Davetherave ... correct on all counts ... we've wearhered the depradations of the deer for 30 years and the garden (aka jungle) has got ahead of them to the point it can take a bit of browsing without harm ... we have woods just out of the picture that we've managed with 'benign neglect' to support the local wildlife so if Mrs Image wants to protect anything in particular the deer only have to shove off 20 yards and they're free to eat what they want ... the garden is definitely of the self-mainaining variety as it's far too big to micro-manage ... so it has little in the way of 'polite' flowers to protect ... our one big worry is that we are having to replant about 20 acres after Storm Arwen and with our planned replanting being native trees the bucks ragging the saplings with their horns will be a real problem ... we strenuously avoid getting the shooters in (our neighbour's preferred solution) so looks like upping the cost and fitting decent tree-protectors is the way we'll go.

Paul ... yep.. I wander out every morning with my cuppa and appreciate what a great place it is to live 🙂


K