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| Photo Credit: Jana T. |
| Jana and her husband plan to fence in their 4,800-square-foot garden space to keep the deer from decimating their plants. |
It’s that time of year when we all start thinking about New Year’s resolutions, and it seems a lot of gardeners are focusing in on the great outdoors in the upcoming year. We’ve been asking Learn2Grow® members to share their resolutions for 2008, and so far we’ve picked three members to focus on and follow throughout the year. We’ll be checking in with them and reporting back to you on how well they’ve kept their resolutions and how their projects are going. So check out their ideas. They may inspire you to make some New Year’s resolutions of your own. After all, it’s never too late to get a fresh start!
Meet Jana T. from Kendrick, ID. Jana and her husband, Bob, have vowed to fight back against the deer that devoured their entire garden last summer! This is the couple’s second year living in Idaho, and they had no idea that the deer would literally eat every plant in their 4,800-square-foot garden right down to stubs – including their more than 60 tomato plants! | Add Photo to Journal |  | | Photo Credit: Mark A. Miller | | Gaillardia pulchella ‘Plume Yellow’ might be an option for Jana. The plant tends to have a high deer tolerance. |
To fight back, the duo plans to start with a deer fence designed to keep the four-legged foragers out, but they’ll have to act quickly because gardening season starts as early as March in their neck of the woods. Meanwhile, Jana is researching deer-resistant plantings. She’s not planning to spend a lot of money on their garden in 2008, however…at least until they know whether their deer fence works.
Another tactic Jana and Bob are looking into is solar-powered, motion-sensing alarms to scare the animals away. But the couple’s best weapon so far in their fight against the deer is their own four-legged friend, their Jack Russell terrier. “I do know this little terrier is a great help. He’s always frightening the deer away,” Jana says. “We’re hoping his patrolling of the area can help keep them away.”
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