Deer

We noticed deer damage on the twig dogwoods.  As soon as new leaves appeared they would munch them completely.  The plants suffered over time.  In the spring of 2009 we decided we would need to do something if we wanted to keep the twig dogwoods.  We bought small mesh bags (in a light brown color to help it blend into the background), which is readily available at craft stores and filled them with milorganite, a fertilizer made from sludge obtained from a wasterwater treatment plant .  We immediately saw the results.  Hopefully this product will continue to work next season.  Deer often adapt to repellants.  Unfortunately, we now have either a rabbit or groundhog nibbling at some other plants.  We'll decide next year whether the damage warrants action.

DISCLAIMER: Trade and brand names are used only for educational purposes, and Virginia Cooperative Extension does not guarantee or warrant the standards of the product, nor does Virginia Cooperative Extension imply approval of the product to the exclusion of others which may also be suitable.

Deer control  - Virginia Tech - http://www.cnr.vt.edu/EXTENSION/FIW/wildlife/damage/deer_fencing.pdf

More about Milorganite - http://www.milorganite.com/home/faqs.cfm  (There is information published in the common press and on web sites that state that Milorganite is a deer repellent. Milorganite is not registered with the US EPA as a deer repellent yet. )


Drought

As our soil improves from use of compost and our plants become established this will become less of an issue.  The summer of 2009 was particularly hard on our garden.  Some of the plants became "crispy" and never quite recovered.  Hopefully, we will see recovery in 2010.  We will have to take extra care in the upcoming season to help the plants establish themselves.  Some of the plants did well despite the drought:
  • epimedium
  • hellebore
  • christmas fern
  • solomon's seal
  • iris cristata
  • tickseed

Weeds

Weeds generally have not been much of problem.  We did however use some improperly "cooked" compost that had common chickweed seeds. They sprouted in late winter/early spring.  Since this is an annual weed we hand pulled it before it went to seed which solved the problem.  We use compost/mulch which deters a lot of weed growth.