Contributed
The first meeting of the Seven Lakes Garden Club (SLGC) was held Oct. 19, 1990. Thirty-five years later, the group is still going strong as evidenced by the large turnout at this year’s September opening meeting.
Author and gardener Ann Haut, a member of SLGC, presented an interesting and entertaining program entitled “Not Tonight Deer!” By the number of attendees, it was obvious that those who garden are constantly searching for a solution to the Bambi problem. It is a mystery how something so cute can be such a menace.
Haut educated club members on the feeding habits and anatomy of deer. The more you understand the problem, the better equipped you are to deal with it.
They do love to eat. Just like a cow, deer have four stomachs, she said. They browse to fill their rumen and then process their food later. They gobble up your tasty and tender plants and then digest later at their leisure.
How deer forage, when they forage and what they like best are all important factors in discouraging deer from making your garden their favorite grocery store, Haut said.
Attempts to shoo the deer away from your property are likely thwarted by the animal’s vision. A deer cannot see you waving at over twenty yards away. The pluses and minuses of the deers’ vision need to be considered in attempts to move them out of your garden.
Only a very tall fence will keep them out since they can, and do, jump. Haut shared her favorite methods to train the local deer herd to seek out someone else’s garden.
The bottom line – it is a labor of love. It takes time and diligence to educate deer to not make your garden their home.
There are many deer deterrent products available. Some work great, some not so great. One may work for you and not work for others. It is a matter of trial and error. Success can be achieved, but long-term freedom from pesky Bambi friends is not guaranteed.
With gratitude to Haut for sharing her experiences, knowledge and lighthearted attitude, the SLGC left the meeting with new learnings. They discovered not one solution but several ideas.
They also learned that they all share the same problem and that looking at that problem from a different perspective and a little humor may make everyone’s gardening days better.
Club members celebrated the 35th birthday with a cake baked by DeLucia’s Bakery and decorated with SLGC Logo.
The club is busy tackling our next big event – participation in the month-long Scarecrow Stroll
at the Sandhills Horticultural Garden in October. Being a creative and crafty group we had offered to do three Scarecrows. Our team leaders and Scarecrow names are Jo Ceremele, leading Seven Lakes Meadow West; Leslie Rose, leading Seven Lakes Southern Belle; and Aida Montalvo, leading Seven Lake Northside Joey.
The teams will be designing and crafting their entries which will be assembled on site for the Oct. 1 first opening of the event. SLGC will visit the garden on Thursday, Oct. 9 to view all the entries and see the latest changes in the garden.
