CULT: Deer tactics

Hi Everyone, 

Well, it's happening again. The deer are once again invading my iris 
beds, and I'm once again trying to figure out why. I can understand their 
early spring invasions. At that time of year, local deer are near 
starvation, and their natural browse typically doesn't leaf out until 
after the irises have already begun rapid growth. Starving deer will eat 
anything, including relatively unpalatable irises. Right now, however, 
the deer still have plenty of grazing available in the hayfields that 
surround my house and garden (though it is true that their preferred 
browse has now defoliated for winter). It does make me wonder if 
something else is enticing them into my iris beds - perhaps all the 
amendments I added when I reworked the beds this summer. 

Working on the assumption that the deer are being attracted by all the 
new mineral smells in my beds, I have placed several salt blocks waaaaay 
out in the hayfields to work as a diversion tactic, and it seems to be 
helping. Fewer deer seem interested in coming up to the house. I intend 
to call the feed store and see if they have any mineral blocks formulated 
for deer that might provide even more of what they could be seeking in my 
garden. 

I've also tried a new planting method this year that is having an 
unanticipated, positive effect on deer traffic in the beds. Most of my 
irises are planted in the main beds behind the house over the septic 
drainfield. In spite of the heavy clay surface soil, the slight grade and 
underlying sandy drainfield provide good drainage over that area, so I've 
never bothered to create raised planting rows back there. When I dug, 
tilled, and reamended those beds this summer, however, I decided to 
create raised windrows on top of which I replanted the irises. The 
windrows are both relatively narrow and closely set with narrow gulleys 
between them, but there is enough room to walk the gulleys if one has 
good balance. 

I am finding that the few deer who shove through the deer netting to 
invade those beds are making a point of staying in the gulleys and rarely 
stepping on the elevated windrows (windrows are only elevated about 4" or 
so). Because the windrows are narrow, deer seem inclined to step over 
them and travel gulley to gulley.  Thank goodness I'm not dealing with 
goats who will happily walk across a field to find a pebble on which to 
stand for even the slightest elevation.  ;-)

Since I only had time and energy to renovate two of the four beds over 
the drainfield this summer, it's easy to compare the effects of deer 
traffic over the windrowed sections with the sections that are still 
planted level. The irises in the level beds are being badly trampled, 
while those in raised windrows are avoiding almost all hoof damage. 

Now I just have to see what sort of effect the raised windrows will have 
on winter survival. I expect the windrowed irises to be subjected to a 
lot more temperature fluctuations than those planted level, and that 
could stress them fatally. OTOH, the windrowed irises will have much 
better drainage away from the rhizomes, so that should cut down on soft 
rot susceptibility. 

And so the experiments continue ... 

Laurie


-----------------
laurief@paulbunyan.net
http://www.geocities.com/lfandjg/
http://www.angelfire.com/mn3/shadowood/irisintro.html
USDA zone 3b, AHS zone 4 - northern MN
acidic clay soil

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