We had some wild flower seeds planted here. Ignore the flooded mini pot and the plastic snake. These are from my 3 year old.
by NoPossibility6341
We had some wild flower seeds planted here. Ignore the flooded mini pot and the plastic snake. These are from my 3 year old.
by NoPossibility6341
28 Comments
What kind of rodents? This doesn’t look like the holes squirrels were digging in my garden, but I’ve had success sprinkling crushed red pepper and cayenne spice on the soil to keep squirrels away. Idk if that’ll help with other rodents or not
I got a big thing of crushed red pepper from Sam’s and I’ve been putting a LOT of it down after it rains or washes away and so far so good good
https://preview.redd.it/anbdxfw4yjvg1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=069549aac64a63892655d2acd3f3eaa17da16b28
I always get downvoted to hell but my garden is my lifeline; it literally feeds me for over half of the year. Destroyed plants and produce absolutely devastate me, I am counting on that food. So I don’t play when rodents get into my fenced in area. I use conibear traps.
Quarter inch hardware cloth fencing. Well into the ground as well, as they can dig under.
Looks like digging from a 3 year old hahahahaha
Hot pepper flakes and human hair around your beds. Either or both. Most salons will give you shop vacs of human hair if you ask. Little mammals dont like capsaicin, the spicy chemical; but reapplication after every rain is costly. Being a dude, I often pee at the corners of my ground garden. Idk if it works or not, but peeing outside is fun.
Real snakes tend to help
When I saw the image and question, first image in my mind: snakes.
Your kid might be on to something here.
https://preview.redd.it/tqx68mmxckvg1.jpeg?width=4160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=938c53c47ea17c7d61ec4d4aebba473c649069fb
This is what I did.
This is a mirror image of my current raised bed, which was a rabbit burrow in the making.
i’m ngl i thought the plastic snake was there to ward off rodents
Physical barriers are the only thing that will work 100% of the time to keep animals out. Pellet guns, cayenne, chemical deterrents, etc. rely on you never letting your guard down, which will eventually happen on a long enough timeline.
I used to spray a homemade concoction of garlic oil, cayenne, and peppermint oil on my more “delicious” flowers. One day it rained and I forgot to re-apply the spray – everything that could possibly be eaten was eaten overnight.
Hardware cloth is the best way to protect your raised beds. It’s expensive and labor-intensive, but you set it up once and then you never have to think about it again.
Daffodils. Apparently they are toxic to squirrels and they won’t dig where they are. Normally the squirrels terrorize my tulips and dig up the bulbs but I’ve had barely any disturbances since mixing in daffodil bulbs.
I use Hen Manure and by and large they stay away. It also makes great fertilizer.
To protect my tulip bulbs over winter I put chicken wire parallel with the soil
I was so excited! I thought this was a tip about putting fake plastic snakes in my garden to protect against rodents! I was about to run to the e nearest dollar store to stock up on snakes.
Ps: still seeking a vole solution
That fake snake isn’t going to do anything, but A for effort :-).
The only thing that will work is fencing. I wasted a lot of time on small fixes, but the big fix that took a little $ and time is the only one that worked! Get a roll of PVC netting and 6 U-posts per bed. You’ll have to take down sections each time to work in parts of the garden, but anything is better than constant battles against animals!
Sorry, but I cannot ignore the plastic snake. I want one for my garden!
I have zero issues with rodents because my neighbor’s two cats kill everything.
Green on yellow, kill a fellow?
We built a critter cage to keep out of our tomatoes. They still managed to get in and took 1 bite out of each tomato.
Bagging them in those draw string organza gift bags. And shave a bar of Irish Spring soap around the plants.
I thought the plastic snake was your attempt at rodent repellent. Like a scarecrow, but for rats. 😆
My cat… “Hold my beer!”
I have found spreading coffee grounds around my property really cuts down the number of rodents I have to deal with.
I stuff cat hair in the corners and it’s worked well. Helps to have cats to brush though.
Plant onion or garlic. Put mint in pots nearby. Mint and alliums tend to smell to bad for them.
When I was living in Urbana, IL, which famously (I mean, to locals and UIUC students at least) has a ridiculously large and aggressive squirrel population, I built a temporary anti-squirrel enclosure using fence posts, chicken wire, zip ties, and bird netting. We had a rabbit warren in our backyard so I had to keep those cute little buggers out too.
It was a little sketchy looking but it worked beautifully, and whenever someone saw me working in it they would stop and compliment it. It also helped me stake stuff. I was very proud of it if you can’t tell ha.