It worked! Wire mesh, crocus and squirrels.

17 years ago

I gave up on crocus a long time ago as the squirrels always dug and ate the bulbs immediately despite chemical repellents. In 07 I tried putting landscape blocks on top of new plantings, but over the winter most must have rotted. I only got to see a few bloom.

But hope springs eternalÂ

Following advice here last fall, I tried again. I put hardware cloth (the Â½ inch square mesh, green vinyl coated kind) over the newly planted bulbs. In with the crocus I planted other squirrel favorites, though those bloom later. I planted in small sections, like 5 x 10, and cut a piece to cover the area and pinned it down with landscape staples. (It seemed like it would be a lot of work, but it was much easier to cut than I expected with tin snips.) I removed it a week ago. Since it doesnÂt rust I can use it again.

And now I see crocus leaves coming up. LOTS of them! It worked, it worked, it worked! Oh happy day!

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Comments (8)

e36yellowm3
17 years ago
Congrats linnea - how exciting. I'm glad you found a way around those squirrels. Now do you have to worry about deer eating the leaves? This year for me they've bitten them right down to the ground - post bloom at least! Alana
linnea56 (zone 5b Chicago)
Original Author
17 years ago
No, fortunately no deer here. The rabbits and squirrels are bad enough! The rabbits are making big inroads on my early tulips. They have not budded yet but some have already been mowed to the ground. I tried grating Irish Spring soap around them yesterday: thatÂs something new IÂm going to try: read about it here last year. Not sure how deer feel about it.
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stimpy926
17 years ago
I think it's bunnies that eat my crocus foliage. Spray them and they'll stop. I am now using a combination of either eggs/water/mint extract, or eggs/water/hot sauce, in a large pump sprayer. Strain the egg/water solution before you put in sprayer bottle to aleviate clogging of the sprayer holes.
kimcoco
17 years ago
Linnea, I'm glad your bulbs came up. I just planted tulip bulbs this past fall, but luckily my timing was perfect just before the snow storms hit, so squirrels never had time to dig. And, I think it helps that I have only a tiny strip of soil between my driveway and house, so the area is a little more protected. I have a ton of tulips coming up - I just hope I get to see some blooms, I'm so excited as this is my first with bulbs.
veryzer
17 years ago
I just noticed my crocus have been mowed down (presumably by rabbits). I bought a product called "deer off" or "deer out". Can anyone vouch for it?
prairiemoon2 z6b MA
17 years ago
I did the same thing this year. I had planted crocus in '07 and the squirrels dug them up and I never saw a one. So I cut hardware cloth and laid it on the ground where I planted the bulbs and just anchored it with bricks. Everything came up...then I discovered, B&B sent me the wrong crocus. lol Oh well...hope springs eternal to get it right next year. At least I have crocus. :-)
nick4u1
16 years ago
Ive been using a lot of mesh expect I get some really fine stuff that almost looks see through, perplexed squirrel anyone?

Here is a link that might be useful: wire mesh
Earth_Healer
13 years ago
Unfortunately barriers are about the only reasonable way to go. My wife had the same problem losing almost all her crocus due to squirrels. I too had experience with this and having them dig up various bulbs out at my moms so I took a piece of metal rabbit fencing wire and cut a small square with the barbs poking around the edges and put them over any bulbs that I wanted to plant. I hid them a bit with mulch over the squares. This worked perfectly and is what I'd recommend to those who are frustrated with this persistent problem. Nice thing is these square barriers can be used over and over again making it pretty economical.