Keep a safe distance, build a fence, plant wisely to make the bucks stop there
If you have deer in your neighborhood, you know the challenges of keeping your landscape from being eaten. But this time of year, it’s mating season, and rutting bucks bring additional risks to our landscapes and our safety as gardeners — and the safety of pets and children as well.
Rutting bucks become unpredictable. They often fight with other bucks over females, and that aggression sometimes gets directed toward people and pets.
To reduce the likelihood of a confrontation, avoid intersecting the buck’s path. Also keep your dogs in control and restrained from rushing a buck or his group of does. My West Highland white terriers enjoy rushing at the deer that cross their paths while on their leashed walks. The normal reaction of the deer is to retreat from the charge, but during rutting season, there is more of a for the bucks and even the does will counterattack.
The same warnings are important for children. A hormonedriven buck or doe in mating season is even less predictable than they are the rest of the year. All the same warnings extend to the does in fawning season later in the summer. In some locations, the danger from does protecting their newly birthed fawns in the summer may be greater than the aggressiveness displayed by bucks during mating season.
Deer also pose a threat to plants. Before the rut, bucks’ antlers grow covered in velvet, which they rub off on trees. Unfortunately, that rubbing translates to bark being stripped and stems being broken in young shade trees and shrubs. Most plants end up girdled, which either kills the plant or reduces its ability to grow. The only real defense is to build a sturdy fence to prevent contact.
To keep deer from eating your plants, it’s important to plant ones that deer don’t really like. That being said, even some of the plants safely on the deerproof plant list get eaten when they are newly planted in a landscape, probably because the fragrances, potent oils and textures that discourage deer from normally eating the plant are not in full force. Deer also are curious creatures and they like to taste new things. To keep your plants from becoming a meal, apply a deer repellent such as Liquid Fence once per week for at least three weeks.
Deer tend not to eat Texas mountain laurel, vinca, viburnum, thyrallis, lantana, salvia, milkweed, yucca, four-o-clock and mint marigold, to name a few.
This week in the garden
There is still time to thin and transplant perennials such as iris, phlox, shasta daisies, daylilies and German carnations. Visit plantanswers.com for planting instructions.
Take advantage of the CPS Energy rebate on shade trees, and plant a recommended shade tree now. It will add value to your property and reduce your electrical costs. In addition to oaks, cedar elm and Mexican sycamore, Chinese pistache and anaqua are on the rebate list.
Birdbaths meet the needs of the birds for water if you rinse and refill them every day. To increase the number of species and individual birds that visit, include a recirculating mechanism. They are inexpensive, and there are solar-powered, water pressure-powered and electrical plug-in versions.
Broccoli, cabbage, okra, peppers, kale, radishes, turnips, Swiss chard, collards and tomatoes are all being harvested from the winter garden now, but there is still time to plant carrots, lettuce, beets, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, spinach, kale and Brussels sprouts.