Plants that Stop Deer from Eating Tulips

I love tulips but so do the deer and since my home is locating in the woods I have deer in my yard daily. We have tried everything to keep the deer away from the tulips but they are determined to eat them because they are rich in nutrients and the liquid in the stem is hydrating.

Deer in the garden, note the lilrope grass is left alone

My husband thought it would be good to compromise with the deer so he filled a bucket of water for them and put out a mineral lick along with corn and sunflower seed mixture in our side yard where there are no tulips. The deer sure did like that but when they were done with their snack they came back into my backyard to look for tulips.

Hide tulips in daffodils 

Repel deer when you hide tulips amongst plants that deter. 

We thought about installing a deer fence around in the backyard because that would certainly stop the deer from coming into our yard but it would also block all animals from drinking from our pond. So we decided to hide the tulips from the deer by planting them in the middle of plants that deer do not like. 

Deer do not eat daffodils we also read that planting your tulips in the center of  lilrope grass is a good idea but would need a thick border of the grass to deter the deer. Other plants that deter deer are bee balm, peppermint, chives, cosmos, oleander, oregano, and rosemary 

A friend said that any low-growing ornamental grass will work as it provides good coverage for the tulips. So this fall I hid the tulips by planting the bulbs in my garden. I planted bulbs in the middle of the daffodil garden and in the ornamental grass garden. I will let you know next spring if the hiding of tulips really works.

Note if you are not a fan of wildlife in your yard then buy a scarecrow motion-activated pressure water animal deterrent. The sting from the water burst makes all wildlife leave your yard. Learn more by reading my article here

Signs of Early Spring

There are ways to determine if the spring season is going to be early or if you are going to have a long cold winter.  If you are in tune with nature, you will be able to view the signs of spring in your backyard.  Today the sun was bright and the snow on the ground has begun to melt.  The temperature shot up to 32 degrees and for me, it was a warm day and I took advantage of the warm temperature by looking in my yard for signs of spring.  

Grass-like foliage of crocus

I did not need to walk far because under a patch of melted snow I could view the grass-like foliage of the crocus had pushed up out of the soil. I moved the ice and the leaves that had gathered around the crocus and found that the crocus had grown to the height of two inches.

Normally the snowdrops are the first to bloom and I hoped that I had not missed their blooms and then out of the corner of my eye I saw the lovely white bloom of the Snowdrop Galanthus. 

Snowdrop blooms in very early spring

The early spring bulbs are blooming in my yard and this is certainly a sign that winter is coming to an end and spring has begun.

You can inspect your yard for signs of early spring by gently pushing back the organic mulch or show from your flower garden.  Look for the spring bulbs; tulips, hyacinths, and daffodils. Another sign of spring can be found on your spring-flowering shrubs; forsythia or the lilacs.  Observe the branches, look for tiny bumps.  These bumps are leaf buds and a sign that your area will have an early spring.

Here are photographs of the signs of spring in my yard, the crocus is blooming and daffodils are growing.

Today I viewed leaf buds on the branches of my spring blooming hedges, this sign of spring makes me believe that my yard will be in full bloom by the end of February or maybe the first week in March.  

Nature knows when it is time for the flowers to grow, and they will come up through the ice and the snow