My garden....warts and all....part fünf...

This is the last area of our little paradise.  This is the back of the pond area.

Our whole yard slopes down to the backyard and to the left.  When my husband was digging the pond (every shovel full by hand), he put all the dirt at the top of the pond in order to dig the top pond higher.  This is our smaller upper pond.  It contains a gorgeous dark pink water lily and several tropical plants that spend the winter in our bay window. 

This is a close up of the birdhouse on the edge of the pond.  The wrens have also taken up residence in this birdhouse which will soon be covered with moon vines that have been planted at the base.  The little blue fairy garden ornament was a house warming gift from our friend, Charla.

These are the Sarah Bernhardt peonies that run around the end of the pond.

This is the gazebo we spend so much time in during the summer.  The pine trees right behind the gazebo are the ones that are dying.  Since they cover our propane tank, we will soon need to cut them down and replace them with another type of cover.  The plant at the base of the stairs is a moon vine which will soon cover the railing all around the gazebo.

This is the table on our deck.  It seats eight and has a chandelier hanging over it.  On the deck I have Black and Blue Salvia for the hummingbirds, two huge pots of double begonias, my palm tree from the house, an angel's trumpet and several air plants we purchased in Florida.  We also have a large hummingbird feeder on the deck.  Our cat likes to lay in front of the sliding glass door and watch the hummingbirds and chipmunks that come to our deck.

This little table overlooks my vegetable garden and the pond.  In the early morning it's a delightful place to have coffee.

And this is my vegetable garden which has been netted to keep the deer out.  We have cucumbers, zucchini, carrots, radishes, 3 kinds of peppers and a lettuce mix.  There is also another large pot of Black and Blue Salvia just for the hummingbirds.  The trap you see is for the chipmunks.  Three years ago we relocated 30 of them.  This year we've relocated seven.  I had to replant the seeds in the pots three times because the chipmunks dug them up and replanted the pots with sunflower seeds.  I don't mind a couple of them, they're cute.  A herd of them is destructive.  We only trap and relocate early in the season to give them time to find another nest and stock it for winter.  My husband just finished this area, it used to be filled with gravel.  He created the frame, laid the patio tiles and mulched everything.

This is the Dropmore Scarlet Honeysuckle that adorns the fences on the right hand side of our house.

This knautia spreads by seed and is helped by the goldfinches who love the seeds.  It's very light and airy so I leave it where it sprouts.  If it makes it out to the grass, it's dead meat.  My husband and I have a deal, he doesn't mow the flower beds, I don't plant flowers in the grass.

This is our gorgeous patch of Siberian Iris among the grass and under the Viburnum.  The ends of the Viburnum branches are eaten off by the deer every year.  It doesn't grow taller, but it does grow wider since it sprouts new branches along the old ones.

This is what the Wisteria looked like in early spring.  It actually has buds on it now for a second blooming but the Japanese beetles have eaten all the buds so they won't open.  And the leaves now look like lace.  Having a garden in the country can be painful.  One year I waited breathlessly for a new asiatic lily to bloom only to have the deer eat the flowers just before they were to open.  We've moved the lilies to the front of the house hoping that their proximity to the house would keep them from being eaten.  And I spray them with Liquid Fence.  So, that's it for the Close garden in June.  Our garden is usually at its best in June.  Feel free to send me a link to your garden, let's compare notes.  Do you have a surefire way to deter deer?  Chipmunks?