Mammals versus My Garden
This year I will finally be able to have a real garden, not just a few plants on a 3rd-story fire escape. I'm excited, but concerned that I'll just lose everything right off the bat due to the high number of deer, squirrels, and other furry neighbors
( Read more... )
Deer - Get fencing as soon as you can. If ti is a money issue, go with the cheapest stuff you can get at about $20/100 ft at home despot in the spring. Use rebar for the fence posts. It will only last a year or two, but it will protect it for now. Another solution that I have come up with is to put tomato cages around the outside of an area, then I use clothespins to attach 5 ft wide clear plastic to the tops of them. I have never had a deer go past this "fence" to do any munching on my chiles and tomatoes.
One other thing that may go against the grain for a lot of gardeners, I plant a plot away from my garden with a mix of plants that deer really like. Buckwheat, field peas, soybeans, mustards, etc. They browse your garden because they are hungry, give them what they want elsewhere and they won't work so hard to get into your garden. None of the other methods will keep them out of your garden if they are really hungry.
Get a dog and let it run near your garden.
Squirrels don't cause me any problems other than with my fruit and nut trees. They keep out of the veggie garden. Rabbits nibble on a few of the greens, but never cause that much damage. Voles have gone after the carrots, but even then it is less than 10% of the crop.
Other than deer, I would list cats using my garden as a litter box as the biggest mammal problem. They love a nice soft new seedbed.
Out here in the Pacific Northwest, slugs cause more problems than all the other pests combined.
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment