Re: Amer. Gardener article/Wild Greens

Marge - I have two large Powis Castles which have to be pruned down to
12" high next month anyway. I would be most happy to send you as many
cuttings as you would like. Interested??


---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
From: "Marge Talt" <mtalt@hort.net>
Reply-To: gardenchat@hort.net
Date:  Thu, 29 Jan 2004 00:42:16 -0500

>Well, mine had a nice smorgasbord of yew and azaleas as well at just
>the perfect height for them.  For about 6 years I saw virtually no
>azalea bloom.  Oddly enough, there were only a couple of
>rhododendrons they chomped and they left most of them alone.  For
>years, my poor yew hedges had little green tufts at the top of bare
>stems...not exactly the look I had envisioned when planting them. 
>Luckily, they seem to be coming back tho' slowly.
>
>I tried that thin black mesh netting, too and agree - it is a royal
>pain in the derrihre.  I have miles of it in the garage; hate it. 
>Had better success with that heavy green mesh plastic garden fencing
>attached to metal garden stakes.  Used to erect it around all
>vulnerable shrubs in the fall and remove it in the spring as the deer
>really only hit the azaleas in the winter - too many other nice,
>tender items for them come spring, I guess.  My DH said the garden
>looked like a concentration camp in winter with all the fencing
>around everything.  It was a major chore to erect and remove
>annually.
>
>The heavy duty black plastic deer mesh is easier to work with and
>works better than the light weight stuff, but it is still a pain to
>put up and take down every year.  That can be tied to tree trunks
>around groups of plants if trees happen to be in the right place for
>this - or trees and stakes can be used.  Draping it on plants doesn't
>really work.  The only time using it as fencing around plants doesn't
>work is in deep snow, when the deer can get up high enough to reach
>over it or the snow weighs it down too far.
>
>Fencing azaleas works best if you keep the fence a foot or so away
>from the shrubs and then cover the top with the heavy weight black
>deer fence mesh.  If you make the 'fence' around the shrubs at least
>5' high, they can't get their necks over it far enough to do too much
>damage.  They won't jump into the middle of a bunch of shrubs if
>they're fenced in as a group, either, because they fear they won't be
>able to get out; only works if it's solid shrubbery, tho'...if
>there's a clear spot in the middle, they'll jump the fence into it.
>
>My herd never hit my big Pieris by the front deck, but they did
>nibble some smaller ones I have out in the holding beds.  Never
>touched Miscanthus at all nor Carex.  Carex foliage is often really
>sharp; you can get a paper cut from it, so that might be one reason
>they don't eat it.   Or, maybe it just doesn't taste good to them. 
>I've never heard of them eating any of the species, actually.
>
>I've finally lost my last 'Powis Castle'.  The last lot of cuttings I
>took didn't take and my last plant was completely mangled by a
>falling gutter and collateral damage:-(  Need to get another one and
>I've been rather looking and not finding, but I haven't really
>concentrated on it.  
>
>You're right - Aquilegia is another plant my herd did not eat - I
>have them popping up everywhere.  They never hit my Epimediums either
>nor my prickly holly - they will eat Ilex crenata with gusto.  Now,
>your friend's experience with holly just proves that they will eat
>anything.  They never touched my Junipers, yet I have read many
>accounts from those whose Junipers were munched to nothing.  Deer
>have leather mouths.
>
>Well, we got another inch or two last night on top of the ice but the
>roads are pretty clear.  Just a challenge to get up our drive.  I am
>sick of winter at this point and Feb. is usually the month we get our
>heaviest snows...ack!  Hope you didn't get too much of that white
>stuff!
>
>Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
>mtalt@hort.net
>Editor:  Gardening in Shade
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>----------
>> From: Aplfgcnys@aol.com
>> 
>> Maybe mine are lazier because there are so many more tasty things
>for them to 
>> try  - they don't have to bend down.  A mother and two half-grown
>offspring 
>> were finishing off what's left of the azaleas this morning.   I
>have covered 
>> that one cluster of azaleas with black plastic mesh some years, but
>when spring 
>> comes the azaleas grow right through the mesh and you do as much
>damage 
>> getting it off as the deer do by eating.   
>> 
>> A list of things deer don't eat is always interesting.  One local
>garden club 
>> put out such a list a few years ago.  One of the safest plants,
>they assured 
>> us, was Pieris andromeda.   Well, I invested in three nice ones to
>put at the 
>> bottom of the slope, and within weeks all three had been eaten to
>sticks.   I 
>> have planted Maiden Grass (Miscanthus) in that place since, with
>good success. 
>> 
>>  
>>   Our small pond is bordered on one side with large clumps of a
>sedge.  I 
>> haven't a clue as to what kind,  It was here when we came - I'm
>sure 
>> self-planted, but I like it and have left it.  This one makes
>two-and-a-half to three-foot 
>> fountain-like mounds of fine, grassy foliage, and the deer never
>touch it.  
>> I'm sure this would require a very moist setting, as its feet are
>in water 
>> during the spring when the pond is high.  Maybe someday I will find
>time and 
>> energy to research the species.
>> 
>>   Yes, 'Powis Castle' has always survived the deer, but last summer
>mine did 
>> not do well.  I believe it didn't like the dank, humid, sunless
>weather we had 
>> any better than I did. I will replace it this year, anyway (It's
>marginally 
>> hardy here, so I usually put in new ones every spring) because it
>is a 
>> favorite.  I love the fragrance of the leaves.  I don't believe
>they have ever eaten 
>> the plain old S. officinalis, either.  And the same bed where that
>grows is 
>> full of the native Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis), which rarely
>gets nipped.
>> 
>>  I don't even try to grow tulips and hyacinths except for a very
>few in my 
>> fenced 'vegetable' garden.  Some years ago for some reason I had a
>dozen 'Orange 
>> Emperor' Tulips.  I don't really like the 'Red Emperor' tulips, and
>orange is 
>> not a favorite color , but I planted them right at the base of the
>fence.  
>> They have multiplied, as tulips don't usually do, and bloom
>spectacularly each 
>> spring - that is they have in the past several springs.  After this
>winter, who 
>> knows.   But daffodils are a specialty - I have hundreds of them.  
>> 
>>   Epimediums are pretty safe, and I am developing a collection of
>them, but 
>> one patch did get eaten last year. 
>> 
>>   As for prickly things - they munch on my friend's holly bushes. 
>I have 
>> never grown hollies for some reason I can't explain.They are pretty
>iffy here, so 
>> I guess I just haven't thought they were worth the effort.
>> 
>>   I hope the snow doesn't cause you too much trouble.  At least
>where you are 
>> it will disappear before too long.  So far we only have a light
>dusting, but 
>> it is predicted to be heavy tonight. Weird weather!  Stay warm
>> Auralie
>> 
>>
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--
Pam Evans
Kemp TX/zone 8A



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