 in the USA.  A friend asked me if I knew of any

deer proof

ferns.  The local Bambi is chomping all of hers!  I haven't had

that problem.

Can anyone answer that question?

----------

I truly do not believe that there is a deer-proof plant on this
planet; they have leather mouths and will try just about anything at
least once if they are hungry enough.  Given that my local herd has
never touched any of the ferns in my garden, it's hard to make a
recommendation.

Do you know which of your friend's ferns they are eating?  Do they
eat them during the growing season or are they just attacking them
during winter (which doesn't really hurt the fern unless they stomp
on it or pull it out of the ground)?

My local herd used to (before deer fence) eat Liriope in winter, but
not during the growing season..so their diet does change with the
season and availability of food.

Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
mtalt@hort.net
Editor:  Gardening in Shade
Shadyside Garden Designs
-----------------------------------------------
Current Article: Until April 11
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/shade_gardening
------------------------------------------------
Complete Index of Articles by Category and Date
http://mtalt.hort.net/article-index.html

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE FERNS

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE FERNS
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index