Hello! The weather, O dear! The gardens, O dear! The weeds, O dear! O dear, O dear! Hey, deer! Yes, today’s topic – DEER - a timely topic, indeed!

Browsing deer can totally devastate a food garden! All your hard work – tilling, planting, weeding, watering – all down the drain.

You know, it seems like we have a love/hate relationship with deer. On the one hand, we are charmed by their exquisite grace and beauty. And we have all seen the movie “Bambie”! On the other hand, we are outraged by their voracious appetites in our flower and food gardens. We are wary of them because of the Lyme’s disease in the tick that they can carry. We are depressed and demoralized by the damage they cause to our vehicles when they dart in front of us and total them

And, yes, deer can be a disaster to a food garden. They usually feed in the late evening or early morning when no one else is around. One or two deer can literally destroy a vegetable garden in only one night! Finicky eaters, they are not! Deer can devour almost everything found in the food garden.

So before those darned deer decimate your garden, plan to prevent them from getting anywhere near it! Here are some suggestions:
ELECTRIC FENCING – The most effective way to control deer is with a very high (8’, 10’, 12’) fence, especially one that is electrified. But this fencing can be fairly expensive, depending on the size of your garden.

CHICKEN WIRE – Got chicken wire? You can lay chicken wire down around the perimeter of your garden. Deer definitely do not like walking on stuff like this. Their dainty little hooves get stuck in the small openings. The downside to this chicken wire is that it is a real pain to pick up so that you can mow the grass. And it’s even more of a pain if you let your grass grow tall, because then that tall grass is growing up through the chicken wire holes, making it next to impossible to lift up.

FOULING THE FRINGES – Keep your garden or lawn edges unattractive. If you line up your yard or garden with some unpalatable and deer repellent plants, chances are those deer will keep to their own territory and pass by your no longer tempting yard or garden.

Keep in mind, deer simply go crazy over azaleas, English ivy, hostas, tulips, beans, and sweet corn. But deer are supposed to detest certain plants including verbena, crocus, daylily, geranium, peony, wisteria, phlox, rugosa roses, black locust, cucumber, and squash. Annuals that deer rarely or never eat are: ageratum, snapdragon, wax begonia, dahlia, foxglove, heliotrope, forget-me-not, blue salvia, and marigold. Many of you are probably shaking your heads as you say how those deer mowed down all of your roses, cucumbers, and squash.

There are a few other trees, shrubs, and plants that deer are supposed to avoid, but we won’t get into them here. But suffice it to say, you can use these unpalatable plants as a protective, solid barrier to discourage those deer from coming any closer. Picture a deer barrier made from solid hedges of rugosa rose, or junipers, or with trellises of morning glory. Then perhaps the deer won’t be able to see over this barrier and therefore won’t venture past it to discover all of those succulent veggies hiding there.

MOWING THE FRINGES – You can keep all of the grass and underbrush surrounding your garden trimmed and tidy to discourage any deer-loitering, or deer bedding down to plan their attack on your yummy garden. So, eliminate unnecessary cover, and your garden will survive until harvest, or until frost.

More on more practical deer repellents next week.

Remember – Eat Smart New York!

And - Bye – Talk to you soon!
D