Reluctant Gardener

You can find hostas in gardens and yards all over the state of Maine.  We planted hostas at the edge of the woods because they are hardy plants with deep roots that grow in any type of soil, even the rock-filled clay soil on the hill near my house.  Although I regularly enhance the dirt with peat moss, green sand, compost, and topsoil, it has been a challenge to entice other perennials to survive the summer and perform a return engagement.  I keep track of what I've planted, what comes back and what doesn't.  The hostas always come back....
And that has become a problem.

I woke up one morning just before the start of summer to discover that overnight deer had eaten almost every leaf on almost every hosta plant on the hill.   I was going to wait and watch the leafless stalks come back to life.

Then July 4 I saw that deer had started nibbling the leaves on a hydrangea plant my daughter gave me last year for Mother's Day.  My research indicated that deer eat some kinds of hydrangeas.  Beyond that I learned that deer will munch on plants that may not be their first choice if those plants are in the vicinity of the main course.  If a gardener wants to protect a plant, a preferred strategy is to surround that plant with varieties that are deer resistant.

My hydrangea now resides in a flower bed near the house, surrounded by lemon balm, day lilies, astilbe, dianthus, and echinacea.  I wasn't fast enough to move every potential delicacy in time; the monkshood is gone, another plant that is not supposed to be on the menu.

So I am in the process of digging up and discarding every hosta planted on the hill.  I need to replace them with plants that are confirmed as deer resistant.  Ken suggested we call it "Astilbe Hill."

I am calling this the summer of Jeff's revenge.  Jeff is the boxer mix who lives next door and has been banned from my yard because he challenged my daughter's dog, who stays on leash in our yard.  Jeff used to relieve himself on my hostas and, while I wasn't a fan of that behavior, apparently it kept the deer away.   Other remedies have not been able to replace Jeff's natural deterrent, and while I know the hostas will grow back the same cannot be said about other plants.

This is all very discouraging for me, a reluctant gardener on a good day.  Working in the dirt doesn't come naturally to me.  I ask lots of questions of lots of people.  I check reference books and online resources.  Our current setting is mostly shade, which presents another problem when hosta varieties are no longer a viable choice.

It's disheartening to have little to show for five summers of work on a small garden on the side of a hill.  I don't mind all the digging, root pulling, and rock throwing if I know that I will have something to show for my labor.

As the heat wave recedes, I will get back to work.  Luckily I know where I can buy locally grown astilbe plants ~