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Some plants fell out of the ground and followed me home this week. They needed to go back in the ground. Two unusually robust Heucheras became nine big fat starts.
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I don't have much regard for Heucheras because they have been a fussy plant for me. We shall see if they like it here and if the deer won't eat them.
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One day there will be an evergreen hedge of Doghobble in the tree line behind the heiau.
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Drawing new lines in evergreen for the under garden of winter. The new plants go up with a curve to the right behind the bamboo and uphill of the three large tree trunks in the center. Into the shade of the forest. That shade will slow them down.
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My hope is a Doghobble hedge is going to be a barrier that is harder to cross. There will be gates. One can hope.
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It will also be the back wall and finished frame of the garden off on a tangent.
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Off on a tangent, that is in some ways the story of my life. I tinker on.
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2 comments:
I am interested in the chronology of your deer issues. It seems like the first several years you did not have any deer damage; I remember because I was envious but also because it seemed impossible in those woods. Have they gradually increased, or it took them awhile to find you, or what?
On my 1 1/2 acres here next to a swamp, I initially (10 yrs ago) had a group of deer and was considering a fence. But they never really increased, and a big flood in the swamp next door may have destroyed their sleeping quarters. Now I have 1 or 2, and they eat much less and eat different things. I am just curious about what makes their populations vary like this when there is ample space for them (My suspicion is the population will build back up, just as I become too old to do much about it).
Beverly the short version is the deer have always been here. The first ten years they never browsed enough in the gardens to really notice or have any impact. The last five years their browsing has increased to the point of causing damage. Why that is, is a matter of speculation. Are there more deer or fewer hunters? Has the feeding route changed so they spend more time in the gardens? Has their surrounding food supply dwindled?
Despite the increased browsing only one year have they eaten all my mom's hosta and that was at the end of season when there wasn't much vegetation left before the first freeze. They still favor the native plants they have always eaten like blue wood aster, hydrangea arborescens and Solomon's Seal. Now they are just eating all of that and it is very noticeable.
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