Dear Deer,

To the deer in MY neighborhood, I have something to say. You are not welcome here. You must leave immediately. We are too close to the city for you to be hanging around, scarfing up your free, all-you-can-eat buffet. It's not free, by the way. That Hosta you ate will be $24.99 please. The Heuchera that you nibbled the new leaves and flower stalks off of? Yeah, that will be another $19.99.

You are not supposed to be here. I mean, it's not like this is a new neighborhood in the suburbs, and you've been forced out of your home. This area (did I mention that it is close to the Richmond city limits?) has been around since the mid 50s, maybe even earlier. Now I understand that in those new subdivisions, you used to romp through the woods, drink from the streams and rest in the fields. Now that has been taken away from you. I also know that you have no natural predators left in Virginia, maybe for 100 years or more, so you think you can breed like, well, rabbits?

I have a surprise for you. I've got veggies and herbs that you don't like. I found out a few years ago that you don't like Chives. I planted them around the Hostas and you stayed away. We planted a huge amount of Rosemary, which seem to love our yard and stay green all year long. I just found out about Thyme also. We have planted some of that and will be planting more. It stays green all year, and is a perfect ground cover. I has nice little flowers, and comes in different varieties. My wife is partial to Lemon Thyme. Lavender and Allium are no good to you either. There will be more. I promise.

I will be planting more of each. All over the yard. They fill in the spaces between our specimen trees and shrubs, give us something to look at all year long, and provide us with wonderful spices for our kitchen and flowers for our table. 

So, shoo. Go away.

Yours truly,
A disgruntled gardener

Lavender

Rosemary front and back

Look at all the empty space for these goodies!

Allium