Garden experts revealed a trick that might seem a bit unorthodox but will actually come in handy for those growing crops. Protecting your plants from pests can be one of the most challenging aspects of gardening, as it is something you cannot entirely control. However, there are ways to deter uninvited guests from entering your gardening patches, and this method simply involves a bunch of plastic forks.
Positioning a plastic fork in the soil of your vegetable patch can help prevent pests, including mice, squirrels, rabbits and foxes, from getting hold of and ruining your crops this winter.
According to Ideal Home, the utensil creates a physical barrier around the plants, making it uncomfortable for certain pests, like squirrels, rabbits and caterpillars to cross, forcing them to avoid the area.
Lucie Bradley, garden and greenhouse expert at Easy Garden Irrigation, said: “Soft-bodied pests such as slugs and snails can be deterred by the spiky surface plastic forks will create when inserted into the ground. For forks to work effectively in deterring these smaller pests, they need to be placed close together, creating a physical barrier that they would find difficult to manoeuvre around.
“The forks would need to be placed about 5cm apart and used to surround very vulnerable plants such as seedlings, which can be decimated if found by slugs or snails.”
If you wanted to deter larger pests such as cats, rabbits and squirrels, then you would place the forks about 7cm apart.
Ms Bradley added: “This should stop these smaller mammals from having access to your plants, and should stop them from digging in the ground as well as reaching plants which they might damage.
“Some animals may also be deterred simply by the appearance of the forks – the reflections caused by shiny forks may deter birds, whilst even deer may be wary of an area where the spiky forks are.”
While this method is beneficial, it reuses items that would otherwise be binned. Be cautious that prolonged use can lead to micropalastics potentially entering the soil, so this technique may work better as a short-term solution.
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