Bambi may be cute, but he can be a total nuisance in your winter garden. Learning how to protect your garden from animals keeps your plants safe and protects all your hard work..
Why You Should Protect Your Garden from Wildlife
We love admiring wildlife from afar, but it’s a different story when they are eating your veggies and destroying your landscape. While wildlife is a beautiful part of gardening and nature, there are preventative measures to keep them away from your beloved plants. Here are a few general rules-of-thumb to safeguard your garden from wildlife:
Keep your yard tidy. Debris like leaf and wood piles are an invitation for wildlife to find shelter in.
Be aware of what wildlife like to eat and avoid growing it or storing it on your property.
Secure your garbage and compost areas with lids and covers.
Create fencing to keep out critters.
Build your landscape with wildlife in mind. Use raised beds, create solid fencing, and plant critter-resistant varieties.
Protect Your Garden from Deer
While deer are known as beautiful and majestic creatures, you may not be a big fan when they are damaging your young trees and eating your favorite foliage. Wrap the stem of young trees in burlap or use a plastic tree guard to protect them from deer antlers. Deer will eat just about anything with a soft texture, so keep an eye on your bushes and broadleaf evergreens; stake and shelter them in burlap, or create some fencing around the shrubs. Deer repellent is effective but will need to be reapplied regularly, and be sure it’s waterproof.
For an organic method, you can try scare tactics, no not ghosts, but shiny ribbons hung from trees may give them a fright. You may need to move around the ribbons regularly so they don’t grow used to the same placement. If deer are becoming a reoccurring nuisance in your yard, you may want to start planting some deer-resistant plants.
Juniper
Boxwood
Yucca
Columbine
Barberry
Rudbeckia
With these tips, you will protect your garden from hungry wildlife.
Protect Your Garden from Rabbits
Methods for protecting your garden from rabbits can be quite similar to deer, even down to similar plants to deter them. Many chemical deterrents for deer are also effective for rabbits. Because rabbits are quite small, the best way to protect your garden from these animals is to create a physical barrier through fencing or cages.
You should be proactive in eliminating hiding places for them to live and have babies. Groundcover plants like Ajuga and Vinca major will repel rabbits. However, you might also consider some reverse psychology, so to speak—grow clover and violets: a favorite of rabbits. That way, the rabbits will feast on your weeds instead of your precious plants.
Protect Your Garden from Squirrels and Rodents
Squirrels are quite entertaining creatures, especially on bleak winter days, but they can really take a toll on your plants and even your hardscaping. Squirrels will nibble at many crops and even chew through wires and other non-herbaceous items. As with other types of wildlife, having cages and wire around your garden beds is the easiest and most effective way to protect your plants.
Give them water. If squirrels are snacking on veggies or berries in your yard, they may just be thirsty. Fresh, clean water may prevent some of their destruction.
Deer and rabbit repellent will also likely be effective on rodents and squirrels.
Your dog or cat may keep squirrels at bay.
Supply them with their own food in their own feeder: peanuts, seeds, and corn are a favorite.
With respect and preventative measures, you can keep your shrubs, trees, and perennials safe from wildlife. For more information on how you can protect your garden from animals in Allentown, come visit us!