Well, it finally happened - that thing all local gardeners have been warning me about, that which I’ve avoided thus far: our new gardens have been broached by the deer that proliferate nearby. Since moving here, we’ve enjoyed the occasional sighting of a family in our small woods (sometimes as many as six gamboling among the trees), but we have taken heart that even as I planted young and delicate seedlings in spots nearer the house, the deer seemed to have other yards, other more interesting beds than ours to feed on. And while we fenced off the tomato patch early on, we’ve counted on our good luck and naivté to get us through the summer without damage to the rest.
No more. For the past few weeks, come sunset, a young buck has wandered ever closer, stopping mainly to graze beneath the old crab apple tree outside our window, his progress followed closely by the cats. Sometimes he’s ambled on and down the lane, chomping on the day lilies that line the neighbor’s fence until we shout and shoo him back to hiding. But then, this weekend, the damage came much closer. I awoke on Saturday to find my young, unprotected peonies chewed to nubs, the baby redbud tree minus at least half its growth since planting, and a small rosebush on garden’s edge made budless overnight. The new apple trees have, so far, been spared, but it’s just a matter of time.
The damage, of course, could have been much worse and probably will be as winter comes and the deer have less abundant pickings in the woods. And it’s not like we weren’t warned not just about the deer population so much larger than when we were kids, but about our local hedgehog and abundant rabbit friends as well. We see them all from the patio as we sit out in the evening light. It’s time, I guess, to drop the pretense that our yard, our woods are special, and that we can live among our wild neighbors without consequence or conflict. Time to fence the youngest, most vulnerable tree trunks, and maybe the brand new shrubs. Time to redouble efforts to plant only things that the deer don’t especially like or hearty ones that will grow back. Time to accede to the inevitable loss or think of this as an opportunity to share our bounty with our wildest of friends.