Lilac Bushes

By Uncle Hans

20 years ago, I spent $650 to buy about 50 baby lilac bushes.  I planted them along the fence between our place and the resort next door, thinking they would make a great barrier from the resort and look pretty to boot.  Little did I know that lilacs are on the list of top ten delicacies for deer.    Especially the new buds and flower buds.  I moved the surviving plants to my "tree farm" out by the road, hoping they would be harder to find mixed in amongst the trees.  The trees were a great success, but did not protect the little lilacs.  Amazingly, a few persisted, but never grew higher than 18 inches and never flowered.  A few years ago, I noticed that my apple trees were dying of old age and decided to replace them.  I know the babies would need a fence enclosure to protect them from the deer, and I started to move survivor lilacs inside the fence.  Last year I had flower buds on the tallest plant for the first time.  But the damned deer simply reached over the fence and ate the buds off!!  This year the same 5 foot bush had buds again and I strung some extra twine to discourage the deer.......

So here is the product of lots of money and 20 years of hard work planting, replanting, fencing.  Oh, and did I mention that the 4 baby apple trees planted over 3 years have all died? 

     So much for my green thumb..........

Uncle Hans