Despite the best efforts of mama deer and her two Bambis, our garden is going strong after four separate attacks.
Awww, so cute — until they decimate your plants and leave their turd raisins everywhere!
They found the one hole in the 15-foot hedges in the back, and feasted on our apple trees, lilacs, hydrangeas, tender gladiolus, petunias, sunflowers, clematis, alstroemeria and sweet peas. Most upsetting, they mowed down all my peas, new beans, and lettuce, stepping right into the raised beds and destroying seed beds I had just planted. They nibbled at the potatoes and the tomatoes too. Aargh!
Some semi-permanent deer fencing across the corner where she got in, as well as around my raised beds, and things are starting to recover. We also decided to use our back deck as planting space since we always choose to sit out in the garden. Now I can plant even more!
As long as she can’t climb stairs… 🤔
Anyway, here are some pictures of my healing place/our paradise in July 2019.
Dahlias – stunning and deer-resistant!
My favourite shady place to read and write. Or just be.
Monster marigolds that I planted from seed are taking over!
The corner where they got in, and the final frontier for the garden – until we get rid of the trampoline. Protected by Tiki. 😏
I really love this time in the garden when most of the major tasks are done for the moment and we can just water, maintain and enjoy. We plan to plant more dahlias, especially out front because the deer leave them alone, and they’re gorgeous. They lined our driveway when we lived in New Zealand, which is where we both fell in love with them.
Any other suggestions for deer-resistant, drought-tolerant perennials? Our front garden is so blah comparatively, and north-facing so not as much fun. Any recommendations very much appreciated.
Happy August!
❤️ Amanda
WOW!!! What a garden..🥰
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Thanks so much, Cindy! My happy place 🙂
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Love this
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Love you!
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Your garden looks fabulous in spite of your adorable but destructive visitors. My daughter lives on Mudge Island and always has trouble growing things before the deer get them.
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Thanks Darlene! It is irritating but I figure they’re doing what they were made for and it’s my job as a gardener to protect my plants. In my better moments, anyway!
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your garden is stunning…….
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Thank you, my lovely friend!!
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🙂 hope your day is as good as it can be 🙂
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Great post
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Thanks!
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Lovely! Try these sites for deer-resistant ideas: https://savvygardening.com/deer-resistant-bulbs/ and https://savvygardening.com/deer-resistant-annuals/
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Thanks so much!! I’ll check that out for sure! 💕
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Ty for sharing your happy place with us! Beautiful!
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Thank you, lovely!! 💕
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Your garden looks amazing. Sadly, I have no tips for deer proofing.
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Thanks Brigid. Slowly but surely, we will win the war!!
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Your garden is incredible, so pretty! I’m sorry you’ve had these intruders causing mayhem and damage, but there’s just no way I can look at the Bambis and not ‘awww’! No idea on protecting your garden from further invasions, however, as I live in the UK and this would never happen (and if it did, we’d probably be encouraging them in so we could ‘aww’ at them!) xx
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Thanks Caz. I know, even though I’m annoyed by the invasion, I can’t help but ‘aww’ every time I see them. Now that things are more secure, I can enjoy them even more – from afar!! 💕
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What a lovely garden, Amanda!!!!!!! So beautiful. Can’t believe you got such great pictures of the deer too!
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Thanks Angela! The deer just freeze and stare you down, so it’s easy to get good pictures – haha!
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I imagine this is a happy place, and time-consuming to get it to be so beautiful.
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It is our happy place, and yes many hours go into it, but they’re an investment in our joy and peace of mind. I may feel differently in twenty years though! 😏 Thanks for your comment! 💕
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you are welcome
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I was going to say marigolds but you have them already. If you know approximate times they come, you could set your sprinklers to come on and startle them?? Good luck. Your gardens are gorgeous!
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Thank you!! I think we might invest in motion-activated sprinklers and hope that works. Grrr…
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Sounds like a plan😄
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Thanks for the shoutout, and the list! 😊
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