I knew this was coming but it came a little faster and from a different direction than I expected.
This was a very new, healthy Hens and Chicks this spring. It was planted in the top of the stone wall surrounding our front garden.
This picture is the half-eaten Hens and Chicks the friggin’ deer left. He/she/it took a bite, uprooted it and then tossed the remainder into the garden.
I’ve replanted it. And yes, it should survive and regrow. (There are some great ditties about the word “should”. But I digress.) If you look closely, you’ll see some of this year’s baby plants under the eaten leaves. They’ll grow out.
By Monday morning, the electric fencing will have been installed and turned on. Reach into my garden now and you’ll pay for your snack.
But it’s clearly war out there.
I have the same problem. But the rabbits are in partnership with the deer. I’ve tried DeerOut, liquid fence, garlic, soap and a home made brew. I found out that if they’re hungry they don’t care what it smells like. They are going to eat. Another problem with the animals is their desire to leave me a gift after they finish eating. I have to watch where I step when working in the yard. I spend at least 20 minutes picking up and disposing of their gifts.
The same thing recently happened to me. The deer ate the top off of the only Hen I had. It was a gift from a friend and I grew it from a chick. Then in a few days, I looked at it again and it’s regrowing in the center with a lot of chicks coming out. It is now in a pot safety hidden. You are right to declare war on deer as I have. It’s frustrating. I have also recently declared war on groundhogs as they are eating the plants I blamed the deer for destroying.
I got rid of the groundhogs in my nursery by urinating down the holes. 🙂 True story!
Put the “gifts” in the compost pile or dig them into the garden. No sense wasting a good gift. 😉