Beautiful, majestic deer... ready to eat your garden
Whether you have a big yard or a small kitchen garden, you have critters! We all love wildlife and sharing “our” space with them, but sometimes that means complete destruction of our gardens and properties. In this episode we look at the ways of dealing with furry fellows that get into the yard and make themselves at home, eating crops and ornamentals alike.
This is a complicated and sometimes controversial topic. We try to strike a balance between people and wildlife in the garden. Even if you don’t intend to keep wildlife out completely (after all, isn’t that what Certified Wildlife Habitats are about – attracting and encouraging wildlife to our yards?), you still may want a specific area protected from specific critters, for example keeping rabbits and deer from the vegetable garden.
Joe visits with University of Georgia wildlife specialist Professor Michael T. Mengak at his research facility to talk about eco-friendly and humane control methods including habitat modification, scare tactics, non-lethal repellants, and physical barriers. We learn how to identify what types of critters are eating our plants, and Mike also points out a number of popularly-prescribed tactics that just don’t work – or don’t work for long.
Finally, Chef Nathan (“The Egg Whisperer”) cooks up an amazing meal featuring a favorite of nibbling people and critters alike: garden-fresh spinach!
We’d like to hear about your own experience – what part of the country are you in and what kinds of critters do you deal with? What are your biggest problems, and have you found anything that works?
Important Links:
- To access the article and information on the 2 line deer fence featured in this episode click here.
- Here’s our podcast on Deer Resistant Landscaping. It’s an interview with Neil Soderstrom who wrote the book by the same name.
- Another great book: 50 Beautiful Deer-Resistant Plants: The Prettiest Annuals, Perennials, Bulbs, and Shrubs that Deer Don’t Eat – by Ruth Rogers Clausen, Photographs by Alan L. Detrick
- Chef Nathan: Sautéed Spinach with Garlic and Poached Egg over Toast
- Joe’s Blog Post: When Life Gives You Dead, Stuffed Rats…
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I have been having a problem with raccoons this year, yet, as an animal lover and an environmentalist, I do not want to resort to lethal or other toxic means. I have had limited success with Epsom salts. Any other organic, non-lethal methods you can recommend? Thanks!
I think you left out gophers. They are a very distructive garden pest.
I have been rototilling most of the leaves on my property into the vegetable garden. It yields great soil to garden in but I can’t keep up with the weeds. I invested in landscape fabric this year and it kept the weeds down but now I am unable to add the leaves. Is it possible to add compost with the fabric in place? I also find that the moles and voles love the protection and are proliferating. Can you suggest any help?
Thank you.
I have a problem with squirrels chewing up “ripe” tomatoes.
They ruin a lot of them when they are ripe. Episode 209 didn,t mention this problem.
Are there any solutions for this problem??????
Moles! They eat root crops, alliums, tubers and bulbs! What to do? We also have a large rat-like vole…eating all the tomatoes and fruits as they ripen. Again, what to do?
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