About 2 weeks ago, after a snowstorm, we were horrified when we discovered all of the damage the deer have been doing to our plantings around the house. OK, our shrubs are overgrown, but this was not the way to deal with that issue.
This holly and its two flanking arbor vitae are severely damaged. I think the holly might come back, but I know the bottoms of the arbor vitae are likely to be permanently destroyed. They've attacked 3 other holly bushes, too.
Boxwood is resilient, but this is disheartening. Both of the boxwood flanking my front door look like this.
See the little stick pile between the arbor vitae? That used to be a 5 foot wide euonymous (I know I didn't spell that right, but it's a low growing green and white thing). There are 2 more similar little stick piles on the other sides of the (also eaten) arbor vitae flanking this one.
Lastly, this was a rhododendron a month ago. Now it's but a few leaves.
I bought some deer and rabbit repellant from Agway a couple of summers ago for the garden. We've been spraying it around the house in hopes of avoiding more damage. Did you know that there are more deer living in North America now than there were before Europeans arrived? Yep. True story. It's because the Native Americans used to hunt them, and now hunting is severely limited, or even banned. The herd of about 10 of them on my block is testimony to that!
Hope your plantings are in better shape than mine right now! Happy Garden Tuesday!
9 comments:
Nope. I think you've read before that we've rather abandoned hope and have accepted that only the butterfly bush that the deer don't bother is thriving...
That's one critter that I've never had come into my yard.......for which I am VERY grateful.....rabbits are my worst enemy and sometimes the odd porcupine.
I have a problem with rabbits but thankfully we are fenced so the deer stay out. Our Euonymus is still trying to get over the shock of being moved from the UK to France, but it is looking a bit happier at the moment despite the rubbish weather. Hope your plants recover and do not get eaten any further! Diane
Our fence keeps the deer out, but the drought has killed almost everything.
I wish they'd come and eat more of our crab apples in the spring!
My cousin in WV has the same issue and they keep his shrubs overly prunned.
Hmm - I am very urban and don't get critters other than bunnies in my yard. Right now they aren't bothering anything and when they get out of hand, well then we'll let the dogs out! g
What a bummer for your bushes & shrubs. No fun. I love deer but I wouldn't want them to eat my plants.
We get lots of skunks out my way, which introduces a different set of aesthetic problems.
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