Pest-Free Gardening
Everybody loves the little critters that they see in a book or at the zoo. Rabbits, Moles, Chipmunks, Gophers, Deer and Raccoons, all look very cute and cuddly - until they invade your garden! Suddenly they're not so cute anymore, but pests. Pest-free gardening is a challenging proposition. Guarding your lettuce from rabbits, or your corn from deer and raccoons, and keeping animals from your vegetable garden in general, can be a time-consuming and frustrating undertaking.
You don't want to poison either the animals or your garden, but in order to place yourself in the category of a 'good gardener', you have to have an effective plan for thwarting this disaster. The use of pesticides, although effective, has revealed an ugly side in health issues for humans.
Birds are another pest for the gardener, but they're not as hard to keep away as their four-legged counter-parts. They have numerous natural enemies, which makes them easily fooled into staying away, just by tricking them into thinking these enemies are there.
A thin nylon line, called a 'humming line', can be place around your plants, and will vibrate in the wind producing a humming sound that keeps the birds at bay. Other methods can include an all-night radio, tying aluminum pie plates loosely to stakes, kites or balloons that look like larger birds of prey, or any unusual noises.
Scarecrows, dogs, and cats, are still good help with the birds. And keep in mind not to keep large stands of water around your garden which will draw many of these cute little pests for miles around to drink.
Many of the garden pests will be night prowlers. You'll notice their tracks whenever you work your garden. Some are more easily seen, like deer, because of their size and weight, while others are a bit mor unnoticeable. They all have their particular favorite food that grows in your garden. An electric fence is a good deterrent to these bigger pests. The pocket gophers are a bit more complicated to deter, but a two-foot hardware cloth fence put both below and above the surface of the garden should do the trick.
One inch chicken wire fence works well for the rabbit problem. And to keep the mice from your fruit trees, 1/4" hardware cloth, or even wire mesh, sunk several inches into the ground around the trees should suffice.
Most all gardeners are familiar with the footprints of these critters, and can readily identify them. But one technique for exposing the guilty party is to place around ten marshmallows where the animal has been feeding. Cats won't eat them, but the skunks and raccoons won't leave even one. A possum will only eat a couple at a time, leaving some for next time.
For many, pest-free gardening has meant having to trap some of these animals. It's best to get a trap that doesn't harm the animal, not the old ones that maim them. Then drive the animal one mile away before releasing it back into the wild, all the while being careful not to get bitten or scratched due to rabies.
Pest-free gardening can be a chore at times, but also a rewarding experience for the gardener, knowing that he or she possesses the skills necessary to not only grow a healthy garden, but to protect and maintain it as well.
