Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

nafex - [NAFEX] rosemary, deer, and a grape question

nafex@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Melissa Kacalanos <mijwiz@yahoo.com>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [NAFEX] rosemary, deer, and a grape question
  • Date: Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:59:08 -0700 (PDT)

Deer didn't eat my rosemary, but alas, even the supposedly hardiest variety, 'Arp' isn't hardy here in zone 5.
Deer also avoid my other herbs: basil, chives, lemon balm, monarda, pretty much anything with a strong smell. I haven't tested this exhaustively, however. But I bet there's some strong-smelling herb that grows in any zone. Whether this avoidance extends to plants growing next to the herbs is another matter. The deer ate the weeds next to my rosemary, which was rather nice of them actually. But my rosemary never got very big.

But I have a grape question: how high should the top wire of a grape trellis be? The NY state agricultural extension fruit-growing pdf says 5 feet, but I've also heard that grapes should be higher if there's more disease pressure, or lower if the winter's colder than they like. I've never tried growing grapes here or anywhere for that matter, so I don't know which is the worse danger. I'm in rosemary-killing zone 5, in rainy central NY State. The grapes will be in a slightly clay, but well-drained soil on a west-facing slope. They're old world/new world hybrids: 'Marquis' 'Jupiter' and 'Canadice' so I'm guessing their resistance to disease and cold is intermediate.

Melissa




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page