Deer are beautiful animals and an excotic guest in our garden, but can wreak havoc in flower beds.
In the beginning we were amazed at how gratious they were but gradually we have come to see them differently.
One morning in early spring we came out to see this:
As this had happened before both to our tulips, rosebuds and various other plants we were starting to get seriously annoyed.
Don’t get mad, get even!
It was time to go to war!
Experts told us that the only thing that would guarentee to keep them out was to build a 2 meter fence around the whole garden, which seemed like an impossible idea. There had to be a better solution!
First we tried an advertised sollution called Revira – it was expensive but sounded promising.
Either we did it wrong or the ads were slightly off target. Anyway it didn’t seem to bother our unwelcomed visitors.
Not working!
The next attempt was blocks of Oasis soaked in Blood Meal mixed with ammonia and set on a stick in between plants.
Not working!
The deer kept getting more and more comfortable in our garden. Maybe we could get permission to shoot one or two in order to make them fear us? The authorities laughed at our request.
Not working!
Our neighbour decided to let the dog out when he saw them. The dog lost that battle!
Not Working!
Maybe the experts were right, maybe a fence really was the only solution?
Watching Alan Titschmarsh in «How to be a Gardener» we caught a glimpse of a fence that might not be too enclosing and ugly….
We decided to go for it.
Using sheep netting and impregnated materials the fences didn’t look to bad.
Working? Yes it did, the stilted rats haven’t bother us since and it has now been five years. The neighbours still get visited but we don’t!
Now we can plant and grow anything without thinking of defences.