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| This year has been the worst ever for critter damage in the gardens at this house. The deer are munching on the Morning glories. Chipmunks are everywhere, digging holes, digging up seedlings and possibly responsible for nipping off some sprouts. Voles are eating the roots of some of my favorite perennials, Liatris, Echinacea, and Baptisia! Not to mention significant damage over the winter to many perennials (some of which are recovering). While the voles ate my 3 mature Liatris 'Kobold' plants, a rabbit is nipping off the Liatris seedlings I started this year. :(
I've been using some Critter ridder and caging with some success. We had a lot of snow over the winter and I think that encouraged the rodents. My cat catches some but there always seems to be more. I haven't seen a woodchuck yet, but one will probably show up. lol Are you having any critter troubles this year?? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by newbie_in_nj 6b E/Central NJ (My Page) on Thu, Jul 21, 11 at 1:10
| Damage escalates every year with increasing deer population. Last year was "last" for Morning Glory as deer ate every leaf once it started to grow and as it twined up support. Had few measly flowers at ground level toward October. Since that was mail box highlight it looked like hell. This year they've eaten things they ate before plus things they didn't touch before: Lychnis coronaria flowers Chipmunks have tunneled in every bed and killing off Lamium patches (with slugs) in shady bed. Something killed off my patch of Lobelia 'Ruby Slippers' with tunneling underground and eating foliage above ground. Since my Dad passed away early last Sept. this is my last year having any gardens and everything's just decimated. In process of trying to sell his house and I can't keep any semblance of presentable plants in beds anymore. Given up fighting losing critter battle. I come here just to look at other gardeners beautiful growing/flowering plants. Boosts my spirits to no end! Good luck in your critter battle. |
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| Oh dear Newbie, sorry to hear about your situation. I feel a little better now. ;) In areas where deer are over-populated, they really need to bring in bow hunters and then make use of the meat and hides. The deer don't just decimate people's landscapes, but they also wipe out the understory vegetation in the forests (particularly the native plants), which puts the populations of other species in jeopardy. I had no idea that deer liked Morning Glories so much, this is the first year growing them. Fortunately I have mixed the MGs with Cardinal Climber and Scarlet Runner bean, which I've grown before and they haven't touched. |
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| it's the little critters that are doing damage to my plants and patio cushions. I even have teeth marks in a garden hose and on a wood plug on a small pinwheel. Last year they took the stuffing out of the cushions for their nests, ughhhhhhh |
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| We live on a small penninsula jutting into Mystic Harbor with about 20 homes. Deer won't cross Boston Post Road to enter the penninsula. That's the good news. BUT, Mason's Island is just offshore & the island has an over abundance of deer. Just after dark, they LOVE to take a salt-water swim over to our penninsula, stroll around, & enjoy an evening out at the buffet. :) At the end of the night's entertainment, they leasurely swim back home to their island. This year, I've lost EVERY single daylily bud. There WERE hundreds. Their Moms did not teach them manners. There were enough buds for them to have an appetizer & leave us a few to enjoy but instead they ate like a swarm of locusts! I've got a squirrel who's been snarffing steroids & could easily win a "Mr. Universe Squirrel" contest. He's huge. So is his appetite. He's also picky preferring to dig up my mature 'Blue Angels' looking for that acorn he's sure is hidden down there somewhere. He's also fearless. I flap my arms at him & he just stares me down. Mr. Squirrel has a friend...Mrs. Beach Bunny. Mrs. Beach Bunny has spent the summer "remodeling" my hydrangea hedge to suit her style. She prefers to dine on my neighbor's veggies but what a mess she's made of the hydrangeas she calls "home". I must admit though the youngsters are quite cute when she brings them outside to sun themselves while she does the day's house cleaning. :( This year, we have a new resident critter. A turtle. A quite large turtle. I have NO IDEA where he came from but h/she's homesteaded my moss garden. DH confesses to "accidently" dropping a few veggie scraps in the area on his way to the compost pile. :) Keeping up with the mess from the seagulls was difficult enough because they drop their clams on our roof to break them open then leave their mess. But now, we have so many land birds DH has to fill the birdbath 3 times/day. If it's empty they screech at us until it's filled. We have to do something as we've had several fatalities this season...all raptor attacks. Obviously, the raptors have learned this is a good hunting grounds. We're still thinking how to discourage the raptors without scaring away those that have become our friends. Wish we could train the seagulls to perform watchdog duties! :) Yes, we have critters. Eight years ago when we purchased this property there were zero critters not even a bird. I decided to jump through the hoops, do the paperwork, & submit our plans to become a Certified Backyard Wildlife Refuge. We proudly installed our sign in a prominant spot & began executing our approved plan. I did NOT know critters could read. They can. There's no other reasonable explanation for why they have arrived in such numbers. :) /tricia |
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- Posted by hudsonriverbug 7a (My Page) on Thu, Jul 21, 11 at 14:41
| Plantskydd has been the 'savior' for me, since my neighbor's use of Liquid Fence was having no effect discouraging the deer. I used the granulated, as well as mixed up (Phew!!!) the powder to save my (and the neighbor's!) Azaleas and Hydrangeas. We've also acquired a dog (indoor) in the past 4 months, and I clean out his brush, then put the hair all around the yard. Squirrels, rabbits and deer damage are non-existent on my side of the fence, and now if I can eliminate the voles that are tunneling under the fence, I'll be 'pest free'! Anyone have some hints on getting rid of voles??? TIA |
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| I used to grumble about the fact my next-door neighbor lets her cats (now 3 of them) roam during the day, as they like to hang out in my yard - BUT now I realize that I have minimal damage from the critters, likely due to kitty patrol, and I'm happy about that. My chipmunk population went WAY down in recent years. Also, my dog pen is located upwind, so no doubt their scent travels downwind through my yard, discouraging the pesty critters. The cats and the dogs don't deter the squirrels, though, but I haven't noticed they cause any damage. Don't have deer in my immediate area, so no problem there. Definitely agree with the hunting statement above - I would assume homeless shelters (? food banks too) would readily take donated deer meat, it can be frozen, would be a good solution to cut down on the deer population while helping out the hungry. Geese too - good eatin' there, and they are really over-populated in some areas. |
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- Posted by wonbyherwits z7b NC (My Page) on Thu, Jul 21, 11 at 17:00
| Tricia - thanks for the humor today! You have the right attitude to keep yourself sane when the critters invade. As for voles -- worse than deer for me. Deer -- herd continues to increase and they drink from my garden stream and sleep in my garden or meadow at night. Very little damage here until August when the drought conditions reduces food in the wild. I planted a lot of Russian sage last year and this year and I've noticed that they've stopped going through that part of the garden. Rabbits -- a baby bunny imprinted on me and followed me around the garden trying to be cute. I finally started chasing her away a few days ago. The only critter repellent that I use is I MUST GARDEN Rabbit Repellent. It works (and even though it is made in Chapel Hill, I have no affiliation with the company, I buy mine at Ace Hardware). Cameron |
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