GARDENING AMIDST DEER Several friends who live nearby but are closer to the forest edges than I am are subject to the joys and the sorrows that deer bring to their gardens. Often, when I am visiting with one friend in particular, there will be at least one of the beautiful beasts on the property, often quite close to us. It barely notices us as it browses on the grass or reaches into an apple tree for a few tasty nibbles. They're lovely creatures, but they do make gardening difficult. Here are some remedies, none of them perfect, that will help you garden more satisfactorily among the deer. | FENCING | GROUND BARRIERS | | REPELLENTS | DEER-RESISTANT PLANTS |

Scabiosa (pin cushion flower) is deer-resistant.

 

Fencing If a gardener really wants to keep deer from cherished plantings, the only permanent and sure measure is a fence. Wire fencing generally needs to be at least seven feet high. However, some home gardeners have found to their dismay that only a 10-foot fence is fully effective and that anything eight feet or under provides only amusing jumping practice for the deer. Board fencing need only be five feet high, since deer are less likely to jump a barrier that blocks the view of their landing point. Some gardeners have found double wire fencing to be an effective deer barrier. This involves errecting two lines of fencing five feet apart. The wire deer fencing, usually a two by four-inch mesh, needs only be four feet high. The reason a double fence set up like this works is that deer are not broad jumpers. And they know that once inside the space between the fences they couldn't get enough of a running start to clear the second fence. Another interesting feature of the double fencing is that the space between the fences need not be left bare. It can be used to grow plants. Ground Barriers If a fence is out of the question, consider a ground-level barrier. Black plastic, newspaper, or mesh fencing laid on the ground to a width of at least three feet but preferably four feet around beds or garden perimeters is said to keep deer, racoons and skunks away because the animals don't like to walk on slippery or unfamiliar surfaces. And deer dislike catching their hooves in the wire. If there is a place where you know deer enter and leave the garden, lay wire mesh there.

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Using Repellents Repellents work with varying degrees of success depending upon how numerous and how hungry the deer are. Commercial repellents are made mostly of putrescent whole egg solids. A home-made version is three eggs whirled in the blender with one cup of water and mixed with a gallon of water. Spray plants on a dry day. Once absorbed by the plant, the egg spray lasts (through rain and yard sprinkling) for three or four weeks. Any repellent spray works best when the spraying is begun early in the spring on fresh growth, before deer acquire a taste for the unprotected foliage. Other deer-repellent sprays: fish fertilizer; insecticidal soap; or two tablespoons Tabasco (or one small bottle of hot pepper sauce) mixed with one gallon of water and one tablespoon liquid soap. Some gardeners find that hanging bars of Ivory or a strong deodorant soap in plantings will keep deer away. Use old panty hose to hang the soap. Other people hang little aluminum tart tins on or above target plants. A dog, preferably the yappy sort, is said to be an effective deer deterrent. Another idea implemented by inventive gardeners living in deer country employs deception. Choice plants like lilies, which are commonly munched into bloomlessness by deer, become far less vulnerable when planted in the midst of plants the deer tend to avoid. It is possible, for example, to grow flourishing clumps of lilies in the refuge of a butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii). Other potentially protective shrubs with a reputation for being distasteful to deer are holly, smoke bush, shrubby cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa), juniper, daphne, and the Mahonias including Oregon grape.

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Deer-resistant Plants Deer will eat just about anything if conditions are harsh and they are very hungry or thirsty, as in a long, hot summer or during a severe winter. Sometimes they will eat garden flowers and foliage for the moisture content. It sometimes is helpful to keep a large bucket filled with fresh water in a location as far removed from treasured garden plants as possible. Some people plant tasty greens such as alfalfa or clover around the bucket to help keep the deer satisfied. Here are some plants that usually do not appeal to deer: CONIFERS Juniper, spruce, pine. SHRUBS Butterfly bush, English boxwood, heather, rhododendron, azalea, pieris, lavender, rosemary, heather, English holly, St. John's wort (Hypericum), daphne, California lilac (Ceanothus), Mexican mock orange (Choiysia), smoke bush, cotoneaster, hebe, skimmia, pieris, Oregon grape, heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica). PERENNIALS Primula, Oriental poppy, lupin, iris, Christmas rose and other hellebores (Helleborus), English ivy, foxglove, yucca, cyclamen, bleeding heart, epimedium, penstemon, Russian sage, (Perovskia), wallflower, lamb's ears (Stachys byzantina), monkshood (Aconitum), bergenia, coreopsis, montbretia (Crocosmia), artemisia, arabis (rock cress), lungwort (Pulmonaria), evening primrose. FLOWERBULBS AND ANNUALS Dahlia, daffodil, zinnia, calendula, datura, cleome, poppies, verbena, blue salvia (Salvia farinacea), morning glory, lobelia, basil, zonal geranium (Pelargonium hortorum), dusty miller, heliotrope, forget-me-not, marigold. And here is a supplemental list, sent to me from a gardener who lives on a deer trail. This combination of plants gives her a show of color from spring through fall, unmunched by deer. Some of the plant names are the same as on the above list: Shasta daisy, lupin, lavender, erigeron, black-eyed susan, penstemon, coreopsis, marguerite, gaillardia, scabiosa, lavatera, assorted poppies, marigold, nasturtium, flowering almond, chrysanthemum, daffodils, aubrieta, alyssum and heather.

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