Question
During this past winter deer have stripped the leaves from my English ivy groundcover with the result being long leafless vines.
What action should I take to refurbish, etc. the vines? Your advice will be appreciated. Tks

Answer
Hi, Richard, I'm sorry to hear about your deer problem!  They are lovely creatures, but they do seem to regard our gardens as irresistible buffets.  And they will eat anything (including holly and other spiny/thorny plants) if they're hungry enough.  Ivy is a tasty treat for them, as the leaves are nice and soft.  Once they strip the leaves, however, the plant is unable to photosynthesize nutrients via exposure to sunlight.  The good news is that Helix hedera (English ivy) is a very tough vine (in fact, in many areas it is regarded as an invasive plant and nearly impossible to eradicate).  It will come back, assuming that there are leaves on it SOMEWHERE.  Now, about those deer: you need to deter them, obviously.  There are physical barriers, like fences, but most gardeners opt for a more "scenic" approach, and that usually involves chemicals.  Some people swear by folk remedies such as hanging bars of soap (Irish Spring seems to be a favorite!) from nearby deer-level branches, or cutting the lower legs off old pantyhose and stuffing them with hair-clippings gathered at the neighborhood barbershop; the idea is that the human scent will scare the deer away.  Other gardeners sprinkle dried blood (available in 5- and 10-lb. bags at nurseries) or bottled fox/coyote urine around the beds they want to protect - again, the smell is the deterrent.  There are also several deer repellents on the market that are based on rotten eggs.  The good news: all these products are organic, and if you use them for a long enough stretch, perhaps that will "train" the deer to look for food elsewhere. The bad news: they do smell awful (though only close-up, really) and they all need to be reapplied after a heavy rain. Good luck with the ivy, Richard, and Happy Spring.