From The Haven Garden

News from Don Mattson, The Haven’s gardener

Spring finally arrived and has been fast and furious. The white Wisteria at the Lodge entrance has just finished its bloom and was very beautiful; the Wisteria loves a hard pruning in the fall.

For those who were here for Phase I in May, the Robins we watched from eggs to babies are already grown and gone, all four survived and are busy catching their own worms in the garden.

The orange ‘Oriental’ poppies are in full bloom now, and those few very special red ones are glorious as ever.

We have had a lot of rain this spring so everything is lush and green and in need of some sun now to gain some strength.

We are having an early show of mushrooms in the forest; I believe it is due to a fairly dry, mild winter and a cool wet spring.

The deer have been off in the forest having their young so I have had a reprieve; however, they are coming back now and bringing the new generation with them. I have learned not to frustrate myself so much with them and we live quite comfortably sharing the property.

I do still use a very simple deer resistant recipe at this time of the year on the sword ferns and a few other plants. I have found it really works to keep the deer from eating the new fiddleheads on the ferns, which ruins the shape for the rest of the season.

Recipe for Deer Repellant

1 egg yolk
1 tbsp Baking Powder
1 Liter Water

Separate the yolk from the white of the egg. Whisk the yolk with a bit of the water and strain through a kitchen strainer; otherwise your sprayer will clog up. Add Baking Powder to egg and water and pour into a sprayer and shake well. Spray onto leaves of plants. The egg is the binder (glue) which keeps the Baking Powder on the leaves and the deer hate the taste of the Baking Powder. Apply about once every 10 days in the spring.

Stay connected – Don