It's been a long, snowy winter. I haven't seen this much persistent deep snow in quite a few years. Wonderful for all the perennials happily buried beneath it, keeping cosy and resisting the heaving thaws of spring. But very hard on the growing deer population around here. And as a result, hard on my back garden. The deer have stripped all the low growing rhododendron buds and many of the leaves. The huge rhodie at the back of the garden has been 'trimmed' a bit higher than normal. One low branch is nearly bare and since it's not very healthy to begin with, we'll cut it off this year.
But worst of all, the deer unearthed my hellebores. Yep, hellebores, those tough plants that deer aren't supposed to like. Well, they're gone. There are some buds deep in the leaves, hopefully they'll survive a few more weeks. And my new fledgling hedge of Roseraie de L'Hay rugosa roses have even been chewed back. Here's what I'm dreaming my hedge will look like someday.
I was helpless to get out there and do anything to deter the deer this year due to a knee injury. But next year, I'll try some temporary deer fencing and see if that deters them a bit. Here's to a nice summer first!
Photo Credit: amandabhslater
No comments:
Post a Comment