Somedays it is just a bad day in the garden. As hard as you try, the elements seem stacked against you, or an unwanted visitor invades your garden. In our case it is wildlife.
At the community garden at the Carlsbad Senior Center, I have taught a vegetable gardening class to our senior students for four years. Thirty other gardeners rent a space in the Pine Avenue Park, tending to 20-by-4-foot raised beds.
But this year, I have arrived at the garden each day to find huge holes in the bed, with soil scattered everywhere and plants ripped from the roots. Our mission has become to find the critter and get rid of it!
WHAT IS ‘NUISANCE WILDLIFE’?
Ten years ago, when I directed the Cornell Master Gardener Program in Cooperstown, New York, a large part of our job was advising homeowners regarding garden issues. We often had dozens of calls during the summer growing season regarding “nuisance wildlife.”
This group of animals is so named because they often create havoc and can be destructive to both vegetable and flower beds. In New York state, suggested control methods include trapping, using smoke bombs and, if the gardener could afford it, motion sensitive lighting or sound deterrents.
ANIMAL CONTROL IN NORTH COUNTY
Since the senior garden is located in Carlsbad, we have to adhere to the rules of the city. Those include serious fines for killing nuisance wildlife, and the protocol is to use only non-poisonous deterrent substances or live traps.
We tried to cover the hole with soil and heavy rock, poured hot pepper sauce and ammonia down the hole, but each day the hole got bigger.
After doing research and talking to a veterinarian, I found out that a number of different local rodents can be destructive in a garden, and each one has a different habit. Bunnies, for example, will eat most greens and leaves, but ground squirrels are mostly looking for a cool place to sleep.
Our squirrel had found the perfect place to sleep in our raised bed, which is 4 feet deep and has an automatic drip system. He was digging, and seemed interested in our newly planted seed beds.
PRODUCTS FOR ANIMAL CONTROL
After researching products that would deter our squirrel, we finally decided upon a product from Bonide called Repels All.
This product, according to its label, “uses a blend of all-natural ingredients, including putrescent whole egg solids, cloves, and garlic, to deter various pests through smell, taste, and mild irritation to their eyes and nasal passages.
“The repellent is available in liquid and granular forms and is designed to protect yards and gardens from animals like rats, mice, squirrels, deer, and rabbits without harming plants, people, or pets when used as directed.”
We used the product twice a week, but our squirrel still returned to our bed. So, we decided to construct a cover for the bed.
OPTIONS FOR RAISED BED ENCLOSURES
Numerous videos and FYI sites will take you through the process of building an enclosure that will squirrel-proof your garden. Two that I found helpful are at www.needlepointers.com and at joegardenerTV on You Tube. You can also search “raised bed garden covers” online to purchase a premade variety.
CREATE YOUR OWN GARDEN COVER
If you are a handy person and willing to make your own cover, here are some basic instructions for your DIY project. Many thanks to Andi Koller, recreation supervisor at the Carlsbad Senior Center, for this project.
- Create a cover for the top of the bed using garden netting (It must be transparent). Purchase three hoops made of PVC or metal; two will be placed at each end of the bed, and one in the middle of the bed. Measure the length of the garden to purchase yards of netting needed.
- Pull the netting over the hoops and secure with plastic clips attached to the hoops. Secure the netting with tent stakes placed into the soil when you are away from the garden. Remove stakes when working on the garden.
- The only difficulty with this design is that each time you need to water the bed, you will need to pull up the stakes and fold the netting back onto the top of the hoops.
- When you are finished working on your bed, follow the process above to secure netting.
We found this method fairly easy to construct and to open when working on the garden. After three weeks using the cover, the critter has left our garden. Of course, with 30 garden beds in the community garden, he might just visit another gardener!
If you would like more complete instructions, contact me at [email protected].
Good luck with your gardens and contact me with your own ideas. We just might publish them in an upcoming issue.
Jano Nightingale is a Master Gardener and Horticulturist who teaches gardening at the Carlsbad Senior Center community garden. Call 442-339-2650. Contact Jano for private garden consultations at [email protected].
