The Coastal Gardener - August, 2004
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Designing against Deer
"When I was on my knees weeding, during our open hours, I heard a disgruntled male voice addressing me obliquely through his companions 'If the plants were labeled we should know what we were looking at.' 'If I was writing labels I shouldn't be here weeding,' I replied. Silence" Christopher Llyod, from In My Garden , 1994
For the Roundup I have a 'roundup' of thoughts and FAQ's on the Big Sur Art Initiative's Hidden Gardens Tour. As you may know by now the crowd visited my own garden and as always, I am struck by the diversity of questions that people ask. But I did get a few consistent questions about garden topics that I would like to share with you.
"What do you do about deer?" Fence them out, of course! Most visitors never realized that they were walking between the double deer fences until it was pointed out to them. Along the field edge I built two 5-foot fences about 5 feet apart; the outer one is plain wire mesh with rustic split redwood posts, the inner one doubles as a grape trellis made from recycled 4x4 posts and steel cables. A gravel path runs between them to take visitors from the porch out to the orchard gate. The theory is the deer cannot make the leap over both in one go but are reluctant to jump just one in fear of getting trapped between them. It helps that the first fence is securely held down at the bottom with rocks to keep them from pushing under it (which has happened more than once for me). It is amazing to see a big buck get down on it's knees and slip right under a fence like some magic trick, antlers and all! As for deer resistant plants, they can only go so far, in a real dry year, the deer will snack on almost anything. Their tastes vary from year to year and place-to-place, you really must experiment to find the right combination of plants for your particular garden. Some good choices include lavender, rosemary, leptospermum, westringia and phormium. Most deer repellents are not an effective alternative; they wear off too quickly or simply don't work. The only effective repellent I have found is Repellex plant tablets (available at Valley Hills) that infuse the plant with an off-putting taste to browsers and burrowers, they are useful in getting deer resistant and native plants off to good start in areas where deer browsing is intense.
"What is your soil like?" Not bad now, but it is a challenge. The area where the garden was created had rather shallow rocky soil that has been built up using mulches and organic matter over the past few years. Several times a year I apply a layer of composted horse manure and chopped garden waste that helps to preserve moisture and provide nutrition. In many areas, I do not dig the mulch in but simply apply more to the surface, letting it break down at it's own slow pace over the year.
"How do you keep your pond clear? And how do you keep the raccoons form eating your fish?" The pond is about 4 feet deep with steep sides that do not allow raccoons an area to wade. It's either sink or swim and then you can't get much fishing done while you are flailing about to keep from drowning. The plantings in the pond are kept well away from the edge so that marauders have no easy spot from which to base an attack. The plants grow in plastic nursery pots set down into "islands" created from 15-gallon nursery cans filled with rock to 8 inches from the rim. The 15-gallon can raises the plants to the right height below the surface and keeps them steady in the wind. The pond uses no filter or pump, the Iris, Cattails and Rush act to shade the surface to keep it cool, draw up excess nitrogen from fish and decaying vegetation through their roots, which in turn discourages algae formation and Elodea and Parrot Feather oxygenate the water.
"What is the name of that plant?" The top 6 from this year are:
Crocosmia "Lucifer", a South African bulb with fiery red flower clusters to 4 feet. A favorite of hummingbirds and visitors alike, the antler like seed heads are very decorative indoors in dried arrangements.
Leonotis leonaris, orange fuzzy tubular flowers in clusters look like groups of lion's tails. A woody perennial to 6 feet tall for sun.
Chondropetalum tinctorum, Cape Rush is a grass like plant with rich green stems banded with bronzy calyxes and tiny bead-like black flowers on the stem tips. The stems arch over as they age and roll and sway in the wind like fiber optics. One of a group of unique South African plants called Restios.
Stipa gigantea, the Giant Feather Grass is kin to the common stipa in fields and meadows. This dramatic perennial is my favorite grass with flowers like flakes of beaten gold that toss in the breeze atop 6-foot stems.
Lavatera bicolor, hibiscus-like flowers in lavender with a darker center. Lavatera are native to the West Coast and parts of Europe, this is a shrubby form to about 6 feet tall growing near the dining patio.
Allium scephalerocellum, purple egg-shaped flowers atop 2-foot stems, giving it the name Drumstick Allium. A summer blooming bulb that makes a good dried flower feature.
If you haven't put in your fall bulb order by now, do it! Many catalogs offer discounts before the main fall season, after August prices usually rise.
Enjoy! Dave Egbert
PS: I am personally disappointed that almost no one on the tour asked about one of my favorite plants, Cotinus "Royal Robe'; whose normally burgundy foliage was almost black this year, a real triumph; but no one noticed (sniff).
