Oh Deer!

Like creatures of the night, the deer slink into my yard silently, ravaging everything in sight. It seems that nothing is safe and there's no place to hide! AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!

But, really, it is possible to have a garden that the deer only nibble on, subtly tasting here and there, deadheading a few flowers, pruning a few shrubs.

Once we accept the idea that we can't eradicate every deer (rabbit, vole, beaver) (yes, I have beavers in my area who have removed quite a few backyard trees), we learn to live side-by-side with them.  In a sense.

I don't plant aspens but the ones that come up are allowed to grow, knowing that the beavers will remove them in about 5 years (they're aspen connoisseurs since they wait until the little trees are really tasty, I think). During cold winters, voles tunnel into my greenhouse - to stay warm, I suppose.  I make sure there are no plants at ground level for them to eat (learned that lesson the hard way).

The deer and I have reached a compromise - I watch from the window and re-direct them when they go for the Delphiniums (they don't like window tapping) and just supervise when they trim the Baby's Breath and the Scabiosa. The apple trees are fenced until they're tall enough to grow apples above a deer's head.

Otherwise, I grow a lot of deer resistant plants - no such thing as deer-proof and don't let anyone tell you there are. OSU Extension Service has some great publications with the best plants to grow here (http://extension.oregonstate.edu/deschutes/wildlife-damage).  I've got Thyme ground cover, Lavender, Shasta Daisies, Bachelor Buttons, Basket of Gold, Sweet William, Lady's Mantle, Russian Sage, Blue Oat Grass, Butterfly Bushes, Spruces, and Atlas Cedar. I know that the native plants will do well for drought and deer resistance so I've tried to incorporate some of them in the yard - Lupine, Penstemon, Bleeding Heart, Spirea. (Serviceberry is a great native tree but the beavers took 3 of mine one year). Plants that I absolutely must have (!!) get a sprinkling of one of the many deer avoidance products - last year I had great luck with Critter Ridder, although it's pricey.

I've also learned that the list has some plants (like the Delphiniums) that my local deer love to eat to the ground. They even eat the leaves, but not the flowers, of the little blue Grape Hyacinths every Spring. Very strange.

Looking at the OSU Extension list, a gardener can feel pretty optimistic that they can have a gorgeous garden in spite of the co-existing wildlife.