NOT ME!! I DID NOT EAT YOUR FLOWERS! by Snap-Smith
Gardening can be a serious challenge for the gardener. Consider the weather. Who knows what to do in a profound drought like the one the MidWest experienced this summer? You cannot water plants when the water level goes down too low. Who knows what to do in extensive floods like the ones the MidWest experienced earlier in the late spring/early summer? Consider the insects. They either go after the garden, like Japanese beetles do, or they go after the gardener, like the mosquitoes or gnats. Consider the wild animals. Everyone knows about the problems caused by deer or rabbits.
But we humans are the smart creatures on this earth who should be able to solve these problems. Aren’t we?
We have had dry weather where I live, so I water my flowers daily. I am religious about this job. But the next day after I water my plants, they still look wilted and sad. I tried holding some basil between my lips as I was told that Italian farmers did to prevent mosquitoes. I wasn’t bitten by the mosquitoes, so maybe the basil helped. And I sprayed my flowers with Liquid Fence to deter the deer and rabbits. But they, too, want what I plant.
TheGardenLady always touts using Liquid Fence but have found that I must not follow their directions which has one spraying monthly after the initial few weeks of spraying. I found that I have to spray the flowers weekly to prevent the deer from eating the newest flowers, shoots and branches. This week we have had heavy long lasting rain. I had not listened to my own advice. Since I had last sprayed Liquid Fence on the plants one or two weeks ago, I prayed that my plants were safe during the rain. Today when the rain finally stopped and the sun emerged, I went to check on my plants. This is my daily ritual. You guessed it. The deer had decimated my impatiens.
I still have a few impatiens left and I could find nothing else eaten, so I should be happy. But it is so frustrating.
I write this so other gardeners know that we are all in the “same boat.” Don’t despair and don’t give up. But if you have any surviving tactics, PLEASE, share them with TheGardenLady’s readers.
No, the frustration of seeing my impatiens chewed down to the ground hasn’t driven me to drink. Since I am still a teetotaler, I think I will make myself a refreshing glass of iced tea with fresh mint from my garden or a nonalcoholic mint julep and relax before going out to respray with the Liquid Fence.  See here. Nothing seems to eat the mint and butterflies and bees seem to enjoy it, too.
I feel for you, truly – having long since given up planting annuals at all, thanks to fearless Bambi and his friends. 🙁
You know all those lists of “plants deer won’t eat” that are in all the gardening books? Deer around my place have apparently never read them. Like yours, however, my mint does seem to survive and prosper – and as a beekeeper, that’s something I’ve got to be grateful for!
I have used ground red pepper. By sprinkling the pepper around the area and on the plants has helped us tremendously. The pepper really helps to keep the rabbits at bay.
Hope this helps.