Further Notes on Deer-Proofing

Some more tips on what I am doing to discourage the deer.  In some cases, my netting is wide enough that it needed a sort of center tent pole to hold it up above the flower stems to reduce the number of flower buds that get caught in the net.  In those few cases, I placed a regular aluminum garden stake in the center and used a black ping-pong ball fitted on top of the stake to hold up the net and prevent it from sliding down the stake.  This sort of disappears from a distance and was an inexpensive solution.

There have been whole flower beds that I have netted from the deer.  I created a "room" around the Dahlias that I will remove later when the foliage thickens to the point that the deer don't want to walk through the middle.  You can see the net shining in the morning sun.  

I also created a "room" around my 4 in 1 Pear tree that is going to stay up year round.  The deer walk through to the one side of it all year and the smaller limbs just get big enough to harden up and balance the tree and then the deer rip them back off.  The tree is getting a big hole in one side and its starting to piss me off.  So I took the conduit I have for use as bean poles or whatnot, and I used a post pounder to sink them in the ground and I clipped a net around them.

As far as Hosta go.  I place nets over each plant and hold it down with rocks or landscape staples depending on where the plant is located but I have to sacrifice the blooms.  Initially I was not a fan of Hosta flowers and I used to trim them off anyway.  And that is how I learned that those were what was most attractive to deer.  Now, years later, I am starting to get just a little bity bit bitter about not being able to have them.  However, I would rather have Hosta with no flowers than no Hosta. I do admire unmunched Hosta with flowers when I see them just because of the novelty.

I just reach in and snap them off.  If I leave them, they are irresistible to deer and they will stay to eat the foliage.  If they never find any tender scapes, the net and the repellent is usually enough to protect the plant, but now and then they try tearing the net off.  They get discouraged before they do too much damage to the plant.

Another strategy is simply to not plant anything the deer like.  That's what I have going on on the far side of our property that we tidied up last summer.  I don't have to worry about the deer eating ornamental grasses so I have divided five kinds of grasses and placed them as a backdrop.  It's a little too ...green.  And there are still large areas of bare mulch.  But I did not spend any money on additional plants last year.  I just divided and moved around what was already there.

The only spot of color is a Johnson Geranium that does have a net in it to keep the deer from eating it down too far.  I spray it after the rain and so far they have left it alone.  I want to see how things fill in with the existing plantings before I add anything next year.  For color, I am only going to consider deer resistant plants.  I am thinking of Salvia or maybe Veronica, alternating pink, blue and white.  Maybe two or three collections of Bearded Irises for showy color.  I would love to have some different foliage color and texture and there are a couple of shrubs I am considering but I am going slow because I don't want to have to do much experimentation with the deer and rabbits having full access to this area.

And finally, the Blackberry patch.  I don't often fiddle with the Blackberries much.  I am usually content to sample a few each year.  But this one plant is so loaded with berries I was starting to think... gee, there might even be enough there for a small cobbler.

Between the deer nibbling the brambles, the birds picking at the berries, the Japanese Beetles devouring the foliage, and the occasional bear who will just eat everything, I need a pretty comprehensive cover.  I already had to drive a couple of posts and lift the canes with a wire because they were so heavily laden they were laying in the lawn and making it difficult to mow.  So I used a summer weight floating row cover.  Netting would not be enough to stop a deer or bear from eating berries, and netting will snare birds especially if you put it between them and something they really want.  So a solid cover was the only safe option.

Now this won't stop a hungry black bear, but we haven't had as much bear activity this year since everyone in the neighborhood learned last year to protect their Humming Bird and Oriole feeders.  So with luck, I will get these berries before anyone else does.