I am living with a terrorist. There may even be a whole cell of them. My enemy remains mostly invisible; he does his damage and disappears before I can confront him. We have been in our house for fifty years, and early on we erected a tall chain-link fence to curtail the unneighborly activities of our German shepherd, Fritzie. All this time we have raised flowers, shrubbery, and vegetables without interference. Lately things have changed.
In the past month I had six new rose bushes planted on a sunny bank near my bedroom. I happened to be away at the time and returned to find the vegetation in place but looking bedraggled. The landscape man called that evening to find out how I liked the pink roses he had selected. “What roses?” I asked, and the truth hit us both. He said, “Oh, no.” I said, “Oh, yes.”
He came over the next day, and we traipsed all around the perimeter of my small acreage to look for breaks in the fence. I mentioned that I suspected the deer were probably getting in by jumping over the fence, high as it was. The logical way to handle it, he suggested, would be to add six foot extensions to the existing stakes, three feet above the fence line and three feet below and wired into place. Then we would stretch a visible wire in between to foil the high jumpers. In the meantime we found a couple of narrow openings along the fencing which he covered with new screening. Good, I thought. We’ve got those nasty critters.
That evening I was sitting in my den which looks out onto a lighted patio. I glanced away from “Law and Order” for a moment and there, staring at me through the sliding glass door was a large deer. I looked at him and he looked at me. I could almost read his lips as he said, “O.K., sister, this is war.” Then he sniffed, tossed his head, and sauntered off.
We also have a small enclosed area off our kitchen. Last year I planted two glorious roses, which I could admire as I washed the dishes. This year they have not been pretty—-only an occasional flower and nothing more. After my nocturnal visitor of the previous evening, I went out to examine the kitchen garden, and hoof prints told me what I had to know. The nurseryman said that if a fence is too high for deer to leap over, they sometimes go beneath. I found a place on the upper bank where our dear dog had excavated and pulled off the bottom boards of an inner gate. I decided that for the present it was simpler to roll over a big log to block that entrance. If the deer are going under somewhere else, chicken-wire can be added to the fence and pegged into the ground. Pegs may be dowels or small sticks hammered down and nailed to the fencing.
The next day I climbed up on our back hill to look for signs of suspicious behavior and found none. What I did see on the other side of the fence were two deer, glaring at me. I hid behind a big bush to watch their movements, but they seemed to know I was still there. After waiting ten minutes, I gave up. They were not going to reveal their secret entry while I was present.
Summer is over, and the deer are coming out of the hills in droves. I bought twenty yards of anti-terrorist deer netting to cover my roses, although bird netting would also have worked. Unfortunately, I have problems with this remedy. One rose blossomed and stuck its head through the mesh. I went out with my clippers and was able to reach underneath to cut the stem. The flower itself had grown through the netting and was so thoroughly imbedded that I could not free it. The netting also gets caught on the thorns, so pruning will present a problem. It may be that the roses will bloom but remain unattainable. The deer won’t get to the roses, and neither will I.
Most nurseries recommend barrier sprays as the best solution to invading deer. With rain and sprinklers often washing them away almost as soon as they are applied, it is necessary to spray frequently. Remembering to do it is the problem. They won’t work for my new roses, however, because that particular area is irrigated by automatic rain-birds. There is no point in spraying, and I am not about to change to a different kind of sprinkler.
Whatever one plants, it is wise to spray immediately with a liquid anti-deer product to give the new growth a chance. Gardening books often contain lists of deer-resistant plants with the caveat that deer-resistant does not mean deer-proof. Among other blooming plants, deer seem to detest daffodils and salvia but find hydrangeas and azaleas delicious. Whatever the vegetation, deer sometimes try to eat it, only to discover they don’t like it. Occasionally, a few ornery ones just pull the plants out.
Almost everyone has a favorite preventative: nylon stockings filled with human hair, garlic chips, tiger urine(if you happen to have a tiger), human urine sprayed on cinder blocks, blood meal, motion detectors, sprinklers, home-made sprays (a mélange of eggs, milk, and hot sauce for one), plot-saver tape, or special deer fences. Best of all is a good dog.
The war continues. The terrorists may strike again, but when they come, I hope our improved homeland security will be in place.
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