Two adult neighbors watched the deer chase poor Joey down the block. I have no idea of what the deer would have done next but the neighbors seemed to scare it off and back into the woods.
Yes, Joey is the one the deer killed. He never whimpered or cried through the whole ordeal of getting him to the vet's hospital.
Who has Hostas in pots?
That is so sad. I would be devastated if that happened to one of mine. I never knew deer could be that aggressive.
The old saying goes, "God gave us memories so we might have roses in December".
We'll never forget the fun times with Joey.
I do have hosta in pots but just two of them until they get established and I find the ideal spot for each of them. So one has a pot to itself while the other one shares the space with some leftover coleus. The deer haven't touched it...yet.
That is a horrible story and would have torn me up if one of my furrbies met that kind of terror.
I don't have deer, just rabbits and gophers and they sneak attack in the night. If I was not such an animal lover, I would kick my dogs out at night to ward them off of my plants. They are spoiled house dogs though.
That's a nice plant combo, pirl.
Thanks, KDW!
We have bunnies but somehow the hawks must be dining well because I haven't seen an adult rabbit in quite awhile, not since some critter got a mother rabbit. We did bury the remains of the mother in our little plot where we have the ashes of all of our former pets.
OHh!
What eats Hosta's, I have some insect eating all my leaves and a gopher is tunneling under one, but I have not seen it dieing yet, except the bugs. I have some systemic, maybe I will put that on tomorrow.
hell, could it be slugs?
I see slugs. How do I kill them. I never had them until this year. What do I do. They creep me out, they look like leaches.
Do not use this product if you have pets that eat garden products!
Ortho Bug Geta Plus kills slugs and earwigs. They're both enemies of hostas.
Got slugs. What the heck are slugs, they seem like shell-less snails. I never had them until this year. I will have to get some if the systemic does not work, since my dogs are not on that side of my house almost ever.
Do you have slugs like they have in the Northwest - the size of a can of Coke?
Ours are so much smaller but still ugly, slimy and disgusting with an unending appetite for hostas, dahlias, daylilies, etc. They are shell-less snails. Sluggo also works.
I have the ones like you describe, same size as a snail only without the shell. Can they suck your blood or attach to you. They freak me out when I am digging.
As repulsive as they are they will not suck your blood! They can crawl up your leg though, so look before you kneel down in the garden. I don't know of anyone who keeps them as pets! LOL
lol Ok that would creep me the heck out! I used to dig straight in the soil with my hands until just now.
Get an old bath sheet or huge towel that's either white, pink or some light solid color so the slugs can't trick you. Thrift shops often have them for a dollar or two. Use that instead of a kneeling pad and you'll have a zone of safety all around you.
I occasionally see some slug damage and the occasional tiny slug. I think it must be critters that get mine. Toads, skinks, garter snakes and who knows what else. I do anything I can to encourage bug eaters like them. One is to provide plenty of hiding places which if you're a gardener isn't very hard to do. :-)
I hope gophers like them as they are running a muck in my yard this year and so far my plants are not victimized, between my gopher poison and my jalapeno castor oil, blended mix. I feel so bad for my worms though.
Regarding deer climbing up my 12 sets of stairs to the top of my deck to eat my hostas. If they get up to the top of my deck, they will make great steaks on my grill. I have had it with the deer around my house. Last week I counted 9 deer & 1 skunk with the flock. When I first built my home out in the country it was just a beautiful sight have them around & bringing all of their friends to get a drink out my pond, but it is now becoming very old with all of the destruction they are doing. As I am typing they are now eating the bird seed out of the feeders. I only wanted to know what kind of pot I should use when I first asked the question. I didn't wanted to know about the cow jumping over the moon.
Could you use plastic milk crates. turned over at night, to protect the hostas?
I guess I don't know the answer to that, sorry. I only got the cow jumping over the moon story.
I am likeing the hostas in containers. Especially the ones that are loved by sluggs
I bought the stuff to kill slugs but I see damage to one of the three, still. Can't tell if it is new or old damage. It is pretty ratty looking.
They are far better at hiding than we are at finding them.
I like to keep my mini hostas in pots.
They otherwise can get lost in the garden.
And they're protected from the critters.
Here are some on a cart on our front porch.
Here are some on a cart in another area of the yard.
There's always room for another one - they're so cute!
Here's a big hosta in a big concrete planter by the front porch.
I'm not sure if it qualifies as a pot... Stays outside of course all winter.
Way too heavy to think about moving it.
What a nice way to display the mini hostas! I just might borrow that idea. Thanks for the posts and photos!
Finally, these are freshly planted this summer in a huge (4ft diameter) pot.
They'll overwinter right where they are also.
I overwinter the smaller potted hostas in unheated garage w/ occasional water.
I don't think I've ever lost one.
The only tricky part is that they start to come up before it's suitable to put them out.
If it takes too long before it warms up sufficiently to put them outside,
the early growth can get lanky because of the dark conditions.
It's just an occasional issue.
I presume that would be a reason to overwinter heeled in outdoors.
I guess I'm just lazy - it's easier to just stick them in the garage.
Great idea. I have a rescued hosta.Its really light yellow green so slugs thought they would play bridge and snack there.They cant find 'Cheaten Heart' now.
Great ideas everyone. I may need to put hostas in pots, I am planting hostas under a birch and it is shallow rooted, so far the hostas have been living there about 6 or so years but if I see them going down hill, I now know I can pot them and leave them in the garden. My hostas don't get as big as they are suppose because of the tree. Course I am sure the birch roots would eventually get in the pot if I didn't move them around.
Oh I don't think where I live they are good for this area, too hot and dry and I have slugs running a mock.
If you can find a newer Hosta variety named "SunHosta", that one should do well for you hellnzn11. I've had one of them for two years now in South Florida. It's in 2/3 - 3/4 a day sun and it does amazingly well. It bloomed for a good 2 months this summer after only blooming for two weeks last year. I know someone in Phoenix, AZ that has one and it does well there in part sun.....even in the summer.
Jon
I need to check it out. I have very heavy shade in some areas but something was wrong, the soil too heavy or not wet enough, not sure, and those darn slugs were going nuts. I tried to kill them but still not very successful, no blooms at all this year on any of them.
Here's a picture of my Hosta "SunHosta" this morning. I've had it in a pot all along. Right now it's in a 12" pot. This is the first kind of Hosta that will grow in South Florida. It's completely opposite in terms of what we know about growing Hostas. It's an evergreen Hosta down here, and it needs full sun conditions to bring out the best colors in the foliage. Here's a link to some information on "SunHosta".
http://search.vivagardens.com/search/PopMoreInfo.asp?w=hosta&PlantID=1020
nice
I bought some "on sale" hostas three years ago and they are a very special part of my early morning sun, later shade 15-20 inch pots. They are very attractive all summer long and especially when they send up their blooming spikes. This year the pots in complete shade did not do well...
I also have hostas plated in my eastern garden 15 years ago and they were especially beautiful this year.
I live in Deer Country and they have not damaged my hostas...
IFrom Naperville...a western Chicago suburb.
Jean
What's wrong with your deer, Jean?
Maybe I grow tastier hosta.
Mine are universally mowed down by August.
And I really mean mowed down...
Alas, I could post dozens of pictures of my many clumps of 'celery stalks'.
How depressing
WR - that's a great picture . . .looks like some kind of exotic plant. Some deer are really burping it up right now . . .