Wildlife

17 years ago

I've been reading the rabbit thread, and it's HILARIOUS. :-) You guys are fun.

As a newbie to the gardening thing, I have a "is this good enough" question about my set up.

I live in a city, yet my yard is full of wildlife. It's really fun to see 5+ types of birds every day, and to watch the squirrels chase each other around the trees. I'm looking forward to seeing baby bunnies this spring, as I know we have several living in our yard. Add into the mix at least one skunk (which no longer resides under my shed - thank goodness) random neighborhood cats, and a few chipmunks, and we have quite the exciting menagarie outside.

But I want a vegetable garden. I've had the squirrels dig up all of the bulbs I planted last fall (no purple tulips for me :-(), and the single tomato plant from last summer was eaten before I ever got a tomato. I've prepared the area using the "lasagna gardening" technique, and am currently waiting for the real springtime so that I can get started.

My plan for "animal" (more than just bunnies...a variety of different sized animals with varying ways of entering the garden) control is such:

1. A chicken wire fence, 4' high, with the "L" shaped bend at the ground.

2. Used cat litter (without the poop) around the perimeter of the garden. I will be careful to keep the litter far away from the food! Luckily, used litter is plentiful around my house, so I can reapply frequently.

3. The garden is under the window where one of the cats spends most of her days. Hopefully, her presence will deter some vermin.

4. The dog and one of the cats frequently come outside with me. I never leave them unattended, but hopefully their scents will hang around.

5. I will hang old CDs on the nearby tress, and from the fence, in the hopes of scaring off aviatory attacks on my veggies.

Any other ideas? I tend to do things as naturally and cheaply as possible, but I'm open to all kinds of suggestions. The squirrels are my biggest concern...they're very destructive, and have all kinds of ways of infiltraing the garden.

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Comments (3)

gumby_ct
17 years ago
Do you know what ate your tomato plant? Could it have been a cut worm?

Squirrels are prob the hardest to keep out. Unless you leave a dog out there 24/7 about all you can do is make a wire screen from 1/2in hardware cloth. Another thing I've used is raspberry canes or rosebush trimmings layed across the young seedlings. It seems they are not into pain any more than we are ;-)

You might consider using predator urine for some of the other critters tho nothing seems to phase skunks, coons, deer, or squirrels.

I have tried the hanging CD's. The only thing they did was to scare me everytime I saw them flashing. They sure don't seem to scare any animals.

Just hope you don't get a woodchuck.

Don't know why you think a cat or dog will help any - esp. if it's not helping now.
bagardens (Ohio, Zone 5b)
17 years ago
I have never had a squirrel bother anything in my garden, not to say for sure that they wouldn't, and I can definitely see them digging up bulbs. I wouldn't worry about them causing much trouble, but rabbits would do some damage for sure. Your chicken wire fence so work fine. That is exactly what we did for all our gardens. Although somehow, I have no idea how, one rabbit has somehow managed to get in the garden the past two years. By the time it got in there almost everything was done and to large for it to do any damage, so I didn't really care. It puzzles me how exactly it got in there I have never found any holes under the fence where it could have gotten in, maybe it managed to get in when I had the gate open (the only thing I can think of). I would suggest to dig a small trench fold over the fence and cover it with dirt so that nothing can sneak under it (because they certainly can). I am not sure if that is what you meant about an ""L" shaped bend at the ground", but that is what I would recommend to do.

I have two dogs and the rabbits do not seem to mind going where my dogs have done their business. In fact one made a home during the winter in the same area that my dogs do their business. They do not seem to care. Now the deer are a different story they seem to stay away from that area, and will eat the apples from every other tree besides the one in that area. So I would recommend that you do not just rely on your pets to keep the animals away from the garden (not that it wouldn't hurt to try), and should put up the fence.
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mindiloohoo
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks!
The pets outside are more of a backup...the cat hasn't been out yet at the new house, so she might make a difference.

I'm sure it wasn't cutworm...the tomatoes would be ripening one day, and the next I'd go out to pick, and they'd be gone. :-) After they were all gone, I went out to find it half eaten one day, and the next it was completely gone. Depressing but amusing.

Thanks for the rosebush cane idea! We have an old, mostly dead bush in the back of the yard that I'm going to prune back once it's warmer out. That's a great way to reuse the old canes!