Gardening Without Pests
by Peres Deturs
http://www.leegardening.com
Deer and raccoons, rabbits and gophers, moles and chipmunks!
They capture your heart when in a book or zoo, but when they
invade your garden. Oh! That's a different story. Yet how
can a rabbit resist munching on your crisp lettuce? Or a
possum or raccoon stay away from your sweet corn patch? And
your berries will always be attractive to a squirrel.
Unless you have a garden. Then, watch out. Those adorable
bunnies and possums are not quite as cute after they've
munched away at the lettuce and stole most of your carrots.
Rest assured, however, there are safe, animal friendly ways
to keep those furry critters from invading and destroying
your garden. For many years, gardeners used pesticides and
other poisons on their fruits and vegetables to deter
animals.These would later be proven to be detrimental to
the people who later washed and ate them.
Birds are probably one of the easiest garden predators
to discourage. They pose slightly less of a threat to a
garden than other animals, but most still prefer to
discourage their presence.Accomplishing that is really quite
simple because birds are easily scared and have many enemies
in nature. A thin, nylon humming line which will vibrate in
even the gentlest wind is an easy solution to a bird
infestation. This is a particularly good deterrent near
strawberry patches, and though humans won~t hear the humming
of the line, the birds will.
A humming line made of very thin nylon will vibrate and
hum in even the slightest breeze. It's inaudible to us,
but heard by the birds. This works well with strawberries.
Unusual noises can be created with aluminum pie plates
loosely tied to stakes or leaving a radio on at night.
Installing some blinking lights, hawk-like balloons or
kites that mimic larger birds can also be effective.
And of course, the two old stand-bys - scarecrows, or a dog
or cat ~ always help out with the bird problem. Because
birds and other animals need a source of drinking water,
eliminate any standing water near the garden.
Night time is prowl time for the four-legged pests. Each
animal has a distinctive footprint and each has its favorite
delicacy to munch on. Many of them, such as deer and
raccoons, can be eliminated by putting an electric fence or
other barrier around the garden. Pocket gophers can be
stopped by putting a fence made of hardware cloth two feet
below and two feet above the surface of the garden.
A chicken-wire fence works the best for rabbits, but the
holes need to be 1, or smaller. Those young rabbits aren't
very big. To keep the mice from eating your fruit tree's
bark, sink wire mesh or hardware cloth several inches
into the ground around the fruit trees.
To keep mice from destroying fruit trees, put wire mesh or a
quarter-inch of hardware cloth at least several inches into
the ground.
Possums will only eat one or two, and then come back later
for another one. Some animals will only be eliminated by
being caught in a trap. After they are caught be sure to
take them at least one mile away and release them in a
natural habitat. And, be careful not to get bitten. Rabies
is a reality among wild animals.
With some thought and a little work, you can keep those
furry friends from turning into garden gremlins.
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