repot them.. and enjoy them elsewhere ..

sometimes you jsut cant or dont win ... and god knows why ...

if you rake the soil just before dark ... pull back mulch if need be.. sometimes you can get a paw print ... for an ID ... presuming you dont want to spend money on a trail camera ...

also keep an eye out int eh general garden for scat ... if you suspecions are right.. it would look like this .. yuck.. right?? ..lol ....

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffnt&q=raccoon+scat&iax=images&ia=images

first pic is exactly what it looks like in mulberry season ..

ken

I know. Can't live with em can't live without em. I don't want to disturb what appears to be their "territory". I have a large mostly wooded space and have seen racoons and wood chucks in my hard before...as well as squirrells. They dug up newly planted Mexican heather three times but have now moved on to the dianthus. Sigh. More cayenne pepper. Mothballs. Irish Spring soap? LOL. Thanks. :)

Cage the plant until it is established.

Btw, things like hot pepper are used on a plant to discourage animals from eating the plant. Diggers don’t care.

Keep the soil well watered if possible. It's been working for me this year. It seems the critters prefer dry fluffy soil vs soil that's wet and heavy