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Mountain laurel11/9/2022 The good news is that deer stay away from Mountain Laurel, so minimal protection is really needed until the shrubs reach maturity. The key to having any sort of success with these methods is to change it up on a regular basis. Cages of hardware cloth and contractor stakes are useful to protect young trees and shrubs until they mature and out-grow deer browsing. Deer often learn to tolerate ultrasonic alarms, repellent sprays, and sound makers. Check with your city or municipality to find out if electric fencing is zoned for your neighborhood. Electric fencing will help to deter deer from entering an area. Deer can and will easily jump fences lower than 8 feet. Any fence needs to be at least 8-feet tall. Arbutin and andromedotoxin are released from the leaves and stems, making this shrub highly toxic to most mammals.įull protection from deer is only guaranteed by fully fencing in the garden or whole property. Eating the leaves will immediately cause an unpleasant burning in the deer's mouth, and it will move on to another plant. The part of the shrub most often reported as being damaged by deer are the flowers. The scale goes from Rarely Damaged to Frequently Severely Damaged. Use care when walking in this open space area because the trails are steep, their surfaces are generally rocky, and they’re often slippery.No plants are 100% safe from a little nibble here or there, especially in the winter or during periods of drought, but Mountain Laurel is one of the broadleaf evergreens that deer regularly ignore in favor of tastier treats.Īccording to Rutgers University, Mountain Laurel is " Occasionally Damaged" on its 4-part scale of deer damage. There’s also a shorter “blue” trail near the property’s eastern boundary and the entrance to the area from Holly Dale Road. Then you can turn around and walk back on the same trail or follow the yellow trail back. You can also walk directly north on the “red” trail that follows the floor of the ravine, alongside the stream course, for a distance that’s less than ¼-mile. Mountain laurel full#You can do a full loop of about 8/10 of a mile that will involve climbing and traversing some fairly steep slopes. Either way, you’ll soon be walking up onto the higher ground of the slopes that are found on both sides of the stream course. When you walk into the open space area, you can turn right or left to follow the “yellow” loop trail. Some of the birds you’re likely to see include grouse, cardinals, oven birds, mocking birds, sparrows, and woodpeckers. Other mammals that frequent the area include squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks, opossum, raccoon, and skunk. The mountain laurel thickets provide winter cover for deer, turkeys, and song birds. There’s a small meadow near Mountain Laurel Road at the entrance to the open space area.īuttercup, partridge berry, smartweed, pokeweed, bittersweet, and spotted touch me-not are among the wildflowers that you will see in the area. The forest floor is composed of brier, raspberry, viburnum, and various herbaceous plants. The under-story is made up of mostly spicebush and dogwood along with some dense thickets of the open space area’s characteristic mountain laurel. The area is almost entirely forested with mature hardwood species including oaks, maples, and tulip trees with some birch trees mixed in too. The area’s highest elevations are between 200 and 250 feet above sea level on the western hillside. The land rises steeply on either side of the stream and there are several high, rocky overlooks affording scenic views of the forested landscape. An unnamed stream flows almost directly south through the center of the area, eventually draining into the Mill River. The open space area is essentially a big ravine. It’s now managed by the Conservation Commission to protect its forest habitat and other natural values and to provide opportunities for walking and hiking and passive enjoyment of the natural environment. This property was acquired by the Town in 1966 and dedicated for conservation purposes. There’s currently no parking here and this access is used by neighborhood residents. The main entrance to the area is from Mountain Laurel Road where there’s space for a few cars to park carefully along the north side of the road.Īnother point of access is from the Town right-of-way at the end of Holly Dale Road. The area is surrounded by residential neighborhoods and its southern boundary adjoins Mountain Laurel Road. The river and Black Rock Turnpike are a short distance to the east. It includes about 24 mostly forested acres south of the Merritt Parkway, just west of the Samp Mortar Rock Open Space Area and not too far from the Lake Mohegan Open Space Area. This open space area in the Mill River watershed is in the central part of Fairfield. Hiking, wildlife conservation, wetland protection Mountain Laurel Open Space Area Acquired:
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