Salon - - Gardening? - Page 5

Jakaleena · #61 07-09-2002, 04:24 AM

Greg...

They don't have to have the good stuff - just go to the 7-11 and get 'em a 40 ouncer...

fugitive · #62 07-09-2002, 08:54 AM

I guess their carnivorous too, as I sometimes put out a chicken part out on the patio for the can, and guess who comes to dinner, a damn slug, so I gave him some salt to go with his meal.

Bob Walden · #63 07-13-2002, 02:03 PM

Hi all!

Last year we had an invasion of Purple Loose Strieff.(sp?) Very pretty but invasive stuff. Pulled it all out and planted a wildflower mix. Usually it takes two years for density but this is from just a planting last fall. We are so thrilled!!! Plus it smells great.

I guess you cant beat Mother Nature's designs.

Bob

DJ Dubovsky · #64 07-13-2002, 03:09 PM

That is beautiful Bob. Mother Nature sure knows the right mix.

DJ

Ed_L · #65 07-13-2002, 08:10 PM

Very nice Bob. We took a short trip to Michigan a few weeks ago. We went to Fernwood Gardens, which has several easy hiking trails. Your pic reminds me of some of the stuff we saw there. It's a nice place to relax and enjoy nature.

Ed

jeaniesa · #66 08-19-2002, 08:17 PM

when you look out the window and see a deer standing in the middle of your (supposedly) fully fenced in garden?

I still have no idea how the deer got in there, but luckily I'd already made the mistake a few years ago of startling a deer that had gotten through our less-well-thought-out barriers and new that would not be a good idea to try again. (The deer bolted and completely tore down the "netting" that we'd put up as it ran straight through it.)

Also luckily, I seem to have noticed the deer before she did too much damage - just chomped the two lettuce that were left to the ground and was just starting on the green tomatoes (preferred over red tomatoes from past experience.) I don't know how I did it, but I convinced her to leave by "talking" to her from the porch and informing her that it was my food every time she went towards a plant to chomp on it. All the plants but one bean plant seemed to survive her stomping around as she tried to decide what to do. She finally jumped through a "hole" in our barrier that was possible for her to jump out of, but should(?) have been impossible for her to use to get IN.

Needless to say, now that the deer barriers had been compromised, I had to add reinforcements everywhere I could think of. I still don't know how the deer got in, so I was pretty much reinforcing the "weaker" areas. Funny thing is, I was just thinking to myself this past weekend, "Well, it's about time to see a deer in the garden." It happens about this time every year. You'd think by now we'd have the situation under control. But, the green veggies in the garden must just be too tempting for the deer compared to the dry grass/brush everywhere else and they get very bold about "going for it".

Jeanie

BigAl · #67 08-20-2002, 02:07 AM

Jeanie, we have antelope here called Kudu which are probably around 6' high to the top of the head (and then the males have huge horns above that). These animals can clear 8' fences from a standing start. You need pretty high fences to keep them out. Fortunately however, they are browsers, so your veggie garden is usually safe but your fruit trees are not!!

jeaniesa · #68 08-20-2002, 10:05 AM

Al, We've also had an elk (about the size of your kudu, I think) and her calf running through the neighborhood and confusing the heck out of us - since she seems to eat things that the deer won't touch. We couldn't figure out what the heck was going on until we saw her chomping away! It's neat to have her around since it's unusual for her to be in this area, but it made for an interesting time trying to figure out how to save the plants/trees that are "deer proof" but apparently not "elk proof".

I saw her clear a 5' fence like it didn't even exist.

Lucikly, she never found our garden (she seemed to keep to the street and just off of it. Strange to see an elk walking down the middle of your street.) We just need 8' fences to keep the deer out. (Some neighbors have 7' and they seem to work). And in reality, there just needs to be the "appearance" of an 8' barrier, so we have 4' of chickenwire on the bottom and another 4' of "netting" above that with some string woven through horizontally to make it more visible - both for the deer and birds. We've never had a deer try to jump over the chickenwire and into the netting, but I'm waiting for that day. (That will be a mess!

)

Jeanie

Ed_L · #69 08-20-2002, 07:29 PM

I wouldn't want your garden problems Jeanie. We have two large dogs, but a two foot high fence is enough for them even though I saw one of them jump over a four foot high fence a couple of years ago. Day before yesterday I saw a squirrel roaming around the yard with a small tomato in his mouth (and it was red).

Ed