There’s nothing worse than dealing with a pesky animal that got into your garden. Your fresh fruits and vegetables get chewed on. Entire rows of carrots go missing. The leaves on your trees and shrubbery have tooth marks on them. Yes, these animals can cause quite a bit of damage, both to your edible crops and your ornamental ones. Thankfully, we have some solutions for you.
Fencing
In most cases, a fence will keep these critters at bay. It will prevent many large types of wildlife from even getting near your garden. With that said, some, like raccoons, can scale metal chain link fencing, and others, such as moles and groundhogs, will tunnel under it. Fencing isn’t a perfect solution, but if you’re dealing with deer and their kinfolk, it works quite nicely.
Related Article: Protecting the Garden From Animals
Keep Outdoor Cats Away
While outdoor cats are usually friendly and will come up to you for some head scratches, they’ll also use your garden as a litter box. This isn’t the type of fertilizer that you need. You can keep cats at bay with citrus scented items like sprays and fruit peels. They may still come up to you, but won’t leave deposits in your garden anymore. Other cat repellents include pipe tobacco, coffee grounds, mustard oil, citronella oil, lemongrass oil, and even lavender oil.
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Hot Sauce Will Repel Deer and Raccoons
There’s one thing that both deer and raccoons have in common – they hate the taste of hot sauce. (Oh, and they’ll go after the same plants, for the most part. That’s two points of commonality.) In order to repel these critters, you’ll have to make a concoction of water and hot sauce. Fill a spray bottle with water and drop in some hot sauce, powdered cayenne pepper, and even flakes of red pepper. Basically, every spicy substance that you find in your kitchen – dissolve them in the water. Then, spray your homemade pepper spray on your plants. The raccoons and deer won’t nibble on them anymore. If you use the spray on your edibles, just wash them well before eating them. You’ll also need to reapply your pepper spray after a rainstorm.
Deter Moles with Mothballs
Moles aren’t necessarily the type of pests who’ll end up eating all of your vegetables. You might find them nibbling on some greens, but for the most part, their damage takes place under the ground. They can destabilize your garden’s soil fairly quickly. Since moles tunnel, they can destroy entire root systems or leave your garden without enough depth. You’ll begin to see these sections collapse in on themselves as you begin to wonder why your plants aren’t thriving. Mothballs and some patience is the best solutions here. Why patience? Because you’ll need to figure out where the moles are coming from. You may have to hunt around your yard looking for the end of one of their tunnels. Once you find that entry point (or exit point, who knows with a mole), pour some mothballs into it. The moles will steer clear of that particular tunnel.
Use the Aluminum Pie Plate Method
The aluminum pie plate method is inexpensive and very effective. There’s a reason why gardeners have been practicing it for years. It involves punching holes at the tops of the pie plates and stringing twine through them. Use the twine to tie them to your fence. The wildlife will be deterred by their shininess and the light they reflect. The pie plates will also make some noise on windy days, which will help keep those critters away.
