Design and crop selection offer protection from invasive deer
Pungent herbs, smelly onions and garlic deter animals from devastating your garden
Ifound large, deep deer tracks in my garden this morning. Usually that is not a good thing. Deer can polish off a garden full of tender vegetables in a few short hours and since they tend to drop in around 4 a. m., they often have plenty of time to work.
But this morning — and, in fact, this growing season — has been different.
Instead of rows of leafless chard stalks and lettuce nubs, there are untouched leaves. Instead of podless pea vines, neatly trimmed down to useless wilted stalks, I have plump pea pods.
This morning’s visit by Bambi’s mom resulted in no casualties at all.
Some people put up shiny dangling compact discs, string twine between posts and lash together planks of wood and sticks to create barriers. I think that works, at least a bit, but I hate looking out my window and seeing all that junk. My garden is just plants and a few bamboo sticks to brace the tomatoes.
For the past few years, I have been experimenting with garden design and crop selection in an effort to deter deer. My intention is to segregate and protect the tender mild- flavoured greens that deer like best and to make the entire garden as unpalatable for deer as possible. No matter what direction deer approach from, they are greeted with things they generally dislike. ( Deer will eat nearly any vegetable if they are starving, but they aren’t likely to be very hungry when the landscape is so lush.)
Mint and oregano are big and bushy right now and they are gatekeepers at the entrance to the garden. Deer are not big fans of mint or strong- tasting herbs. The back entrance of the garden is flanked by large thyme, sage and rosemary bushes.
Tomato vines are from the nightshade family and the foliage tastes bitter. Plant tomato vines in sunny locations around the perimeter of your garden as a natural barrier. Plant your lettuces behind the tomatoes to hide them from the deer and for some afternoon shade on hot, sunny days.
Potatoes are also nightshades. I have potato beds planted in four different parts of the garden. My beans are planted between the potato rows.
Onions go everywhere. Deer hate the smell of them. I have a row of onions standing like sentries beside each row of lettuce and a double row of onions in front of the broccoli and spinach. I’d guess there are about 500 onions in the garden right now. Some I pick young to use as scallions, some will be harvested fresh for cooking through the summer, while others I will cure for winter storage.
Large hardneck garlic plants make a nice odiferous deer fence for chard and they are thin so the stalks let plenty of light through for sun- loving plants.