Book Description
Since it was first published in 1997, homeowners, serious gardeners, and professional nursery owners have responded enthusiastically to Deer Proofing Your Yard & Garden: 66,000 copies are in print. In the last seven years, as the deer problem in towns and suburbs has gotten worse, new solutions have presented themselves. To cope with the situation and keep up with the latest in deer control, Rhonda Hart has revised her original book, adding more than 60 pages of new material on how anyone can protect their yard and garden from deer.
As in her first edition, Hart takes a straightforward, just-the-facts approach. She tells homeowners exactly what they want to know: which commercial repellents are effective, how to make homemade deterrents, and how to create a landscape designed to repel deer.
Since the first edition was published, virtually invisible polyethylene deer netting is now widely available and almost 100 percent effective in keeping deer out of the yard. Hart has updated her chapter on fencing to include this and other new products.
Hart has also refined her plant lists to spotlight those that deer rarely touch and also to identify those plants that are less likely to be tasty targets, depending on the time of year and where you live.
The chapter on deer repellents has also been revised to rank commercial and homemade products in terms of their effectiveness and how often a new application is necessary.
This new edition provides anyone who gardens with a wide variety of deer-proofing alternatives so that at the edge of your garden, you really can say, "the buck stops here."
Customer Reviews:
Very Useful reference to coping with deer problems........2005-08-15
I found the book very informative and helpful in coping with dear problems. The deer behavior section was very close to our actual observations on our property in Roche Harbor of the Washington San Juan Islands.
The best book on the topic.......2004-03-24
This is simply an excellent book that tackles a critical wildlife management issue intelligently and without politics and rhetoric. The scope of the book and the author's skill as both a gardener and a keen observer of deer antics is impressive. As a master gardener and garden designer, I use this book in almost all my consultations because the problem is so prevalent, and because Ms. Hart provides some really smart answers to customer's questions. Though I agree with the reviewer who thought the book lacked information on more exotic or esoteric species of plants, the list of deer resistant species is quite extensive in light of the other information provided. There will probably never be an exhaustive list of deer proof plants because of harsh winters and continual clearing of natural habitats to make way for housing and commercial expansion.
Ms. Harts' suggested strategy of using deer repulsive plants around more deer desirable plantings is smart. I was able to grow my beloved tulips surrounded by alliums, whose foliage emerges as the tulips start to bud. Kudos to Ms. Hart.
Information laden and downright funny.......2000-09-07
This book is concise, well-structured and highly informative. It begins with an analysis of how deer think (if you can call it that!), and how they use their senses. The author then uses these insights to derive numerous strategies for avoiding attracting deer and deterring them if they do find your garden. These vary from what I would call defensive (avoid planting things that deer like to eat, using the exhaustive list provided as a guide - there are even some roses that deer apparently dislike!) to highly combative (electric fences, self-activated noises or sprinklers). She also offers numerous ideas for upsetting deers' reliance on their sense of smell, including stringing up highly scented soap bars, and spraying plants with homemade pepper spray or stinky egg mix! There is an edgy humor to the book that makes for a fun read. A very intelligent approach to a very exasperating problem. Buy it.
The bible of deer resistant gardening.......2000-05-14
This book has become the bible of deer resistant gardening for good reason. I have yet to find a more thorough text regarding deer behavior, deer deterrents and, deer resistant fences. If you have a deer problem you should defiantly read this book.
The one chapter that could be improved is the one entitled "Deer-o-Scaping", which discusses landscaping with deer resistant plants. The list of deer resistant plants provided in this chapter is divided into plant categories (i.e., annuals, perennials, etc...) and delineates the zones where each plant grows, as well as the plant's soil and light requirements. While this is certainly more information than I have seen provided in most deer resistant plant lists, it nevertheless assumes the reader knows what the plant looks like and is familiar with its' habit. The novice gardener will need to reference other publications to learn more about the plants in this list before he/she can plan an attractive deer resistant garden. The experienced gardener will undoubtedly wish the deer resistance of more unusual and exotic plants were discussed.
Advice for coping with 'deer' neighbors.......2000-01-03
Being new property & house owners in a suburban area adjacent to a deer wintering yard, this book provided us excellent advice on coping with our local deer population. We are planning a garden from scratch, and the information is very practical. It should help any gardener with deer in their area reduce their cost of resultant damage. The book deals with deer behavioural characteristics, and the likelihood of deer frequenting the property, as well as how to plan a deerproof garden. From plants that are detested by deer, to plants that will guarantee deer company: annual, perennial, shrub & tree choices are listed, including hardiness zone information. A range of strategies for keeping deer out of the garden is also included. The strategies go from fences to foul smelling substances to noise makers, and advice is given on the likelihood of success for each. An excellent tailorable reference book.
Book Description
Contains ingenious methods and proven techniques to prevent deer from devouring your garden and destroying your yard.
Customer Reviews:
This book got rid of my deer.......2000-11-28
I have read dozens of books on how to get rid of deer from your garden and found this one the most helpful and pleasurable to read. The author's sense of humor helps what would otherwise be a dry, boring subject. I found myself laughing and saying aloud, "Yes, he understands!"
Adler knows what a tremendous problem the overpopulation of deer has become in America, and he has gone to the best source for helping eradicate the problem in our own homes: REAL PEOPLE. I appreciated that Adler consulted with people who have tried and succeeded (or in some cases failed) to rid their yards and gardens of deer and shares with his readers how they did it.
In Maryland, where I live, we have a serious problem with deer, and I, too, was tired of wasting time and money feeding them with the best of what my garden had to offer. I employed several of Adler's suggestions and found my garden a lot more lush than ever before.
Adler hits his readers with a dose of common sense and compassion. He tells us to talk with our neighbors and try different plants to see if the specific deer in our area like to eat them or not. Deer can be as picky as your average four-year-old at the dinner table. The trick is to plant what those deer in your area will not eat.
Alder's extensive product list as well as contact information made work easy. All I had to do was pick a couple techniques I wanted to use and I was soon outsmarting these creatures.
As Adler says, no one technique will rid your homes of these ever-hungry deer, but with his helpful hints, homemade remedies, and deer-resistant plant list, I think anyone who seriously tries to outwit deer can do so with his book. I recommend buying his book today and reading it before you plant next year's spring garden.
Wonderfully helpful!.......2000-11-28
I love this book. When I bought Outwitting Deer I didn't really expect to find that much practical advice -- after all, there aren't that many things you can do to keep deer out of gardens. Or so I thought.
But I was pleasantly surprised. There is a wealth of valuable information in this book, including a lengthy list of deer-resistant plants. I also liked Adler's approach to investigating how deer are invading your garden, and using that information to outthink deer.
This book saved my garden!.......2000-11-28
I was at wit's end over deer intrusions when I got this book. It's just filled with practical advice, and fun to read, too! Unlike some other advice books, this one doesn't assume that all gardens and all gardeners are alike. There are lots of different approaches offered, and you can pick the one you think will work best for the type of garden you have created. Adler knows, too, there's no such thing as an absolutely deer-proof plant, because somewhere out there, there's a deer who will eat anything. But he definitely encouraged me to keep trying--and kept me laughing at the same time.
This book is long overdue - highly recommended.......2000-11-27
Yes, we all love Bambi, but sometimes deer can be a nuisance - eating our gardens, stomping our yards and scaring our dogs and cats. This book shows how to keep these pesky critters at bay. Offering well-researched and downright clever ploys, Outwitting Deer gives us tools and instructions to keep deer where they belong, in the woods. And there's a bonus: by keeping these wild animals in the wild and away from human habitat, they are less likely to be killed by cars and backyard hunters.
This Book Made Me Angry.......2000-09-17
When I started to read this book, I had very high hopes. Unfortunately, not only did it not meet my expectations, it made me rather angry.
The book starts out with a very fact filled, yet fun to read, discussion about deer. While the book didn't tell me much new, I felt comfortable that the author knew his subject matter, as what he was relaying I knew to be true. Unfortunately, when the book progressed to a discussion of deer resistant plants it lost credibility.
Providing a list of plants deer rarely eat that will be referenced by people throughout the United States and possibly the world is no trivial matter. Like people, deer in different regions of the world have different taste preferences. As such, I would expect such a list to contain only those plants that deer consistently tend not to eat anywhere. Plants that deer may or may not eat, depending on geography and other variables should be listed separately.
When I first saw how long the author's list of plants that deer rarely eat was, I immediately suspected something was wrong. If deer generally tended to stay away from so many plants, why was deer browsing becoming such a serious national problem? On closer scrutiny, I saw numerous plants that deer absolutely love to eat in much of the United States listed. For example, the author included the following deer delicacies in his list of plants deer rarely eat: tulips (Tulipa spp.), daylilys (Hemerocallis spp.), rose-of-sharon (Hibiscus syriacus), ivy (Hedera spp.) and plantain lily (Hosta sieboldiana).
To make matters worse, the author then cites another reference that recommends homeowners "plant a selection of deer pleasing greens around the perimeter of the garden". The intent here is that the deer will eat the plants they like and leave the rest of the garden alone. Unfortunately, most homeowners with a serious deer browsing problem know that unless you have several acres of land, planting things the deer actually like anywhere near your garden only serves to invite the deer into the garden, where they will promptly eat all but the things they absolutely hate. The author clearly states in his book, "An adult elk can eat up to thirty pounds of food daily, and a moose can eat up to fifty pounds." It is also well known and stated by the author that deer travel and live in herds. If the average homeowner with a serious deer browsing problem followed the author's advice, he or she would have to bring in truck loads of deer pleasing greens to insure the deer didn't mosey on over to the rest of the garden!
Given the growing magnitude of the deer browsing problem in the United States, it is rather disturbing to read such inappropriate advise. In addition to the millions of dollars of crops destroyed by deer each year, millions of homeowners have individually lost hundreds and thousands of dollars of landscaping. Some of these homeowners, in search of sound advise, will buy this book. While no one is perfect, it is irresponsible to sell such ill advised advise to the public.
Book Description
More and more, homeowners and gardeners throughout rural and suburban America have been forced to deal with a growing menace...Deer! From coast to coast, deer have developed quite an appetite for almost anything growing in our landscapes and gardens.
Book Description
Contrary gardener Gene Logsdon has found an imaginative way to introduce gardeners to a more total enjoyment of nature--fauna as well as flora. What gardeners consider pests (rabbits devouring petunias, deer browsing the morning glories), Logsdon views as just more of nature's wonders, and teaches us, intimately and lyrically, to live together with them in harmony. If you're not yet familiar with the wonderful musings of Gene Logsdon, this is a perfect introduction.
Customer Reviews:
Disappointed.......2000-04-21
I appreciate Mr.Logsdon's writing abililty. In fact, I was enjoying the book immensely until I got to the part about killing the raccoon, which happens to be the animal I wanted to learn to get along with. I think the title is very misleading. I wanted to know how to get along with my backyard neighbors, and not by killing them. To top it all, he actually gave recipes for raccoon dishes. Like I said, it was quite enjoyable until this part, but I feel there are much more pleasant ways to get along with our backyard neighbors. I don't offend easily, but this title does not fit the entire contents of the book.
Best if sipped like fine, Kentucky bourbon.......1999-11-19
Gene does a fine job wrestling with this immense topic. As a house owner on the remotest fringe of suburbia, I can attest to the accuracy of the observations in his book.
Wildlife in the Garden has many characteristics in common with Gene's other writing. Some of the most enjoyable lines are his observations on human nature. Another characteristic of Gene's writing is the density. He packs many observations, facts, vignettes in each essay. This is not pulp fiction that you can bolt down in an afternoon. It is best taken in small bites and savored. This book is likely to have a long tenure in our private Imhof memorial library.
Lest you think the book is perfect (By the way Gene, thanks for the check) I do have a few *minor* quibbles.
A bibliography would have been a fine addition.
Some of the material seems to be a bit elementary. Many people who are starting to landscape for wildlife want a paint-by-numbers approach. Gene probably had to do that to serve their needs.
Gene tends to be a bit emphatic about The Right Way To Do Things, but that will only bother the feeble-minded. (I won't let it bother me. I won't let it bother me. I won't let it bother me.)
This book was first published in 1983. Gene's writing style has changed in that time. The book reads more smoothly when taken in sips and nibbles. But that is perfectly OK because this is the kind of book that wants to be read slowly.
Let me emphasize that these are *minor* quibbles and I enjoyed the book.
(Final note for those who are hooked up to public sewerage, the septic tank was invented by an engineer named Imhof)
Book Description
The best, foolproof ways to prevent deer from ruining your gardens and shrubs.
Product Description
Gardening magazine filled with tips and ideas includes 101+ homegrown ideas & tips, Extend your harvest, beat the heat, Best Bet Sunflowers for your yard, Dirt Cheap Container Gardens, and more
Average customer rating:
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Product Description
9 charted designs for trophy bucks
Product Description
8 charted designs for deer lovers and hunters
Book Description
It may be America’s game, but no one seems to know how or when baseball really started. Theories abound, myths proliferate, but reliable information has been in short supply—until now, when Baseball before We Knew It brings fresh new evidence of baseball’s origins into play. David Block looks into the early history of the game and of the 150-year-old debate about its beginnings. He tackles one stubborn misconception after another, debunking the enduring belief that baseball descended from the English game of rounders and revealing a surprising new explanation for the most notorious myth of all—the Abner Doubleday–Cooperstown story.
Block’s book takes readers on an exhilarating journey through the centuries in search of clues to the evolution of our modern National Pastime. Among his startling discoveries is a set of long-forgotten baseball rules from the 1700s. Block evaluates the originality and historical significance of the Knickerbocker rules of 1845, revisits European studies on the ancestry of baseball which indicate that the game dates back hundreds, if not thousands of years, and assembles a detailed history of games and pastimes from the Middle Ages onward that contributed to baseball’s development. In its thoroughness and reach, and its extensive descriptive bibliography of early baseball sources, this book is a unique and invaluable resource—a comprehensive, reliable, and readable account of baseball before it was America’s game.
Customer Reviews:
An in-depth study of baseball and its historical roots.......2006-04-06
Baseball Before We Knew It: A Search For The Roots Of The Game by baseball historian and expert David Block is a well researched, expertly written, inherently interesting, reader engaging, in-depth study of baseball and its historical roots. Baseball's actual origin is in Europe and Baseball Before We Knew It resents a wry and informative authorship of Block's intricate study of the great 'American' sport. Baseball Before We Knew It is very highly recommended reading for baseball fans and students sports history for its invaluable documentation and seminal, groundbreaking collection of information compiled and comprised to create what may easily be seen as the ultimate book of baseball. No personal, academic or community library Sports History collection can be considered complete or comprehensive without the inclusion of David Block's Baseball Before We Knew It!
WOWSER! All This and Occultists, too!.......2006-04-05
Having just been to Block's talk at the Harold Washington Library in Chicago, this reader got an eeyeful and an earful, bought the book and began reading it on the "el" on the way home and kept reading far too long into the wee hours of the morning.
Althought I'd like to have seen some of the compelling documents that were at Block's library presentation included in this volume, as a reference book on the incredible linkages to the game of baseball, Block's work is fascinating and as he said, still ongoing.
I'm a SABR member, too, as well as the Executive director of The Old Timers' Baseball Association of Chicago. sorry, I've never heard of the 1972 book that the sole negative reviewer mentioned, but this award-winning hunt for the origins of baseball takes odd turns throughout history, and while it may not be worth a hill of beans to fans in the Cubs bleachers today, for researchers, this is a great mystery that will, no doubt, be ripped off endlessly by hack writers for decades to come.
Kudos to ya, Dave; if this is your first big dig, I'm stoked to see what you unearth next!
Very interesting new material.......2006-03-08
The author seems to be primarily engaged in trying to debunk three myths: (1) that Gen. Abner Doubleday invented the game, (2) that the real inventor was Alexander J. Cartwright of the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club, and (3) that the game developed from the English game of rounders.
For the first, there has already been so much evidence that Doubleday had nothing in particular to do with baseball, so it would seem there was little more that could be said, except that, in fact, the author finds out some interesting evidence that he believes to be the main reason that A. G. Spalding might have favored Doubleday's claim-- that Spalding and Doubleday were both adherents of the same religious cult!
Regarding the Cartwright claim, the author has much less to say. He accepts that the Knickerbocker Rules were an important step in the development of baseball, but in addition he states that there is evidence that Cartwright's role in developing those rules was less significant than has been believed. And he shows that organized baseball games occured before the adoption of the Knickerbocker Rules.
It is in debunking the third "myth," I think, where the author strains to do something undeserved. So the name "rounders" does not seem to have been used prior to the nineteenth century. But the author admits that "rounders" was simply a name that has come to be assigned to an earlier English game, and that baseball developed from that game. The difference between that and the "myth" he is trying to debunk is minimal. If you really think it makes a difference between saying "baseball developed from rounders" and "baseball evolved from a number of games, but the most important was the game now known in England as 'rounders,'" you can accept this book's argument. I don't see it that way; to me "developed from rounders" and "developed from the game now known as rounders" are not significantly different.
But the book is interesting. It should be in your possession if you're interested in baseball, and especially in its history.
Pushing Back the Perameters.......2006-01-22
I have just read a number of rave reviews for Baseball Before We Knew It, so I won't try to outdo them. But I am a member of SABR and interested in tracing the development of 19th century uniforms and caps. I had email contact with Mr. Block before he finished his book, so my anticipation was high, and now I can say my expectations were more than met. From a practical and special point of view, I can now hang my "uniforms" on Block's chronological reconstruction, knowing that not every issue is settled, but that wide new vistas have been opened for my own research. His chronological flow chart toward the back is most helpful for the historian. Now we need to watch a good documentary movie on the Discovery Channel, so we can "see" what a game of ball looked in the Middle Ages. Would Kevin Kostner be interested?
Great job, David Block!
Jim "Batman" Battenfield of California
Breaking new ground.......2005-10-17
I was initially not going to write a review of this book, as there are already many justly praising it. The one negative review, however, saying that this book has little in it not in Harold Peterson's "The Man Who Invented Baseball" (published over thirty years ago) gave me pause. On one level it is clearly true. I remember as a boy my father telling me about Alexander Cartwright and the New York Knickerbockers, and dismissing the Abner Doubleday story. I don't know that he read Peterson's book, but the timing is right and Peterson did popularize the Cartwright story. This provoked me to dig out my out copy of Peterson and read it for the first time in many years. I can now definitively assure you that David Block is most certainly not just recycling Peterson's book.
They agree that there were earlier versions of ball-and-stick games, which they discuss, and that the version of the game that has come down to us as modern baseball was standardized by the Knickerbocker club.
That may make it look like they have similar theses, but they really do not. Peterson's thesis is right there in his title: someone invented baseball and he knows who it was. Earlier versions were fundamentally different from the Knickerbocker game, and the Knickerbocker game was the product one man's flash of genius. Earlier games are discussed, but they don't really matter, since the Knickerbocker game is taken as being so different. The discussions of earlier games mostly are there to discredit the Doubleday story, which typically has predecessor games being even more primitive than in the Cartwright story
Block's goal is also named in his title: he is seeking baseball's roots. The Knickerbocker game is part of a story that began centuries earlier. Earlier versions aren't a distraction, they are the story. Only by knowing what came before can we see what the Knickerbockers did and didn't do: what parts of their game were selections from an existing menu of options and what parts were true innovations. It turns out to be far more interesting than any myth of a heroic lone genius.
Why should we believe Block rather than Peterson? Peterson's is a book with no footnotes, but with detailed descriptions of events down to quoted conversations. Even if the events were found in histories that actually cited sources, we would know that this is fiction. Peterson probably considered it putting a human face on the story. I consider it making stuff up. He does that a lot. The chapters on early ball-and-stick games are a mish-mash of solid data, poorly understood facts, and utter fiction. So it is that he can, on adjacent pages, give two contradictory accounts of the origin of cricket. He has a story to tell and he isn't going to let facts get in the way. Block's book started out as an annotated bibliography of early baseball sources and Block is meticulous about documentation. When he is forced to interpret beyond the actual evidence he tells us this. You come away knowing exactly what is really known and what is educated guesswork. It is honest history.
I rarely give five stars in my reviews, but I have no qualms about doing so here. The book is quite simply the important book on the subject published in my lifetime. It may be surpassed some day, but that day isn't likely to be soon. For the foreseeable future this is the one book to own if you have any interest in the origins of baseball.
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- Eating Apes (California Studies in Food and Culture, 6)
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