Deer Proofing the Raised Bed

This summer, inspired by ideas from the Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, I decided to deer and bird proof my vegetable garden. The raised bed is already gopher proofed from below - protected with a hardware cloth mesh underground cage that prevents tunneling. Time to protect from the air.

Deer proof raised bed, with newly planted tomatoes in June

Using material on hand, I constructed a framework of wire tomato cages (some collapsed, others assembled). The deer and bird netting is draped over the sides and top, and secured into place with small plastic ties. On two sides, the netting is anchored into the soil with U-shaped sod nails used for irrigation, but can be rolled up for easy access for weeding (and hopefully harvesting). The results may not be glamorous, but seem to be effective.

Two months later and tomatoes are thriving

It has been two months, and no breaches in the netting security so far! The two cherry tomato plants purchased at the Merritt College Spring Plant Sale are thriving (they are kept watered via the drip irrigation system installed several years ago). The blossoms are just giving way to green cherry tomatoes, but need some heat to bring them into full ripeness.

More Deer Proof Ideas

I am always on the lookout for great garden ideas, and solutions to common problems. Our small vegetable garden has been ravaged by wildlife every summer for the past few years. Every tomato plant, lettuce green, and broccoli plant has succumbed. I chalk it up to the drought – what creature wouldn’t want those tender, non-native plants after a steady diet of tough, drought-resistant vegetation?

Temporary netting-and-pole barrier

A few years ago I reported on a clever deer-proof solution in Bend, Oregon. More recently, while at the Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, I learned a few of their deer proofing secrets. The cemetery is full of beautiful trees and plants, and one of their annual attractions is the tulip display in late March. Mass plantings of yellow and red tulips are breathtaking, and a favorite delicacy for most deer. The secret to protecting these plants is deer and bird netting, used on a grand scale.

Netting cages over the tulip beds

Of course I’ve seen rose bushes and hedges wrapped in netting, but had not considered using netting in a grander, almost architectural way. Surprisingly, the netting is fine enough that it blends with the background and is not intrusive. The architectural framework used to hold the netting can be temporary, and does not have to be substantial (compared to constructing a six to eight feet high fence). These are definitely good ideas to consider for protecting our flower and vegetable gardens in the Oakland Hills from marauding deer and birds.

Birds and Bees – Fruit Development

There is nothing better than summer fruit – nuts, peaches, nectarines, apricots, cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew, berries, and more. They provide delicious nutrition and refreshment in the heat of summer, whether you eat them as is, whirled into a smoothie, or baked in a pie or crumble. Made into jam or jelly, or dried and preserved, you can enjoy the taste of summer in the cold, dark days of winter.

Fruit is the term used for a ripened ovary, typically from fertilized flowers (called true fruits). The term is also used for fruits that develop from other specialized cells in the ovule, other than the fertilized egg (called accessory fruits). Different fruit types develop related to the nature of the flower blossom (for a terminology refresher see: Birds and Bees – Flower Parts).

Fruit types, and their development.

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• Simple fruit (first column) – develops from a single carpel or fused carpel of a single ovary. Examples: nuts, beans, peas, tomato, orange, grape, melon, peach.
• Aggregate fruit (second column) – develops from more than one carpel, but all in the same flower. The mature carpels fuse together to form a single fruit. Examples: blackberries and raspberries.
• Multiple fruit (third column) – develops from an inflorescence or a cluster of flowers, which fuse together to form a single fruit. Examples: pineapple.
• Accessory fruit (fourth column) – does not develop from the ovary, but from another flower part such as the receptacle or hypanthium. Examples: strawberry, apples, pears.

The purpose of most fruit is to produce a seed. For some species the ovary develops into the fruit wall (the pericarp), and become soft and fleshy as the seed nears maturity (stone fruits, such as peaches). For other species, the pericarp becomes hard and dry (pea pods). Dry fruits may scatter from pods (poppy), or become very hard and retain their pericarps until they rot (acorns, almonds). When the fruit matures, it may be eaten, or remain in seed form until ready to germinate.

Learn More:

• Botany for Gardeners, by Brian Capon (Timber Press 2005). See Part V Reproduction, Chapter 9, “From Flowers to Fruits: Fruit Types”.
• Pollination and Fertilization, derived from Pollination and Fertilization, by Robert Bear and David Rintoul, for Open Stax, Rice University (Creative Commons).