It's always around this time of year when thoughts turn to wildlife. Perhaps it's because flowers are in full bloom and everyone is gazing at nature's glory unleashed in living color across back yards around the world. We ohhh and ahhh at foliage and blooms, then pause when we see a section of buds ripped away from a beloved plant. Our brows furrow, our teeth clench...critters have come calling on our doorstep and we don't welcome their visit!
So, what to do to discourage them without harm to their well-being and our collective conscience? I've done a little digging around and have come up with the most recommended methods of non-toxic pest control available. They are as follows:
Deer and Rabbits:
Liquid Fence. I couldn't discover what is actually in this product but it smells absolutely vile. Can't blame our furry friends for keeping their distance. It claims to be eco-friendly and my clients swear by its effectiveness. Available everywhere.
I Must Garden Deer Repellent. All-natural and available at garden centers, hardware stores and natural food stores. Also check out: www.imustgarden.com.
Critter Ridder. This irritant repels by odor and taste and lasts up to 30 days. Be warned: DO NOT spray this product if there is even a slight breeze. I learned this lesson the hard way (my eyes are still stinging at the memory of my run-in with this spray coupled with a spring breeze). Available everywhere.
Homemade remedies have some effectiveness as well. The president of our local arboretum suggests a quarter cup of veggie oil, a tablespoon of dish soap and one egg mixed in a spray bottle and doused over plants periodically. I have had good luck with this method. Milk has also worked for me. In winter, I fill a standard spray bottle with half water, half milk (doesn't matter what percent) and spritz plants--particularly my oakleaf hydrangea because deer nibble the buds in the off-season and then I have no blooms come summer. I switch to full-strength in the warm months, filling a bottle full of whatever milk I have in the fridge and spraying it liberally around the yard.
Insects and bugs:
Some of my clients swear by a product called Sluggo, which targets slugs, snails, earwigs, cutworms, sowbugs and pillbugs. Made from iron phosphate, which is a compound which combines phosphorous and oxygen with iron. It is coupled with spinosad, a naturally occurring bacterium in soil. The product is considered safe by and large but the jury is still out on this one. The iron phosphate is poisonous to slug bellies and has been known to make pets sick. For this reason I cannot fully recommend it. Do your homework. If your studies show effectiveness without toxicity, give it a try. I am not yet prepared to endorse it. I need to investigate further.
Some all-natural alternatives, which boast botanical oils as their staples, include: Green Light Rose Defense (especially good for powdery mildew, blackspot, rust, spider mites and aphids), All Seasons Horticultural & Dormant Spray and Bioneem. I also recommend mosquito dunks with Bacillus thuringiensis as the active ingredient.
Moles:
Liquid Fence Mole Repellent coats mole food sources--earthworms and tender roots--with an unappealing (but not poisonous) substance that forces them to look elsewhere for food sources and keeps them away from your garden. This has been known to discourage chipmunks as well.
Gophers/groundhogs:
These creatures have become the bane of my existence. They are hearty and headstrong and have been known to gnaw through all manner of plants and barriers--even wood fencing! My solution is to make my yard as uncomfortable as possible for them. Place sharp shell fragments around plants because gophers' toes are tender! Spray stinky solutions on leaves but be warned that's not always a deterrent when a groundhog is determined to defoliate. I witnessed one going to town on my basil plants last summer! The final line of defense is steel fencing--chicken wire is okay. Perhaps best of all is a motion-activated sprinkler, which spritzes them with a harsh shot of water. None of us--man nor beast--likes that!
