HAWLEY, PA — Sun, water, soil and outdoor materials like mulch, stones, river rocks and plants are the basic elements for landscape design.

That was pointed out by Greg Gretz, owner of 1st Impression Landscape and Construction Company, located in Greentown.

Gretz also presented the challenges of landscaping to the members of The Country Gardeners Club (TCG) at the group’s monthly meeting in May. One of the biggest challenges in our area is the number of deer. 

Jaden Ball, an environmental biologist from 1st Impression, addressed the problem. “The overpopulation of deer is exacerbated because they have almost no predators left; nowadays man is their primary predator, not coyotes. Also, there are very few management programs for their population.”

We not only have a high-density population but we also have a very unhealthy population. “When they run out of food and are hungry, they eat plants that are not supposed to be eaten,” said Ball. That includes deer-resistant plants.

The following is a list of deer-resistant plants:

Herbs: rosemary, lavender, sage

Flowers: purple coneflowers, daffodils, hummingbird mint, alliums, peonies

Bushes: boxwood, barberries, rhododendrons, mountain laurel, forsythia, most evergreen bushes, most thorny plants (including raspberries and blackberries)

The next TCG meeting will be Thursday, June 13 at 1 p.m. at the Wallenpaupack Environmental Learning Center, 126 Lamberton Ln. The guest speaker will be Suzanne Krug, owner of Wallenpaupack Floral and Gifts, and the subjects will be dish gardens, tips for flower cutting and deer deterrents. Anybody interested in gardening is welcome to attend.

Contributed by The Country Gardeners Club.