July 14th
Before and After
Awesome crock for the EE!
Looks great Sherrie.
Love those EE's and the container.
Love the gazing balls and EE looks just perfect.
My EE look like mouse ears next to yours!
looks great Sherrie
NOT a good year for EEs, it seems. Mine look like bonsai at this point. Funny how some years certain plants go nuts and others languish. This was a VERY good year for foxglove and hollyhocks. My lilacs were a miserable failure; I guess we had cooler nights in May, cooler than they'd like. They all turned to mush, and 'Josee' never bloomed at all.
I planted several hydrangea and hardy hibiscus last fall that are coming along. Fingers crossed!!! 'Kopper King's' foliage looks great; no blooms yet.
I started my EEs and caladium under lights in the basement, but I think it still was too cool. They didn't break dormancy, unlike dahlias and glads. They need to be convinced that it is really warm outside before they'll cooperate! My long-dormant callas are going great guns now, too. Aroid paradise.
schickenlady, I am beyond jealous of your blue baby. I so wish I had access to heavy equipment. My DH use to run a boat yard so he loves to drive anything big. Beautiful rocks.
ngam , wonderful pictorial stroll through your greatly transformed garden. Love the trellis.
Sequee, can't believe you are doing corn in a raised bed. Great design.
daisygrrl, I would love your green building no matter what you did. Though I think your veggie bed is very, very special.
I have been working on a project for 3 years. It was dubbed "The Slacker Bed" as I was so slow getting it done. Now as of today, it is nearly ready to really plant as I envisioned it. But too hot now. So that will happen this fall and next spring. I have some great plants coming from some coops. Peonies, iris, narcissus and minor bulbs that are not favorites of the deer and rabbits.
Here is a collage that shows the work. The first is a shot of the area that was a big patch of bramble and weeds and tons of poison ivy until I brush cut it. I did save some nice native/indigenous plants from the tangle. I then dug a couple of crude beds in part of the newly cleared area and then ran a deer fence between them with some old nasty metal posts. I added odds and ends and narcissus to them and some shrubs for structure. We than had a carpenter build a partial fence and gate to attach to the house in 2007. Then this month we had the fence extended as originally planned, but not in the budget last year. I wish we could add 60 more feet, but the visuals will change when there is the wall of plants and shrubs hiding the plastic deer fence. DH and I had to do a great deal to change the contour of the land to allow a nice entrance into the fenced garden. We moved tons of dirt by hand, of course, we have a lot of grass to plant in the fall. So still a work in progress, but when is a garden ever done? Never. Patti
Patti, I especially like your gate! THAT was a lot of hard work, I'm with you, EQUIPMENT to help would be NICE!
Patti, your view is to die for!
I drool over all her pics!
Thanks all. Here is the too short, but lovely fence from the front yard and one from the garden side of the gate. It is 5 feet wide. I saw a fence in Maine I liked a few years ago and copied it with some modifications. I wanted to keep the deer out but not block out the views entirely. I am pleased, but wish I could do the whole run. Not going to happen. Patti
NICE fence!
Very nice, Patti. Looks a bit short for the deer. What type of wood?
Victor, So far so good after 6 years for having the plastic deer fence around a big chunk of the garden. We had a similar wooden fence on the other side of the house built in 2006. Only one has come in that we know of so far. Dogs when after it. It left part of its antler and some bloody patches of its coat in the fence before escaping.
The plastic fence is about 7 feet. The wooden new gate on the east side is around 6 feet. The deer can jump 12 feet or more, but they don't like jumping over something that they can't see the top of or see through. The black mesh is nearly invisible to them. The fence is pretty solid to their eyes except at the top of the gate. We will lay down some wire fencing on the ground in front of the gate like a cattle grate, if we think they are tempted to jump the gate during the winter and spring. They have gotten use to not cutting through the garden, but I know they are easily tempted. The similar fence on the other side of the house shows ho signs of intruders and that is a garden packed with deer candy. We have an estimated 80 to 100 deer in our square mile, so they are here big time.
If they jump the little gate which has been up for a year and a half, they will be on our porch and this little gal will be greeting them. The other two pictures show the gardens from either side of the wooden fence on the west side of the house. I even give them some hosta to munch on in the fall and early spring. But DH does spray it during the season. The battle goes on. Patti
Beautiful accent fence!
Does dog / people fur really help deter deer? I was wondering if I should make arrangements with the local dog groomer or hair dresser ...... Sprinkle it around in the fall??
Iv heard hair doesn't have any affect on deer.
My sister uses Liquid Fence and deer ate her only lily.
Guess it's true what they say,"deer will et anything if they are hungry enough"
JO aNN
I am surprised that there are deer on Nantucket! I would have thought any would have been shot as food 100's of years ago. It's too far to swim from the mainland, too.
My favorite book, "In the Heart of the Sea" by Nathaniel Philbrick, is based in Nantucket. If you haven't read it, do so! There is an exhibit in the Whaling Museum regarding it. It is simply the best read ever!!!
Hi everyone. Er, I am a wildlife rehabber and I know one sure-fire way to keep the deer out or off of whatever and wherever you want. Whenever I tell this to men, they turn to their female partners and say "You see, honey, it's not just me!" Men out there in D-land, can you guess?
Although, here's a hint: you do have to er, re-apply after a rainfall. :-))
Jax4ever, I just saw Nat and told him how much you enjoyed his book. He is always pleased. My son gets a mention in it for some minor research he did for him while spending a year in the Galapagos at the Darwin research center. Nice man and lovely wife who is a lawyer, and two great kids. Fine sailors all. Don't know if they garden. Patti
I assume you will say urine, but I am skeptical. I have tried their predator urines - fox and coyote - and they were not effective for long.
I can only speak from my own experience, but golden retriever fur hanging in panty hose from my apple trees and lilacs (that were all chomped to pieces the winter before) escaped any chewing after I hung the fur bags around. For all I know I may have had smelly panty hose feet that freaked 'em out.....LOL
Patti - I find it very hard to believe that you of all people could have a "slacker garden"!!! Your gardens are proof positive of how hard you work!!!
Jax - "trophy wife but not first place".....LOL....that's about the best sense of humor I've ever heard!! Good for you! I think you really were in first place and won the Prize of Sweet Freedom!!
DonnieBrook, I do work hard, but it sometimes it takes me years. I tend to get too many projects in motion and can't find the time or energy to finish them up in a timely manner. But most of my big plans are now done. Well, a few more. Don't tell my DH.
Yes I loved the trophy wife comment too. I am surrounded by some of those. Not all bad, but most will be tarnished only too soon and be replaced with another. Many are no longer a nice sterling trophy, but more like a shiny brass plated cup on a tacky plastic stand. Some even chew gum. I feel sorry for some of these men who find themselves no longer invited to anything once they ditched their original wife for the skinny clothes hanger in spike heels now sporting a ring that the Bruins could practice on, but who has no connection to anyone here.
I thought the trick for the deer would be a Gatlin Gun. Patti
"ring that the Bruins could practice on" LOL LOL. Funny, Patti!!
victorgardener: HUMAN urine! And, yes, it really works. I myself have done it. Besides, those predator urines are collected in THE most inhumane manner(s), they don't work and I think it is because in the wild, a predator would not nec. have urinated in the same place that s/he takes down prey, and also, remember that the deer in the NE have almost no natural predators left. They would not recognize the scent.
I knew that's what you meant and I'm still skeptical! Around here the deer have no fear of humans. Along the trails where I hike people urinate, yet I still see many deer. I might try it though - can't hurt!
(I think my trophy wife comment can be traced back to Emo Philips, my fav comedian.)
Patti, YOU KNOW NATHANIEL PHILBRICK??? *CLUNK!* That was me falling on the floor in a dead faint!!! OMG- I'm star-struck. He is my favorite author- I read "Mayflower" last year. Too bad he's married- does he need any groupies? ;0) He's a rock star in my book!!! Tell him I have purchased his books for all members of my family as gifts.
I am serious about "Heart of the Sea"- it's amazing. Everybody, read it! It is the factual account of "Moby Dick"- a very angry sperm whale destroyed a Nantucket whaling vessel in the middle of the Pacific, leaving all hands in quite a fix. And this is before GPS!
Human urine? sometimes guys just have it easier . . . .
Jax4ever, I owned a Nantucket Bookstore for 30 years, so when he and his family moved here in the mid 80's we became friends. My DH ran the boatyard, so he knew them from that. They both sail a small boat
I read Mayflower last year this week. I know because I took it on my vacation to my families cottage in Canada. This year we are going next week. I hope to escape this heat. Watch it turn lovely here and be as hot as Hades in Canada. I will ask him what he is working on next for you. He will be shyly amused to know that he has a groupie. I won't tell his DW. Patti
Oh my! Such interesting threads to this thread today.
"Philbrick" caught my eye, though. That's my DSIL's name. Gonna have to do some family research I guess.
Lottsa stars on Nantucket.
WOW.Close as I came was when I visited the EGG in Sconset owned by Jane Alexander.
Lets name drop for the afternoon.I can't take the heat.
Victor: Don't be hesitant - just get right out there and, um, do yer thang! Actually, most avocational urinators tend to urinate down to the ground. This method of urine deterrence works best when splashed onto the plants you are trying to protect. Also, if you are taking any kind(s) of heavy duty medications, sometimes that will mask the scent, and it won't be as effective. :-)
Any preferred beer brands?!
YOU GUYS are killin me LOL
The yeast-ier the better, I suppose! :-) My favorite is not beer, but Guinness Stout & Foster's Ale, for a knockout Black'n'Tan.
I'm blaming you if my neighbors call the cops. I plan to write my name. Won't attempt to cross the 'T' though...