Friday, May 15, 2015

Never Say Never

Every year as the summer draws to a close I tell myself that I have no more garden projects.  And come the following Spring, it turns out to be an untruth.  This Spring is no exception.

Now, it is not really my fault entirely.  I can blame the deer.  The fact that they destroyed fence sections, the pricey wrought iron ones, meant that I had to find another solution to keeping them out of my yard.  The fence that was there this winter replaced a split-rail fence that was put in when we moved here in 1972.  It was gradually falling apart and the deer jumping over sections and knocking them down didn't help any.  This photo was taken July 4, 2011 and shows my view of the park:
It was calm and peaceful.

And then the fence was gone.  So, I did a combination of the tall shrubs I had growing, some nice six foot wrought iron gates and some sections of shadowbox fence.  I had hoped to deter the deer, but it did not work.  It helped, but it was not a complete solution.  And then they ruined the iron gates.  So, I decided to just fence off the rest of the yard with the shadowbox.  Privacy screens became full-blown fences.  And in doing so, I had a lot of trees to cut, shrubs to move, and then, re-landscaping. Another project.

One of the trees removed was a 25 foot or so arborvitae.  Why the landscape architect I hired originally thought it was a good idea to put this shrub at the corner of the house escapes me.  Here is what it looked like back in 1975.

See that little triangle on the right, about four feet tall?  Below on the left is a picture from last October.

It was just huge and it added nothing to the landscape.  So, with the idea that I was going to fence the front entrance to the garden, I decided to have it cut down.  Besides, the mugo pines that were growing in front of it hadn't survived the winter, so the timing seemed perfect.
When we were done we had this:

The fence got installed and then the fun of re-landscaping began.  First I re-did the path from the drive to the gate.  Then I moved a Viburnum from the back that was growing under the shade of Rivers Birch.  It should do much better here with a few hours of sun.
Next I purchased another ninebark plant which I already have growing in the front landscape.
Tonight I went out and transplanted three hostas from one of the flower beds.  I still have some stone to spread, but that is minor at this point.
Honestly, I would much rather live without fences, but then I would also love to live without deer.  And neighbors who do not maintain their yards.  But that is a gripe for another day.

12 comments:

  1. I guess I would also be teed off about the deer invading my property and ruining things. I never realised they could be such a pain. An expensive pain too. I wish you luck for this year.

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    1. We are talking thousands of dollars I would rather spend on something else. And I still have to spray my front yard to try to keep them from eating everything. You would think they could find enough food in the park and wetland behind me. I've seen them go up to a bird feeder and eat all the bird seed.

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    2. There is really only one solution Denise, and I know you don't want to hear it. Otherwise, not much else you can do. Maybe you too should neglect your yard and then it won't be a problem.

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  2. Deer are a major problem where I live, but not so much where I am in the city. But I am hoping you don't have bears. They are becoming an even worse problem than deer here in upstate New York. Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com

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    1. Bears? Do they eat deer? lol. We have coyotes here and they eat some of the rodents. Strange thing is they are thinking of cancelling hunting up North this year because of lack of deer. Maybe they should herd up the ones around here and ship them North. Or maybe they left up North because of the bears.

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  3. I wish I had your talent with gardening. I'm horrible with that sort of thing. We have deer running through our neighbor's yards...they haven't jumped our fence yet, but I'm told they do it all the time. It wouldn't surprise me if they damaged it somehow.

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    1. I haven't seen any deer the last few weeks. Not even out front. Gardening just takes a lot of time. Did I mention how it takes a LOT of time? lol

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  4. Your garden looks beautiful. That must have taken ages, but you've done a great job there. Fingers crossed it keeps the deer out too. :-)

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    1. It's only taken 43 years. I think I'll go out tomorrow and take a picture of the house now to contrast with that one from 1975.

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    2. That would be really interesting to see how it has changed. I hope you post the pics here when you've done it. :-)

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  5. People would plant trees thinking it looked so nice but not thinking that trees grow and can become unsightly and hurt your foundation depending on the tree. Deer can create much havoc...I wonder if one could place a fence up but also have the top be at a 45 degree angle. That may screw up their sensory part and stop them from jumping the fence. Of course this means more fencing and the top part at an angle. I could never garden that much-joints won't allow it but my hubby is out there and can do it despite his arthritis

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    1. I also have arthritis and degenerative disc disease in my neck. The only thing that really gives me trouble is looking up to trim trees. Can't do it. Your idea about the angle on the top of the fence is mentioned in one of my books on deer. They can jump high or far but can't do both at the same time, so the angle throws them off. And flat on their kiesters!

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