Timely Tips to Reduce Deer Damage this Winter
by Larry Hurley, Perennial Specialist

Fall is the time to act to reduce deer damage to your landscape this winter. Increasingly, our customers are looking for deer management solutions. The most effective solution is fencing, and it has to be high, eight feet or more. For those of you with severe deer feeding pressure, this is probably your only real choice. For those gardeners like me, that see an occasional deer track or a couple of dozen headless tulips (variety ‘Ichabod Crane’), your strategy is to encourage the deer to feed elsewhere. (Your neighbors will not thank you.) Remember: a deer’s job description is not particularly lengthy, and right up near the top is: “Eat.” So they are pretty good at it.

As seasons change, the preferred food sources of deer change as well. The evergreen shrubs that the deer ignored while they were munching on your leafy hostas in the summer months suddenly look pretty appealing in the late fall and winter when most plants have either dropped their leaves or disappeared by craftily going dormant or dying. Deer develop new browsing trails as food sources change with the seasons, and repeatedly follow them through the season until new food sources begin to appear. By applying repellants before you see damage, you may encourage the deer to move along and not include your landscape in the current or next season’s browse buffet.

There are many repellants, all with advantages and disadvantages. I used one this spring and summer called Deer Solution which smells of cinnamon rather than rotten eggs, which is a plus as far as I’m concerned. We had deer tracks through the tulip bed in the spring, but with several applications of the repellant, we did not experience any losses, while last year they ate every tulip we planted and during the summer nibbled the odd hosta. (“Odd” because they left only stems.)

So, was it the repellant, or some other combination of factors? I don’t know. Everything I have read emphasizes the need to rotate through different repellants to reduce the risk that the deer will adapt to them, so I know I should get out there with some other stinky repellant soon to increase my odds. Note that if the winter is severe, the repellants will not be effective as the deer become increasingly hungry. Dealing with deer is like predicting the weather: it all comes down to percentages and imponderables, and we tend to notice when things go wrong.

Fall is also good time to plant deer resistant plants (notice, this is “deer resistant” and not “deer proof”). Perennials will root out and continue to develop underground during the fall and over the winter and you will have a much bigger clump than if you wait until spring to plant. Our deer resistant plants are indicated with a logo on our signage.

An excellent list of deer resistant plants is available online from Maryland’s Home and Garden Information Center (Do a Google search for “HGIC” and you can click on to the site. You want to print out the fact sheet entitled “Resistance of Ornamentals to Deer Damage.”)

I have emphasized deer repellants, because they are easy to apply, but there are other strategies, including changing the design of your yard, or fencing off individual plants for the winter, which are outlined in publications such as “Controlling Deer Damage in Maryland,” also from the HGIC. For detailed recommendations of repellant application by season, visit the website of the Institute of Ecosystem Studies which is located in New York; the link is: http://www.ecostudies.org/lma_IES_recommendations.htm

Other articles on deer archived at this site may be found by using the site’s search engine.
We wish you good luck in your “gardening with wildlife” adventures.

Containing Your Enthusiasm
by Mike Bader, Plant Buyer

Spectacular outdoor containers overflowing with a variety of plants are one of the hottest trends in gardening today. Creating extraordinary plant combinations in the home using indoor plants has never been easier. In fact, plants like to be grouped together because they give off water vapor, which makes the surrounding air more humid, providing them with a happy growing environment. Our houseplant greenhouses receive fresh shipments weekly, making your design possibilities almost endless.

In years past, flowering plants were used as the central feature of container gardens, but more of our designs use foliage plants which survive indoors longer and can adapt to partially shaded rooms. My favorite combinations really pack in the plants using four basic design functions: size, color, leaf shape and form.

While browsing through our warm and cozy greenhouses, begin your design with an eye-catching upright plant that will add some height to your creation. Among the easiest to grow are dracaenas, often resembling palms with arching leaves and bare, woody stems. Their striking leaves are usually long and striped with various combinations of white, cream, yellow, red and several shades of green. Most of us are familiar with the popular Dracaena marginata or dragon palm, but Behnke’s carries several new introductions as well. Another favorite of mine is the Ficus elastica or rubber plant. The glossy leaves are large and leathery with prominent midribs and pointed tips. The newer cultivars have a more compact growth habit and colored leaf markings of green, gray-green, creamy yellow, white, pink and burgundy.

Essential for adding surprise and color to your combinations, accent plants often feature bold foliage. Leaves that are variegated or exhibit unusual color, such as burgundy or chartreuse, are especially effective. Codiaeum variegatum, or croton, has magnificent leaves in shades of yellow, orange, pink, red and dark green. Their colorful foliage can be long and thin, broad and rounded, straight or even twisted. For those of you who are seduced by a plant’s flowers (myself included), bury an empty plastic pot in your container, either a 5 inch or 7 inch depending on the size of your creation.

Most of our blooming plants are available in 4-inch or 6-inch sizes and you can insert your favorites into the empty pot without actually planting in the soil. After they have finished flowering you can easily replace them with another. We currently have blooming African violets, azaleas, begonias, bromeliads, chrysanthemums, cyclamens, kalanchoes and miniature roses. In February spring bulbs begin to arrive along with primulas and hydrangeas.

Using a variety of leaf shapes and sizes adds excitement and interest to your planting combination. Look for contrasting shapes and textures to bring life into your design. Here is where I have some fun using several smaller plants as fillers. As their name suggests, these plants fill in the combination, but more importantly, they separate the bolder participants in the container. There are just too many to mention, but some of my favorites include asparagus fern, rex begonia, spider plant, polka dot plant, peperomia, aluminum plant, fittonia, and several types of table ferns.

The final selection for your design should include a trailing plant or two. These plants provide much of the charm to your plant combinations while spilling over the top of the container or mingling among other container inhabitants. There are many types of English ivy and pothos that are colorful and easy to grow. You can also choose from creeping fig, baby tears, purple heart, strawberry begonia, Swedish ivy, and just about any plant you see growing in a hanging basket.

Let’s not forget to mention the new truckload shipments of pottery arriving each month. I am forever in search of interesting pots, whether they are hand-painted by a local artist or hand thrown and painted in a far away land.You can choose from a wide variety of sizes, shapes and style variations, designed especially for the home or office. Behnkes carries contemporary ceramics, terra cotta, China bowls, Italian or classic cylinders, gloss, matte, or faux finishes, and specialty containers for orchids, bonsai, cactus, and succulents. I recommend Miracle-Gro potting soils and fertilizers to ensure your gardening success. Our Behnke designers can also assist in selecting containers and foliage to match your light, favorite colors, style requirements, and your enthusiasm!

Lawns, Bulbs and Thoughts of September
John Peter Thompson, Chairman of the Board

Change of Seasons Heralded by the Clarion Call of Yellow Jackets

When last we talked I was considering my options as a corn farmer. I am here to report that I successfully fed my resident deer herd with about fifty ears of corn, and managed to sample three and a half ears on my plate. The failure to perform was noted as I optimistically evaluated the rest of the gardens at our nano-estate.The state of the garden was tired; first soaked in June then dehydrated in July and August, followed by drenched in early September.

I decided to attack the weed problem in the flower beds. While removing the latest crop of crab-grass near a stand of now unknown rose bushes, I cleverly reached into the front door of a yellow-jacket nest, and then rather quickly stepped back into the second entrance. The resulting pain to both wrists and both ankles gave me ample time to begin working on my fall garden work list.By now many of my annuals are looking great, as are some of the more aggressive weeds.

I gave some consideration to spending time thoroughly weeding, but have rejected that course of action. For now is the time to remove the spring and summer annuals, and weeds, and to plant spring bulbs, winter pansies and autumn chrysanthemums and asters. Further, now is the time to reseed an established lawn, or begin a new lawn. Even though this seems to be a daunting amount of work there is an activity that we should not be thinking about. Now is not the time to prune almost anything. Do not get out your pruning shears. Do not even think of trimming anything but your grass. This is also not a good time to be feeding almost anything in the ground, except perhaps your lawn.

To Green, or Not Too Green: The Lawn Dicotomy

I am of two minds when it comes to lawns. There is something delightfully impracticable about a deep green, well-manicured expanse of order and calm. On the other hand, this same well-groomed monoculture is an example of a biological desert. I want to react negatively to the beautiful stretch of lawn, so mowed as to leave contemplative patterns that produce a strong desire to lie down and watch the clouds.

I however cannot, even though I love the meadow too.The key to a perfect lawn is the elimination of everything but your grass. I think I recall that Stravinsky once said that composing is easy; just take away the sounds that don’t belong. Thus too the perfect lawn. Keep in mind that diversity will be limited to a few select species of grass of your choosing which will mostly not be native to this area and will require a certain amount of tender loving care, money and time from you. Nature will be working against you on this project, attempting at every step to reset the playing field with plants of her choice.

This means that at some level, if you want perfection, organic is not going to work well with exotic non native lawn grasses. You will be compelled to apply chemicals. It is the classic problem with using non-native species which do not quite adapt to our expectations of perfection. We use, therefore, chemical agents to assist our exotic plant friends in their struggles to survive nature’s attempt to set the environment back to a balanced state.

Already My Thoughts Turn to Spring Blooms from Fall-Planted Bulbs…

Fall is for planting. The soil stays warm; the roots grow, and the gardener gets an early start on next year’s presentation and display. Imbedded in the last sentence is a clue to a brilliant spring garden. Bulbs! Now is the time to plant daffodils. You want to get an early start on root growth. Daffodils truly trumpet tidings of spring’s arrival. Brilliant color when everything else is just waking from winter’s slumber, they are among the least favorite food for the deer population.

Optimally, the soil temperature, according to bulb experts Brent and Becky Heath, in their wonderful book, “Daffodils For American Gardens”, should be around 60 degrees, six to eight inches in depth. Soil should be a sandy-loam with goodly amounts of organic material. Weeds should be deterred by a layer of mulch, which will also keep the bulbs cool and moist in the hot summer. Daffodils, along with tulips, crocus and hyacinths are the best bang for the buck with the least effort and the greatest chance of success.

The bulb is a ready-to-go package requiring nothing from you except placement. Daffodils return year after year, increasing in number when happy and asking for little from you. Wood edges, hillsides, formal garden plots, and road edges, there are no places where daffodils cannot add excitement to spring. In addition to all the inspired reasons to plant these bulbs, they come in a multitude of forms and colors.

Trumpets of yellow, white, gold, and pink can be found in cultivars such as ‘Delibes’, ‘Ice Follies’ and ‘Orangery’. Double flowered cultivars including ‘Golden Ducat’ result in double-takes from garden visitors. I find that a sprinkling of unusual color and texture cultivars such as ‘Flower Parade’, a yellow with an interesting dark center, and ‘Love Call’, which in certain light looks like a fried egg, among drifts of standards add glittering points of interest which catch the eye and cause the gaze to linger.

Mums: Perfect Companions to Spring Bulbs

Now is the time to plant, and, having chosen the colors and forms which appeal to you, do not forget to bring home a few chrysanthemums to brighten up your autumnal garden display. You can plant the bulbs and the mums together in the same area getting color now and again in spring. Remember, the daffodils are the easy and inexpensive way for great garden displays.