Everyone enjoys beautiful, bountiful gardens. Unfortunately, hungry little critters love them, too. Keeping your harvest safe from sniffing noses and digging paws can be a challenge. Fortunately, there are several humane ways to keep common pests away from your fruit, flowers and vegetables.
Use Mesh Fences
Small animals are sneaky and often find creative ways to enter your garden. One of the easiest ways to keep pests such as rabbits, raccoons, squirrels and possums away is to install durable fences around your garden beds. Purchase a fence that can stand several feet above your plants. To deter ground critters, select a fence that features small openings so that the furry friends can’t wriggle their way through. Bury the bottom portion several inches beneath the ground to prevent digging. Plenty of animals are natural diggers and will try to go underneath to get access. If your fence goes deep enough, you’ll be more successful in keeping the diggers out.
Raise Your Garden Beds
If small pests are a large problem, raised garden beds are another option. For this, choose a style and height that will keep your plants safely out of the reach of rabbits. For extra protection, add some poultry netting around your raised structures. Make sure the protective covers you use aren’t smashing your plants or keeping them from the sunlight. Putting netting around the borders of the plants will keep the critters out, while still giving your plants some room to breathe.
Plant Natural and Artificial Borders
If fences are too inconvenient, you can plant a border of foliage around your garden. Be sure to include foliage that is not appealing to animals. Daffodils, for example, are disliked by common thieves such as rabbits and squirrels, so planting them around your precious garden will help keep them at bay. Deer-resistant plants such as goldenrod, holly and yarrow can also be effective for your larger friends of the forest. Artificial trees are another great way to deter deer. One they bite into the fake foliage, they’ll likely be disinterested in pursuing anything in your garden because of the taste, and due to the fact that they can’t actually eat it. You can try planting silk trees, unpleasant-tasting flowers and deer-resistant shrubs around the perimeter of your garden to deter both small and large intruders.
Create Chaos
Use sight and sound to your advantage. For example, raccoons are not fond of being near people. To deal with fearful critters, place a loud radio in your garden. Turn it on a few nights a week at random intervals. The voices and sounds will keep animals from getting too close. If birds are a problem, place plastic decoy balloons in your yard. The bright red eyes are designed to trick birds into thinking the balloon is a predator. Lastly, very few animals like moving parts and loud noises. Consider placing a motion-sensitive sprinkler in the center of your garden that will spray water and frighten curious critters.
Keeping your harvest beautiful while peacefully dealing with animals isn’t too difficult if you implement the above cautionary tips. Always keep in mind that humane methods for dealing with animals are best. Installing fences, planting borders and using safe scare tactics will ensure your garden stays lovely and pest-free without having to set traps and unnecessarily hurt any precious creatures.
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