Oh, Deer...

"How on earth do you keep the deer from gobbling up your garden?"

Daffodils, Marigolds, Zinnias... Choose flowers with a fragrance that smells awful to deer. Annuals are great because they bloom non-stop, protecting your garden all season.

In my old city life, car alarms and loud neighbors woke me from a sound sleep. These days it's the Sandhills. They started their bugling before dawn.

Sandhill Cranes are very noisy and BIG - 5 feet tall. Bad Dog is absolutely terrified of them. It's hard to sleep in when my cowardly dog is trembling under the covers.

Catnip, Cat Mint, Chives... are 3 more goodies unappealing to Deer.

The Sandhills spend their summers in the Swaner Nature Preserve, across the street from me. It's a huge meadow but for some odd reason they like to nest near the road. Once the babies have hatched, Dad stands out by that road and gives everybody hell when they drive by.

Deer, Elk, Fox, Coyotes... all come and go in the Preserve. There is one lady Moose who thinks my garden is simply divine.

Onion bulbs (Allium), Lavender, Sage... smell just awful to Deer.

It's probably best to use a natural approach to talk Deer out of destroying your garden. For instance, if you plant a dense strip of Walker's Low Cat Mint around the perimeter of the garden bed, Deer will walk on by.

If you fill your garden with plants from this list the Deer might write you off as a horrible neighbor and never come back. However! You could take the opposite approach and invite them into your yard.

For the most part, I don't care that Moose, Deer and Elk munch my garden. They're hungry! Scatter some apples or plant a willow tree. The Moose will love you forever...

PS: Poppies, Poppies and more Poppies...