Many of us live in the urbanwildlife interface and I will not bore everyone with my opinion of that here. At my house in Florence we have a mule deer doe that hangs around our yard with 3 fawns. We don’t know if they are all hers or if she is babysitting but 4 deer hanging around the yard every day is taking a toll on the plants. Fawns are the worst as they will taste everything they walk by. Older deer have usually learned what they want to eat and what they will leave alone so 3 fawns is a bit of a challenge. Add a few more females and some bucks to the mix and we need a fence around the part of our yard that I am trying to cultivate. I keep hoping my ‘attack’ cats will do their job and keep the deer at bay, but the ungrateful wretches don’t seem to be tuned into their duties.

My best line of defense, beyond putting up a fence, is to try to scope out the grazing trails in the yard and plant varieties along those paths that are less appealing to the deer. Over the 15 years I have been unofficially researching this, I have hit on a few plants that seem to fair better than others. Peony, spruce, juniper, forsythia, dogwood, and lilac seem to be able to hold their own once they get fairly established but getting them large enough that the deer can’t hurt them is the challenge. My best advice is to cage off any new trees, shrubs, or perennials you plant for the first 2-3 years. I can hear the complaints now, folks don’t want to look at cages around their plants, but plants, along with your time and effort, are too much effort to be planting salad bar for the deer. Let’s face it, the dratted deer should be eating grass and weeds but they will try everything, and if they like it have been known to eat a new plant down to nothing in the first night it is out in your yard. I’m getting tired of the effort it takes to ‘research’ if deer like a particular plant, suffice it to say that there are NO deer proof plants.

There are a few ways to fool the deer with products they prefer to avoid. Most deer repellent products are made of some combination of pepper, egg, garlic, blood, aromatic oils, or predator urine. Predator urine works by developing a perimeter with the urine smell that deer are reluctant to cross. Everything else is sprayed on the plant to create a foul taste or odor. Topical sprays must be reapplied frequently as most sprays are not rain/ waterproof or the plants grow, and the new growth needs to be treated. The Internet has various recommendations for mechanical products that have flashing lights or motion activated water sprays or random moving pinwheels. I have heard reports that using a mountain lion noise could actually call in a mountain lion, so beware of that idea. It may be giving deer more credit than they deserve, but I think you need to change up your products frequently as I think they realize that something didn’t hurt them last time. Some sort of fencing is looking better and better. To sum this up, deer are out in velvet right now and if you haven’t protected your trees from deer rub please do it NOW. It only takes one rub to be the death of your hard work.

Interestingly enough, deer don’t bother most of the varieties of ornamental grass that work here in Billings. Because there are so many kinds of grass, I am going to refer to them by botanical names, not to sound geeky, but so you can go to your local nursery and ask for them by name. That impresses the nursery staff and helps you make sure you get the grass you want for your yard. Botanical names will also help when researching online. Ornamental grass is often grouped by when it starts to grow in the spring. Cool season means the grass begins to come up in the spring when temperatures rise above freezing. Cool season grasses are quick to green up and bloom but don’t put energy to active growing during hot weather. Most cool season grasses hold their blooms throughout the summer heat and they continue to look good if kept well-watered. Probably the best-known cool season grass is Calamagrostis ‘Karl Foerster’. We see it planted all over town because it is an easy-care grass for tough sites and it fits the ‘I need something tall’ requirement. ‘Karl’ is by far our bestselling grass but I would like to make some suggestions for consideration. Calamagrostis is often called Feather Reed Grass. ‘Karl Foerster’, ‘Overdam’ and ‘Eldorado’ are all Calamagrostis but each has different leaf color. Deschampsia is known as Tufted Hair Grass and has several great cultivars that each has beautiful blooms. Look for ‘Goldtau’, ‘Shottland’, ‘Bronzeschlier’, ‘Northern Lights’, and ‘Pixie Fountain’ to name a few. Helictotrichon sempervirens (no, I cannot pronounce that) is known as Blue Oat grass. Blue Oat grass is larger than Festuca, Fescue, and both are semi-evergreen. I have had reports that deer have been known to eat fescue grass. Also consider Koeleria known as Hair Grass and Molina known as Moor Grass. Be very cautious if you choose Phalaris known as Ribbon Grass as it can become invasive.

Warm season means the grass does not begin to peek up until the soil has warmed up and that is generally late May into early June here in Billings. Warm season grasses typically have more spectacular blooms but generally bloom as late in the season as September and October. With the need for warm soil in mind consider planting warm season grasses on sunny south or west sides of the house and yard to take advantage of that heat. If you use wood chips or bark mulch around grasses, pulling the mulch back off the root clump will help warm the soil faster. Once the grass has started growing you can replace the mulch to keep the soil cool and suppress weeds. If you want more going on while you wait for the grass to emerge you can plant other shrubs or perennials or bulbs that will get your spring off to a colorful start. Some of the best warm season grasses include Andropogon known as Big Bluestem. Look for ‘Indian Warrior’, ‘Red October’, and ‘Mega Blue’ to get something tall. Bouteloua is Blue Grama and ‘Blonde Ambition’ is one to try. Schizachyrium (no, I cannot pronounce that either) is Little Bluestem. Panicum is Switch Grass and you should look for ‘Shenandoah’, ‘Prairie Sky’, ‘Hot Rod’, ‘Blue Fountain’, and ‘Cloud Nine’ and many others. Switch grass is usually a blue-green or green with red highlights and the cultivar names make you want to have one of each. Miscanthus known as Maiden Grass is an extensive family of grass that will also be on the tall side. Only a small handful of Miscanthus cultivars are reliable in our area so look for cultivars for Zone 4. Miscanthus ‘Purpurascens’, often called Flame Grass, turns yellow orange in the fall for a delightful end of the season splash of color. ‘Huron Sunrise’ and ‘Silberfeder’ offer additional selections to check out. I have seen some spectacular large clumps, 10+ feet tall, around town of grass that I suspect is Miscanthus giganteus known as Giant Chinese Silver Grass. Giganteus makes a good substitute for Cortaderia, Pampas Grass, which is not hardy in Billings. If you plant Giganteus choose your site carefully as it becomes a sturdy clump. This is the tip of the iceberg of the grass world.

We have ordered bulbs for fall planting and we expect them to arrive the week of September 7. Iris starts from Big Sky Iris Club are here and we have a good selection. This year we were able to get a great selection of reblooming roses and they are in colorful flower again. This past spring, we again planted the Perennial Plant Association 2018 perennial of the year, Allium ‘Millennium’ and they are in full color now. (Deer are less likely to eat these!) We are also planning our Beekeeping class in late September so please stay tuned for date and details.

Deer On The Horizon