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What is chomping?

11 years ago

I have an area next to the woods where I grow a lot of perennials. I have Helianthus Lemon Queen and Montauk daisy that are yummy treats for some kind of animal(s). I did see deer about a month ago that I believe chomped on my purple sand cherry, Joe Pye Weed, Phlox, Unique Hydrengea, Rudbeckia Herbstonne, Montauk and the most delicious, Lemon Queen. There is a cat that I see eating the nearby catmint on occasion and squirrels chomp on early spring bulbs. I've tried, planting magnolias, Deer Off, Liquid Fence, chicken wire laid flat around the buffet area, etc. The day after I sprayed the Deer Off (Wednesday), the Helianthus and Montauk were munched almost to ground level. Several stalks were lying down as if something stepped on it. The Quickfire Hydrengea nearby was left alone. Given it's summer time and deer are hardly ever seen around here at this time, what could be eating these two? My next thought is to spray water on a timer every so often.

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Comments (4)

denninmi
11 years ago
Hard to say. You could invest in one of those wildlife cameras to see if you can catch the intruder.

Just because you don't see deer doesn't mean they aren't there. They come out mainly at night.

But, it could be a woodchuck, could be deer, could be rabbits.
splitrock
11 years ago
I'm especually interested in what is NOT getting chomped. If there is something about the Quickfire Hydrangea that makes it unpalletable to deer and woodchucks, this is great news! I garden in deer country and would love to have any kind of hydrangea.
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I'm having the same trouble, just as you describe.
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pippi21
11 years ago
Look around for tracks..my guess it is deer. We have good luck with Liquid Fence, and spray it every few days unless we see deer roaming. You do have to reapply after a rain. There is a lady that lives in a court behind us, she has the most beautiful flower gardens..hostas are the size of a tire on an 18 wheeler..absolutely breathtaking. She sprays with Liquid Fence every day she tells me and doesn't have anything eaten.
rouge21_gw (CDN Z5b/6a)
11 years ago
Just anecdotal but I live in a deer frequented area and I have two large stands of the wonderful "Lemon Queen" right in the thick of things and neither has ever been touched by deer. (Of course other plants around it have often been munched :( )

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