TZ -OH6
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Posts: 2097
Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2008 7:27 pm
Location: Mid Ohio

Trap crop for deer.

After cutting down weeds along the perimeter of my garden fence yesterday, I left two of the three gates wide open....because I'm stupid that way. It happens once or twice a year, but surprisingly the deer tend to jump the fence (also once or twice a year) rather than walk in. I think that the open door invitation confuses them. Anyway last night a deer walked in and filled up on my sunchoke/Jeruselem artichoke plants and left the strawberries, tomatoes, peas and lettuce alone. Same thing happened last year with minimal damage to some of my peppers. I think that I will put in a couple more sunchoke planters in strategic places inside the fence next year. The JA grows huge and fast so the deer can eat a lot of it (which they do) and the plant's growth is not bothered (unlike sunflowers from seed). Unfortunately the sunchokes are so popular they don't survive outside the fence.

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tomf
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Joined: Mon May 18, 2009 8:15 am
Location: Oregon

What kind of fence do you have? I have not had them jump mine;it is an invisible deer fence.

TZ -OH6
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 2097
Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2008 7:27 pm
Location: Mid Ohio

I pulled up an old broken down stock fence and put it up for the garden. It has cotton clothes line strung at 5.5 ft and 7 ft with a bit of barbed wire here and there. Sometimes a section of clothesline sags or gets taken down for this or that and a deer will get brave and jump in. It works surprisingly well for having 6-10 deer walk past it twice a day.



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