Gardening with Deer – oh dear!
I am on the horns (or should I say antlers?!) of a dilemma – I am lucky enough to live in a rural location where the sight of deer (often two or three at a time) in my garden is a daily occurrence. They are beautiful and graceful animals, and I love to see them bouncing across the hillside and meadows around us.
However, as we all know, they are pretty destructive – and I have been known to curse them once in a while! So what to do?
My daughter very virtuously tells me that the countryside is their home as well as ours – and she is of course right – as teenagers always are!
What doesn’t work for me
I have no intention of erecting a 2 metre high fence all around my property,
and I certainly wouldn’t dream of hurting them in any way. I have heard of people who will even go to the crazy lengths of smearing peanut butter on electric fencing to keep them away, but that’s not for me! And getting my bolt-action rifle out is therefore obviously a big ‘no no’ too.
It won’t surprise you to know that my dogs are equally hopeless at scaring them off when they see them – you can see why!
But then, who could fail to be won over by those wonderful big brown eyes looking back at you?
I have also tried to defeat them by using deterrent products such as ‘Grazers‘ which works really well at the time, but then there is the problem of making the necessary regular applications. And the deer always seem to attack my plants just when I am thinking that it’s time for their next treatment, so that isn’t wholly effective either.
What does work for me
In truth I have only one course of action as I see it - TO GO WITH THE FLOW and let the natural world around me do the same. As garden designers we are, after all, always trying to make use of the context of a property rather than fight against it, whether that be in the midst of an urban landscape or set in acres of rolling countryside. And if that means adopting a relaxed attitude to the resident wildlife, then so be it.
I have now learnt from bitter experience to grow only those plants that the deer avoid (unless they are really REALLY hungry!) and accept that there are some plants that I just can’t grow. So yes, Viburnum tinus and burkwoodii, Prunus lusitanica, various Escallonia species and Euonymus japonicus, so many of the garden designer’s favourite structural evergreen plants and which, typically, grow extremely well in our area, are sadly out of bounds for me, as they tend to end up like this …..
… and I won’t even begin to mention the huge list of herbaceous plants that they attack. That’s for another day.
But the good news is that you can still have a wonderful garden: there are some great shrubs which absolutely thrive in my garden and seem oblivious to the dangers from our cervine friends – Hydrangea seemannii, Callicarpa, Choisya, Berberis x stenophylla, Viburnum sargentii, Skimmia japonica, Pittosporum tobira and Elaeagnus argutifolia, to name but a few.
Lavender and many of the aromatic and spiky leaved plants also tend to be less attractive to the deer’s palate, and, even if they don’t always get off totally scott free, most have now grown big enough to weather a bit of nibbling from time to time. So, if you choose your plants carefully you can still have a dazzling display of flowering shrubs all the year round without having to worry unduly about their welfare.
And my Mediterranean-themed border seems to co-exist very happily with its regular visitors.
One simple measure which I took recently and which has made a significant difference was when I began to shut my 5-barred gate at nights. Seriously, you might have thought that I would have had the sense to do this earlier, but better late than never, and it really has cut down on our deer traffic. I was obviously making it too easy for them before!
And finally I must confess to one exception to my ‘go with the flow’ attitude - I do use a little protection for some of my very young trees, so that they can get off to a good start …
Well, I can’t let those deer have it their own way all the time, can I?
Lesley Hegarty
Now check out the links below to see what our fellow bloggers in the United States have to say about the matter:
Genevieve Schmidt : North Coast Gardening : Arcata, CA
Pam Penick : Digging : Austin, TX
Douglas Owens-Pike : Energyscapes : Minneapolis, MN
Christina Salwitz : Personal Garden Coach : Renton, WA
Susan Morrison : Blue Planet Garden Blog : East Bay, CA
Debbie Roberts : A Garden of Possibilities : Stamford, CT
Rebecca Sweet : Gossip In The Garden : Los Altos, CA
Tara Dilliard : Vanishing Threshold: Garden, Life, Home : Atlanta, GA
Category: Design Bites, Garden Planning, General
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Lesley, Your go with the flow attitude seems to be the most sensible approach to dealing with deer. I don’t know about you, but it took me several years – and lots of deer ravaged plants – to arrive at that attitude, though. Your dogs are so sweet, it looks like’ve adopted their own go with the flow attitude, too
Thanks for your comment Debbie and yes, I think we have both had pretty similar experiences! As for my dogs – indeed not the greatest guard dogs in the world and very much ‘go with the flow’ – until there are cats around!!! Looking forward to reading all the posts for everybody else’s take on the subject.
‘Go with the flow’ is exactly right! I agree wholeheartedly with your attitude and find it much easier to work WITH nature and not against it. Thanks for your list of plants, as well. I haven’t tried Choisya as its leaves seem so ‘tender’ I had just assumed deer would mow it down. Looking forward to trying some in my next design!
How can such beautiful animals be so destructive? I think you’re on to something with a ‘go with the flow’ strategy.
Thanks Rebecca, It sure does cut down on the stress levels! So far my Choisyas have remained ‘deer free’, so fingers crossed they will stay that way. It seems weird that they don’t touch the Choisyas and yet seem to like holly leaves. Where’s the sense in that? Thanks for your comments anyway.
A very good question, Susan. I must admit that I watch them for about 5 minutes before gently shooing them away – I haven’t the heart to scare them – how pathetic and soft is that? I guess that, if I am perfectly honest, I do quite like to see them around even though they cause so much damage – hence another reason for ‘going with the flow’.
Lesley, I like your attitude. After all, there is only so much one can do, so why make yourself crazy? So enjoyed seeing some photos of your lovely garden (and those sweet dogs!). Thanks!
Thanks very much for your comment Jocelyn. Glad you appreciated the light-hearted touch!
Vennison sausages not on the menu at yours then, Lesley?! My parents also have a problem with deer eating the stock at their nursery.
Hoping you all have a lovely Christmas break and 2012 is a good year for everyone xx
No, afraid not – at least not home caught ones! Thanks for the good wishes and yes, here’s to 2012 being a happy and healthy year x
Sweet puppies! But not such good watchdogs, huh? Ah well, luckily you’ve found other, more successful ways to garden with deer. Love your border!
I just moved to a new home and consistently have anywhere from 3 to 8 deer roaming my back yard (only about 60 ft by 140 ft). The daily ritual is to go through all of the backyards in a 3 or 4 square block radius, peruse the golf course down the street and nibble at any delectable items they find. I LOVE them, but I know that I will have to do some special planning / planting for them and me. This morning they were in my main backyard area which is partially enclosed with a fence, nibbling at the seeds in the bird feeder. So, thanks for the list of plants that will do well with them. Now I just have to figure out how to plant and get a few vegies.
Thanks for your comments Deb. It seems as though we share similar thoughts about our wild friends. I have found a couple of books useful – ’50 Beautiful Deer-Resistant Plants’ by Ruth Rogers Clausen and ‘Deer-Resistant Landscaping’ by Neil Soderstrom, although I don’t find that many plants are totally deer proof around here. All the best with the veggies! L
Thanks so much. I am off to peruse my favorite used online bookstore to see if I can get these books.
Deb
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