Primarily the answer to this is yes. It depends on how much damage and when the damage occurred. If it happens in the first part of the season and cared for the leaves will grow back within a month. If it occurs in the second part of the season they won’t recover until the following season.
Common Questions:
How do you keep the deer out?
How do you keep the slugs from munching?
How do you keep the rabbits and other woodland creatures out of my garden?
These are some of the questions we are asked year after year and today we are going to answer those questions and tell you what has worked for us. One year we had someone who wanted to know how to keep the deer from eating their garden but didn’t want to stop feeding them because they were super cute. This person is on their own when it comes to securing the garden from deer but for the rest who are interested in learning ways to help- read on.
Deer:
Deer are routine-based animals creating their routines early in the Spring. Over the years we have tried many different products but one that has worked for us consistently is called Deer Stopper. It is a blend of essential oils and eggshells. The concentrate can be mixed and sprayed around the plants you don’t want at the deer buffet. It also comes as a granular. We have found with over 20,000 plants we don’t have the time to spray every individual plant. Instead, knowing that deer are routine-based, we spray the perimeter of the garden and the areas where the deer enter the property. We start this process in March and spray every 21 days from March until the end of June. Then from June until September, we spray every 30-40 days. It is also a joke in our family that the deer don’t want to come snack on our plants because we are outside working past their bedtime.
We have also used Plantskydd Repellent successfully. We decided that this year we will alternate our applications between the two. Just so they don’t get used to the taste. Of all the many products on the market, we recommend these two.
We were asked this question by almost everyone we met at the farm last year and have decided to offer some of each to make them easily accessible to anyone who wants them
SLUGS and SNAILS:
The product that works for us is Sluggo. We prefer it over Sluggo Plus. We take Sluggo and literally loosely sling it over all of the hostas. We have found that if you do this consistently, you are killing off the mothers and will have fewer slugs and snails. We use Sluggo about once a month and have very few problems. Each year is different. For example, we had more snails than slugs this past season. We begin our “treatment” very early in the season. There are several hostas that the slugs seem to pass by while others they flock to - Elsewhere on our website you can find a list. In general, the thicker the leaves the less they are chomped on. Occasionally when we apply Sluggo and it rains soon after, the pellets absorb the water and the leaves look “hairy” - while not particularly attractive, it is not a cause for concern.
RABBITS:
Animal Stopper is a pellet-based product from the same company that makes Deer Stopper. We use Animal Stopper following sightings. For those living in Langley, this product might come in handy.
RODENTS:
Our Hostas are displayed on stacks of pallets and the rodents LOVE them. Chipmunks and mice love making nests in them and sometimes dig in the plants and eat their roots. Well, we can’t have that. We have two ways of dealing with them.
Many of you have met our quality control manager, our dog Honey. Honey is a Vizsla who loves to walk up and down the aisles smelling all of the lilies and hostas. But she prefers stalking the rodents. She can spend HOURS chasing them - she NEVER catches them but never tires of the sport. We believe that many have relocated due to her efforts. We also have a couple of have-a-heart traps that we set and do our own relocating.