Deer --Long Post
- To: perennials@mallorn.com
- Subject: Deer --Long Post
- From: k*@mail.atl.bellsouth.net
- Date: Fri, 10 Jul 1998 23:14:00 +0000
A week or so ago, another list member and I were discussing deer.
This is a copy of an e-mail I sent her which may interest others who
have to contend with deer in their gardens.
>And what they don't eat, they just pull up!
> More than twenty years ago, my father was battling deer who would,
> during the night, pull up every lily or rose he'd set out during the
> day. This was a lot of plants as he was then managing the gardens of
> a historical property. I can't remember for sure if he tried the
> radio trick but I think he did. (He's been dead several years or I'd
> ask him that and many other garden questions.) Let me know if the
> radio continues to help, or if the deer take up line dancing!
>
> I know Dad tried human hair, dog hair, dried blood,soap, various
> garlic and other odiferous concoctions, electric fence, and more, and
> nothing worked for any length of time. Something might seem to work
> for a short time but then the deer adapted. In the past year or so,
> I've read that whatever you're doing has to be switched around often
> to keep the deer confused.
>
> When I started having deer problems, I remembered Dad's frustrating
> experiences and decided deer resistant plants were the wave of my
> future. We also built a 6' tall wooden privacy fence that encloses
> several small gardens. Deer can jump a fence that high -- at least
> 8' is recommended to keep them out -- but it's said that they won't
> jump a fence when they can't see over it. So far (two years), so
> good. Even so, most of my plants in the enclosed gardens are deer
> resistant, just in case.
>
> Now that I'm getting crowded in those gardens, I'll be experimenting
> more on the rest of our property. My plan includes using deer
> resistant plants *and* trying ways to keep deer off their footing,
> such as a shallow trench filled with stones around a bed or
> surrounding plants with chicken wire (it can be covered with a thin
> layer of mulch for looks) laid on the ground. It is said that deer
> will avoid walking on such things.
>
> There are a lot of plants that are deer resistant (hosta is not one,
> although one of the large catalogue companies is selling it as
> such.) Every time I've been involved in a discussion of this
> topic on the internet, there has been a lot of disagreement over the
> very concept so I hesitate to bring it up on the list. But I *know*
> that there are certain plants that have been on my land since 1975
> without being eaten by deer. It's true that that could change. It's
> true that "your" deer might eat those same plants. But you can bet
> I plan to include more of those plants in future plantings and add
> others that are said to be deer resistant.
>
> Tracy DiSabato-Aust's "The Well-Tended Perennial Garden" has been
> mentioned a lot recently on this list, and for good reason.
> Besides being an excellent book, it has lots of information in the
> appendices. You might look at the list of approximately ninety
> deer resistant plants there. Ninety is enough for me to play with!
>
> Kate Lykins (She-of-Strong-Opinions-and- Many-Words-About-Deer)
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