Stomped by Deer?

We have been plagued with deer in our yard over the winter, ever since our dog died. They have severely pruned my junipers, and one year I caught them romping through my iris bed after the snow cover was gone. I suspect this could lead to rhizome rot?
In order to avoid this problem in my newly ordered rhizomes this winter here is my plan:
Plant rhizomes about 1 foot apart in raised ridges under a metal grid panel that would keep the deer off that immediate area.
The next summer move to the main bed area about 2 ft apart in another ridge row.
The next summer move every other iris in this row to a row 2 feet away from the first.
Comments?


This message was edited Jun 16, 2009 6:28 AM

Deer can either push them further into the ground, which can cause rot, or damage the rhizome which can lead to scarring which can lead to rot, they may pull them up or taste them, but that will not hurt them.
You do not need to go through all of that, mine are planted right out in the woods. It sounds like you have them planted in their path, Deer have a routine and same path they use as well as others, picking up on the scents of other deer. You might want to move them to a different area or try pie pans on strings, they make noise they do not like or in an earlier thread I mentioned Moth Balls, they do not like the scent, or just get a puppy? Alot are being abandoned right now, very sad. We have 5 dogs, YIKES, alot of Frontline and Interceptor, $$$$$

Would it be possible to move the irises close to the house - near the foundation?

Have you tried Repels All? It's been working for me. I'd also surround the front of each iris bed with plants they don't like - fuzzy gray or scented (Nepeta, Sage, etc.).

Beware of sweet soil around foundations.

That's exactly what my irises (tall bearded) love. I even bury little chunks of cement with them when I plant them away from the foundation.

Wow, that is great, around here, it is not fertile enough.

Deer are a problem here too, they ate not tasted but ate a whole row of batik off down to the rz late in the winter the plants came back but only have gotten half their normal size, they break off the plants but now its just an bloom stalk or two that gets broken off when they go through the garden, "they've got big fat feet" to quote a friend.

I mentioned the cement coment to DH and he said that it wasn't the cement that dissolved into the soil, but the limestone that the builders likely added around the foundation. I guess if your soil is too acid, limestone would help.

It is the lime. They seem to like the soil on the sweet side.