Laurel Main Street Festival 2014

Laurel held its annual Main Street Festival on May 10th with the parade starting at 9 AM.

Greenfest: Deterring Deer

One of the most useful events at Howard County Greenfest 2013 was the presentation by the University of Maryland's Master Gardener Kent Phillips, "Deterring Deer and Other Critters."

That's a guilty look if I ever saw one

About 80 people attended an hour-long presentation packed with information about how gardeners and homeowners can prevent their plants from being eaten by wild animals.

Some highlights:

• Deer will eat anything if the population is high and they're hungry enough. Deer will walk through and sample everything, staying away from resistant plants until there's nothing else to eat. 
• Howard County has lots of woods incorporated into the Columbia-proper area. Deer sleep in the woods, then come out and eat everything.
• Sustainable deer population is 15-20 per square mile. Howard County has 10,000 deer or 40/square mile, double the sustainable population. An aerial infrared study in 2009 found 90 deer in a 0.2 square mile area (450/square mile) in one location in Elkridge.