Gardening in Tahoe Donner®…

Beginner’s Luck…

Last Fall we had the good fortune to have access to a back hoe and Robbie, much to his delight, was able to dig multiple holes in our backyard for tree planting.

As soon as the snow melted, we started visiting nurseries (www.villagernursery.com), walking the neighborhood to check out what plants were successfully growing in our neighbor’s yards and then we started experimenting.

We planted an Amur Maple tree, two Chokecherry trees, a Blue Spruce, a Red Maple tree, several Mugo Pines and many Red Twig Dogwoods. The first day, we worked around the clock preparing the soil with mulch and planting the trees with as much care as our knowledge (limited) provided. We went to bed that night – weary. I woke up the next morning, dashed out into the backyard, with anticipation, only to find that the Deer had discovered our “new garden” and ate all of the leaves from the Dogwoods. We have since learned, and accept, that the Deer are part of the challenge of gardening in most places!

Several weeks later, the Deer no longer pester us and the leaves are growing back and we are delighted at our gardening success! If we can do it – anyone can!