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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Glory heere, Diggers all: gardening 2012
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jedijudy
Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333
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Posted
I took half my grape crop to share with my son and granddaughter. We each had one grape! And they were very good! ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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Jasmine, little cat with a big heart.
Posts: 18017 | From: 'Twixt the 'Glades and the Gulf | Registered: Aug 2001
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Chamois
Shipmate
# 16204
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Posted
Update on the green tomatoes: I had to throw about half of them away because of the blight, but the others are ripening nicely on various window sills round the house.
My autumn raspberries are in full fruit now - yummy! And two out of my three young plum trees set some fruit for the first time this year, 5 plums on Merton Gem and 7 plums on Marjorie's seedling. Hopefully a foretaste of goodies to come.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases
Posts: 978 | From: Hill of roses | Registered: Feb 2011
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Roseofsharon
Shipmate
# 9657
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Posted
We have been given the go-ahead by the council to take down the lovely, but sick, flowering cherry from our garden, and with a sorrowful heart I have just accepted a quote for getting the work done (hopefully before the winter storms do it for us)
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Posts: 3060 | From: Sussex By The Sea | Registered: Jun 2005
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Chamois
Shipmate
# 16204
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Posted
Roseofsharon, what a pity you've got to remove it. That's a beautiful tree.
The road where I live has a lot of flowering cherry trees planted by the local council years ago, and now they are gradually decaying and having to be removed one by one. The council is replanting with sycamore. Not the same thing at all. ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
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The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases
Posts: 978 | From: Hill of roses | Registered: Feb 2011
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Grammatica
Shipmate
# 13248
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Posted
Hi, all. In my South Florida vegetable garden, I'm just at the stage of tearing out all the overgrowth from the summer fallow period, getting ready to stir up the soil and amend it for planting.
I have questions for Jedi Judy or anyone else who gardens in subtropical/ tropical areas.
1) I have a stand of Surinam cherry bushes. I love to eat the fruits raw, and I hope to make jam with them. Problem: they tend to harbor fruit fly worms. So: How best to prevent the fruit flies from getting to them? Is there a spray I can use? My only real luck came one year when, most unusually for my latitude, we had six weeks of continuously cold weather, with temperatures below 40 F each night, and often below freezing. No fruit fly worms in the fruits the following year. But I can't count on that.
2) My hibiscus is having problems. The blossoms rot in bud, and the new leaves, instead of growing out, stay tiny and become crinkled and convoluted. The ends of the canes develop a stubby, button-like appearance from the multiple tiny crinkled leaves. I hope I am describing it well enough. Is this a fungus? It seems to get worse in droughts. Does the bush need extra nutrients? Anyone?
Posts: 1058 | From: where the lemon trees blosson | Registered: Dec 2007
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jedijudy
Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333
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Posted
I'm afraid I'm not going to be much help, Grammatica.
The Surinam cherries are notorious for worms...in some years! I never made the connection between cold winters and fewer worms, but will have to observe more carefully!
Our particular solution to the cherry problem is to make jam and jelly from the tasty things! (BTW, if anyone hasn't ever tried a Surinam cherry, it's nothing like what people normally think of when they think of cherries. Plus they're not shaped the same, either!)
Your hibiscus problem is one I've seen mostly in older plants. One thing to try is to prune it back pretty drastically. It used to be standard practice to prune them back to pointed stakes in the beginning of winter, but I haven't heard of anyone doing that for quite a long time.
Good luck with them, Grammatica!
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Jasmine, little cat with a big heart.
Posts: 18017 | From: 'Twixt the 'Glades and the Gulf | Registered: Aug 2001
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Grammatica
Shipmate
# 13248
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by jedijudy:
(BTW, if anyone hasn't ever tried a Surinam cherry, it's nothing like what people normally think of when they think of cherries. Plus they're not shaped the same, either!)
They are so good eaten off the bush! But only if you catch them at absolutely peak ripeness. They are mouth-puckeringly sour until they reach that stage, and they have a faint flavor of gasoline as well. But when they are ripe --
Ripe and not-so-ripe Surinam cherry
I have heard that the flies only attack them at the peak of ripeness, so if they are picked early for jam, they are free of worms.
Will try your advice on the hibiscus also. I have not done the drastic pruning you describe, and they are older bushes - at least 20-25 years old.
Posts: 1058 | From: where the lemon trees blosson | Registered: Dec 2007
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daisydaisy
Shipmate
# 12167
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Roseofsharon:
We have been given the go-ahead by the council to take down the lovely, but sick, flowering cherry from our garden, and with a sorrowful heart I have just accepted a quote for getting the work done (hopefully before the winter storms do it for us)
That is quite a tree Roseofsharon - I am sure you will miss it. Will you be replacing it with another cherry? When the houses around me were built, the developer put in alternating flowering cherries and rowan trees with differing coloured berries. After about 30 years one of the cherries near me started to revert to root stock and dropped loads of mirabelle plums which I turned into jam. Sadly, that tree has been removed and replaced with a regular flowering cherry. I have since decided that when I put in a plant to try to get an edible fruiting variety because it's so good to have fruit in my tiny garden, even if it's a tiny amount.
Posts: 3184 | From: southern uk | Registered: Dec 2006
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Chamois
Shipmate
# 16204
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Posted
Grammatica,how big are the fruit flies which attack the cherries? I'm wondering if netting would help.
This year I netted my red cabbages and have no caterpillars on them whereas I didn't net my brussels sprouts and I'm picking off caterpillars every day.
Of course, if the adult flies are very small they'll get through netting mesh.
If you can't net the whole bush, you could net a few branches and save the cherries on those.
Just a thought.
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The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases
Posts: 978 | From: Hill of roses | Registered: Feb 2011
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Beethoven
Ship's deaf genius
# 114
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Posted
I dug up a few potatoes as an experiment the other day to see if they're ready. They're purple! Rather more floury than I normally like, but at least they'll make good roasties or mash, then. The runner beans need picking soon, too, as they're finally getting properly going. And I must remember to check how to tell if the sweetcorn is ripe (anyone?).
Sadly the carrots didn't come out well. Partly because I hadn't separated the seedlings anything like as well as I thought I had, so they've grown all squished together, and partly cos some nasty fly/crawling grey things found them.
I'll be making some chard soup soon, though - the rainbow chard has truly lived up to its name and is flourishing. And I'll be looking for beetroot recipes, too!
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Who wants to be a rock anyway?
toujours gai!
Posts: 1309 | From: Here (and occasionally there) | Registered: May 2001
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Roseofsharon
Shipmate
# 9657
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by daisydaisy:
Will you be replacing it with another cherry?
We will be looking for something that is resistant to honey fungus, and sadly cherries are not on the RHS list.
Honey fungus is very active in our garden and we have lost many smaller trees and shrubs to its ravages, starting with a weeping willow twenty years ago. I wouldn't plant another tree just there for several years, but the council says we must - although they haven't actually given us a deadline. ![[Biased]](wink.gif)
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Posts: 3060 | From: Sussex By The Sea | Registered: Jun 2005
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Chamois
Shipmate
# 16204
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Posted
I got home from work yesterday evening to find that my local council had cut down the flowering cherry tree in the street outside my nextdoor neighbour's house. There wasn't a thing wrong with it that I could see! The stump was still there this morning and you could see it was healthy wood - no streaks or discolour or any sign of honey fungus.
I'm really upset. OK, it was a large tree, but it wasn't doing anyone any harm.
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The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases
Posts: 978 | From: Hill of roses | Registered: Feb 2011
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Roseofsharon
Shipmate
# 9657
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Chamois:
I got home from work yesterday evening to find that my local council had cut down the flowering cherry tree in the street outside my nextdoor neighbour's house. There wasn't a thing wrong with it that I could see! The stump was still there this morning and you could see it was healthy wood - no streaks or discolour or any sign of honey fungus.
I'm really upset. OK, it was a large tree, but it wasn't doing anyone any harm.
Oh, that's sad!
If there are any similar trees in the rest of the street I'd apply for a TPO quickly, before any more get felled
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Talk about books -any books- on our rejuvenatedforum http://www.bookgrouponline.com/index.php?
Posts: 3060 | From: Sussex By The Sea | Registered: Jun 2005
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Chamois
Shipmate
# 16204
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Posted
I spoke to some neighbours today who were home when the council were felling the cherry tree. They told me that the council men said the tree was diseased.
I'm really not convinced. It looked perfectly healthy to me.
Vandalism
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The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases
Posts: 978 | From: Hill of roses | Registered: Feb 2011
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
Men and machines cost money, so I don't suppose it was gratuitous.
You could try calling the Council and asking to speak to their dendrologist (ie whoever is responsible within Environment/Parks and Gardens/whatever for tree management). I wouldn't be confrontational about it - just ask about the policy, and particularly on replacement. I think trees are viewed as an amenity - leafy suburbs 'n that.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Chamois
Shipmate
# 16204
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Posted
I have just had the most extraordinary experience! This evening I cut and cooked the first red cabbage from my garden. I've never grown cabbages before and (what with the slugs and the caterpillars and the birds and so on) I was wondering if it was worth the trouble. But wow - what an incredible taste sensation!
I've a believer!
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The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases
Posts: 978 | From: Hill of roses | Registered: Feb 2011
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Grammatica
Shipmate
# 13248
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Chamois:
Grammatica,how big are the fruit flies which attack the cherries? I'm wondering if netting would help.
Sorry I didn't see your post before. It's the Caribbean Fruit Fly that attacks them, and the University of Florida says: "The adult is a small yellow-brown fly that can be as long as 12–14 mm, with rather long, patterned wings." But I've never actually seen the flies; just the worms in the cherries.
I've never heard of anyone doing this, but it might work. Surinam cherry is really a bush; it grows, oh, maybe 10-14 feet high. It would be possible if the netting were wrapped all around the bottom of the tree.
Posts: 1058 | From: where the lemon trees blosson | Registered: Dec 2007
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jedijudy
Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333
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Posted
bump
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Jasmine, little cat with a big heart.
Posts: 18017 | From: 'Twixt the 'Glades and the Gulf | Registered: Aug 2001
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
Tell me, what do you do with a vegetable patch over winter? I've done little in the garden for the past couple of months (been away a lot) and now the peas and beans have died back, the lettuce have bolted, and the weeds are rollicking merrily. What to do - dig it? Leave it?
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Chamois
Shipmate
# 16204
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Posted
I would dig it. Otherwise it's going to be worse when you have to clear it up in the spring.
But then, my garden is on heavy clay. If you're on a lighter soil weeding in the spring may not be such hard work.
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The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases
Posts: 978 | From: Hill of roses | Registered: Feb 2011
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Moo
Ship's tough old bird
# 107
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Posted
You could try dumping a lot of mulch on it.
Moo
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Kerygmania host
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See you later, alligator.
Posts: 20365 | From: Alleghany Mountains of Virginia | Registered: May 2001
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Spike
Mostly Harmless
# 36
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Posted
Not really a gardening question as such, as I don't have a garden, but I do like to grow herbs on my kitchen windowsill.
I've had great success with mint, basil, rosemary and sage, but I just cannot get on with coriander. (Cilantro for those of you across the pond).
I've usually bought it ready grown in a pot and no matter how much or how little I water it, or whether I put it in the light or the shade, it always dies within three days.
Has anyone had success growing coriander? What am I doing wrong?
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"May you get to heaven before the devil knows you're dead" - Irish blessing
Posts: 12860 | From: The Valley of Crocuses | Registered: May 2001
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
I'm convinced the herbs in pots are from particularly feeble strains, designed to die readily.
The one time I grew coriander from seed successfully, I had a south-facing bay window and it was an unusually good summer. I remember I made a cardboard screen to prop up behind the seed trays, covered in tinfoil.
So, basically, I think you need a greenhouse and exceptionally favourable climatic conditions.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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jedijudy
Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333
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Posted
Yesterday I bought some ready-made plants. Those are the ones that someone else has grown from seed-my normal mode of gardening.
So, the shade plants are in: mint and lemon balm. Tomorrow morning (Lord willing, and nothing changes my schedule!) the heirloom tomatoes, basil and dill will be planted.
I am getting some strange looks, however. Most folks around here do veggies in containers. Mine (except for the mints) are going right into the ground. So, wish me luck! Hopefully the nematodes haven't found that part of the back yard.
Also, I caved and bought two more orchids. One is a phalaenopsis with irregular patches of purples and white. Reminds me of a calico cat!
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Jasmine, little cat with a big heart.
Posts: 18017 | From: 'Twixt the 'Glades and the Gulf | Registered: Aug 2001
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Chamois
Shipmate
# 16204
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Posted
Autumn here, but still very mild and damp. My red cabbages have done very well and the sprouts are looking hopeful for later in the winter. Also the leeks, in spite of a very slow start last spring. Thanks to everyone for the leek advice here!
Today I'm going to spend an hour picking caterpillars off the gooseberry bushes. I've never had a sawfly attack so late in the year before. I want to stop as many as possible from over-wintering, otherwise I'll have no gooseberry crop next May. It's a tricky job because the gooseberries have massive thorns but the caterpillars are too small to pick off if I wear gloves.
The joys of gardening! ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
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The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases
Posts: 978 | From: Hill of roses | Registered: Feb 2011
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jedijudy
Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333
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Posted
For any orchid growers here, I have a question. One of my cattleyas is blooming now, and has a lovely fragrance. Strangely, there are two blooms on one stalk, and they are colored differently, and they smell differently, too! Also, the aroma is there in the morning, but not the rest of the day. It comes back the next morning.
My google-fu is betraying me right now, so I thought you all might know about these things! Is the morning scent meant to attract certain insects, and is it for reproduction? Is the coloring difference significant?
My inquiring mind awaits your wisdom!
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Jasmine, little cat with a big heart.
Posts: 18017 | From: 'Twixt the 'Glades and the Gulf | Registered: Aug 2001
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jedijudy
Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333
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Posted
bump
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Jasmine, little cat with a big heart.
Posts: 18017 | From: 'Twixt the 'Glades and the Gulf | Registered: Aug 2001
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Jack the Lass
Ship's airhead
# 3415
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Posted
After assuming that we'd be on the waiting list for donkey's years, TME and I are now officially allotmenteers! Well to be more precise we are 1/4-allotmenteers - the allotment association had a couple of plots that had been neglected so they evicted the previous plot holders and the plan is to divide each plot into 4 so that people on the list can at least get going, but we stay on the list for a half or full plot if any of those come up. Even the 1/4 plot isn't small (around 20 foot square) so we should hopefully get a fair bit grown next year. I think the logic is that rather than give a full plot to someone they don't know, if we can show our commitment to the little plot then they know that we won't neglect a bigger one. We are all organising as a group to clear the whole area (it's quite weedy in parts, although mainly annual weeds), and then they will divvy up the individual 1/4-plots. I like the community aspect of this, hopefully we will get to know some fellow veg-growers and get to share seeds, tools, tips etc.
And the best thing is the view! - in sight of the Wallace Monument.
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"My body is a temple - it's big and doesn't move." (Jo Brand)
wiblog blipfoto blog
Posts: 5767 | From: the land of the deep-fried Mars Bar | Registered: Oct 2002
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Roseofsharon
Shipmate
# 9657
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Posted
Managed to excavate my parsnips from soggy clay to clear the last veg bed. Just the leeks and chard left, and they will stand over winter (the chard will get fleeced, if I can get it cut before the next frost). I was expecting the parsnips to be forked monstrosities, like the salsify and scorzonera grown in the same bed, but most of them are pretty good. There is some forking, but not until after a good length of decent single root.
They are now packed in a box of dryish old compost, and I hope they will last past Christmas. It worked last year.
We had a dry, bright day today,so I cut back some lanky roses and cleared the lawn of fallen branch-lets from the flowering cherry. I also lifted and potted some of the cyclamen from underneath the cherry - just to save them from the boots of the men coming to fell the tree next weekend
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Talk about books -any books- on our rejuvenatedforum http://www.bookgrouponline.com/index.php?
Posts: 3060 | From: Sussex By The Sea | Registered: Jun 2005
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
Congrats on the allotmentette, JTL. I Imagine it will be enormously satisfying to bring such a neglected plot back into production.
Meanwhile the back half of the garden is silently reproaching me every time I look out of the window. I tell myself I'm waiting for the weeds to die back.
[ 25. November 2012, 19:37: Message edited by: Firenze ]
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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Sandemaniac
Shipmate
# 12829
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Posted
Great news, JTL! Just beware of phantom armies trampling the sassenachs across your spuds...
If it's allowed, now would be a really good time to put down weed control membrane (AKA black plastic sheet). There's not a lot you can start now, I suspect it's too wet to dig, and that will get a decent head start on killing off all those weeds (even couch grass succumbs) while you browse the seed catalogues. Just make sure that it's well pinned and weighted down or your sheets will be well on their way to Norway before you can say Harald Hardrada.
Meanwhile, we may be losing ours for a while. The floods are encroaching from both sides, and it may well get very, very wet. In summer 2007 when the allotments last flooded, many plots were awash. Ho hum, at least there's not too much out there except kale!
AG
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"It becomes soon pleasantly apparent that change-ringing is by no means merely an excuse for beer" Charles Dickens gets it wrong, 1869
Posts: 3574 | From: The wardrobe of my soul | Registered: Jul 2007
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jedijudy
Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by jedijudy:
So, the shade plants are in: mint and lemon balm. Tomorrow morning (Lord willing, and nothing changes my schedule!) the heirloom tomatoes, basil and dill will be planted.
... Most folks around here do veggies in containers. Mine (except for the mints) are going right into the ground. So, wish me luck!
The tomatoes are alive and growing! The biggest one has blossoms and I am thrilled! The basil is not happy, but not dead yet. Dill is growing and very full. I planted a few bell peppers, too. They are alive, but not really growing yet.
It's very exciting! Haven't been able to grow veg for a while. Y'all have inspired me, you know!
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Jasmine, little cat with a big heart.
Posts: 18017 | From: 'Twixt the 'Glades and the Gulf | Registered: Aug 2001
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Chamois
Shipmate
# 16204
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Posted
We've eaten the last of the red cabbages now, and very good they were, too. Just started on the sprouts which are rather small but tasty. The leeks did well in the end, thanks to the advice I was given here, but it's too wet to dig them up at the moment.
Luckily I live near the top of a hill. Feeling very sorry for everyone whose garden or allotment is flooded at the moment.
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The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases
Posts: 978 | From: Hill of roses | Registered: Feb 2011
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jedijudy
Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333
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Posted
We went for a month with no rain. So, of course I watered my poor plants when I could.
There has been rain off and on for the past week! It seems obvious to me that the tomatoes like God's rain much better than the water I provide via the garden hose. There are four marble-sized tomatoes on the very healthy looking tomato number one. I think it's a pink and white striped variety. The plant is gorgeous! Yesterday it came up to almost mid-thigh on me.
The other two have blossoms finally. The flowers on the black tomato look almost like nightshade. Very interesting.
Yes, I'm very pleased with my little garden!
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Jasmine, little cat with a big heart.
Posts: 18017 | From: 'Twixt the 'Glades and the Gulf | Registered: Aug 2001
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Chamois
Shipmate
# 16204
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Posted
Although my garden is near the top of a hill - it's now flooded. The poor plum tree is ankle deep in water. Hate to think about all the drowned worms.
How are other people getting on?
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The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases
Posts: 978 | From: Hill of roses | Registered: Feb 2011
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Sandemaniac
Shipmate
# 12829
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Posted
Underwater here too (at least, it should be - can't get out to it for water). Not too much in it to take harm, thankfully, and I'll have a little party for every slug that drowns!
Spring will be hard work, given I didn't get a lot of digging done before the heavens opened.
AG
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"It becomes soon pleasantly apparent that change-ringing is by no means merely an excuse for beer" Charles Dickens gets it wrong, 1869
Posts: 3574 | From: The wardrobe of my soul | Registered: Jul 2007
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daisydaisy
Shipmate
# 12167
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Posted
Thankfully not under water, but very muddy. I picked sprouts on Christmas Eve, but wasn't tempted to stop for long. Like Sandemaniac I will have a lot of digging to catch up with. I am following the school of "weeds help stop the nutrients from washing away".
Posts: 3184 | From: southern uk | Registered: Dec 2006
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jedijudy
Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333
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Posted
I have six tomatoes growing! Four are ping pong ball sized, and two marble sized ones. There is dill enough to actually use, and a pepper has a blossom bud. We actually had a very short rain today, so hopefully that helps the little plants.
Well, the tomato is about waist high on me. So not too little for being in the ground.
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Jasmine, little cat with a big heart.
Posts: 18017 | From: 'Twixt the 'Glades and the Gulf | Registered: Aug 2001
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Chamois
Shipmate
# 16204
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by jedijudy:
I have six tomatoes growing!
The Ship is a real education. There was I thinking that tomatoes just grow like weeds in the States, being the place they originally come from and all that. Apologies for my ignorance.
It sounds very exciting! I love it when plants in my garden start to fruit. Roll on Spring!
Posts: 978 | From: Hill of roses | Registered: Feb 2011
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jedijudy
Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333
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Posted
Chamois, there are probably some places where tomatoes do grow like weeds. Florida is not one of those places. Therefore, I am doubly happy to have some hope for juicy, ripe fruit in the not-too-far future!
Having lived the first part of my life Up North™, I can see the definite resemblance of some of my tomato plants to the deadly nightshade they are related to. (I don't think we have nightshade down here.)
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Jasmine, little cat with a big heart.
Posts: 18017 | From: 'Twixt the 'Glades and the Gulf | Registered: Aug 2001
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Earwig
Pincered Beastie
# 12057
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Posted
Hello green fingered Shippies. What fruit and veg grow best in cold and wet conditions? I had a really poor year in the allotment last year - even the courgettes struggled - and 2013 is meant to be wetter and colder. What should I plant to take advantage of this vile weather?
Posts: 3120 | From: Yorkshire | Registered: Nov 2006
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Boogie
Boogie on down!
# 13538
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Posted
Earwig,here is a good blog on the subject. I came across it when I was pondering the same problem. I have one raised bed but am considering building some more in the spring.
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Garden. Room. Walk
Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008
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Anna B
Shipmate
# 1439
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Posted
The snow is thick on the ground but the 2013 gardening catalogues are beginning to arrive---hooray! Now for deciding what to plant in an area thick with wildlife---I can practically see the deer reading the catalogues over my shoulder...
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Bad Christian (TM)
Posts: 3069 | From: near a lot of fish | Registered: Oct 2001
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Boogie
Boogie on down!
# 13538
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Anna B:
The snow is thick on the ground but the 2013 gardening catalogues are beginning to arrive---hooray! Now for deciding what to plant in an area thick with wildlife---I can practically see the deer reading the catalogues over my shoulder...
My niece had her whole patch mown down by deer, there is now venison in her freezer ....
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Garden. Room. Walk
Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008
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Jack the Lass
Ship's airhead
# 3415
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Posted
Our allotment site is full of wascawwy wabbits, but as vegetarians they will at least escape our freezer. One of the early jobs once the site is properly cleared (we are making progress, but it is not always easy to get everyone together so people are doing little bits at a time) is to put up a decent fence to try and keep them out, or at least at bay.
Thanks for the blog on growing veg in cold, wet soil - as a central Scotland site near a river I somehow suspect that will be our default growing condition
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"My body is a temple - it's big and doesn't move." (Jo Brand)
wiblog blipfoto blog
Posts: 5767 | From: the land of the deep-fried Mars Bar | Registered: Oct 2002
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
Onions, chive, garlic, and poisonous flowers (daffodil, foxglove, etc) against the deer. Interscatter them with more tasty stuff. And avoid fertilizer or seedlings grown in the same if at all possible--I understand it makes the fertilized plants taste saltier, which is a major deer draw. Though I think it is only nonorganic stuff that does this, so compost should be all right.
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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Moo
Ship's tough old bird
# 107
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Posted
I read a gardening article that said you can protect your garden from deer by planting strong-smelling plants, such as lavender, around the periphery. The theory is that since other animals prey on deer, they rely on their sense of smell for protection. Strong odors will prevent the deer from smelling predators, so they avoid strong-scented areas.
Moo
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Kerygmania host
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See you later, alligator.
Posts: 20365 | From: Alleghany Mountains of Virginia | Registered: May 2001
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Chamois
Shipmate
# 16204
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Posted
Strong-smelling plants are good, but Lamb Chopped's idea of mixing them in with the veggies is better than planting them round the edge. However, if you really have a persistent deer problem (not just occasional visits) I'm afraid the only two answers are a ten-foot high and four-foot wide park pale to keep them out, or shooting them. I had to get a man in to shoot the foxes who were destroying my garden - nothing else worked because foxes dig their way under any sort of fence.
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The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases
Posts: 978 | From: Hill of roses | Registered: Feb 2011
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
New thread for a new year now started.
Cheers
Ariel
Heaven Host
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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