Before I owned a lawn, I loved dandelions. Cheery yellow flowers, fun to blow the white puffy seeds around, etc. Before I owned a car, I loved seeing deer. Growing up on Long Island, I never saw them and it was almost magical when I did. But having one leap into my car while I was driving with my then 4 year old daughter tempered that enthusiasm a bit. As soon as I owned and went through the sweat equity of installing landscaping, which the deer promptly ate, I began to think of deer the way I think of dandelions. I even decided to only plant shrubs and bushes that I saw in the woods that deer seemed to not eat - and the deer promptly ate those, too.
Yeah, yeah, yeah - I know: the dandelions and the deer were here long before my lawn, my car and my bushes. And, yes - I probably walk by free food scraps on the sidewalk in front of Sam's Club to get to the better free samples inside, so I really shouldn't fault the deer for ignoring the scrawny wild plants to get to my well-fed and succulent equivalents, but still. I'm not a hunter - I don't go into the woods and attack their kids. I don't strip the bark from their trees when I'm hiking. I don't drive my car down their little deer paths.
So, if mother nature is so smart, why don't deer eat dandelions?
On a horticultural slant, I see dandelions as a sign of a healthy, biodiverse eco system, and the deer eating everything in your garden just shows you how healthy it really is.
Mother nature has an amazing way of keeping order, when we perceive most things in the world as utter chaos.
Posted by: Jon | 23 April 2008 at 07:20 PM
Agree completely - Mother Nature owns the macro environment. But each animal, not just man, messes up their own little piece.
Posted by: John P. | 28 April 2008 at 07:32 AM