If you have visited my own garden, you will
know that I am a great fan of natural gardens. When I design a garden I always
include plants which will
appeal to birds, bees and butterflies with habitats to encourage a good
ecological balance. One of my latest projects has been a wildlife garden
at Kintbury St Mary’s primary school which has been really fun to
create with the children. I was really impressed with their gardening knowledge
in general and of garden friends and foes in the animal world.
It’s a bit of a dichotomy isn’t it that we want to create a
natural organic garden yet to do so we inevitably have to interfere with
nature by
preventing some creatures from thriving in our beautiful space.
I don’t know if it’s a coincidence but there seem to be lots
of moles around this year. These furry creatures don’t actually harm
plants in the garden but can be destructive with their tunnelling in their
search for earthworms. Some people opt for traps but this doesn’t really
remove the problem as other moles can move in. On the other hand, sound devices
such as sonic probes act on the fact that moles dislike vibration or noise
and so will be less likely to make a home in your garden.
Many gardens in our area have problems with deer or rabbits, who can strip
plants overnight. I have been working at a cottage in Oxenwood whose garden
enjoys a stunning setting, surrounded by rolling hills, sheep and both buzzards
and kites soaring above. Imagine my surprise when I arrived one day to find
two large deer happily sniffing around by the garage. They seemed quite unfazed
by my presence and I stopped to watch them in awe, which slowly turned to
dread as I though about the Roses and the soon to be planted vegetable garden.
So far no damage, but I wait to see what happens as time goes on and the
blooms appear. I have created gardens specifically for this type of problem.
It is interesting to note that both deer and rabbits are repelled by plants
with aromatic oils such as Lavender, spiky plants or bad tasting/poisonous
plants. I have a (surprisingly) quite long list of supposedly deer/ rabbit
proof plants which includes trees, shrubs, herbaceous perennials and climbers.
So your garden need not look like a specially created fortress- however it
is a case of gardener beware!- the rabbits and deer haven’t read the
list.
Deer proof plants?- 
Ceanothus Dicentra Wisteria.
Stacy Tuttle