Animals are a constant pest to most gardeners. In rural parts of the country especially, a variety of animals attack and feed in gardens, meaning an arsenal of protection is necessary to control the scavengers. See below for a list of ways to keep out unwanted animals.
Keep stray animals out of your trash
Keep raccoons and other scavengers out of your garbage cans by spraying the outsides and lids with half-strength ammonia, or spray the garbage bags as you place them in the cans. Reapply the spray often, especially after a heavy rain.
Repel unwanted garden visitors
Put those old, deflated, shiny metallic balloons—the ones lying around your house from past birthday parties—to work in your garden. Cut them into vertical strips and hang them from poles around your vegetables and on fruit trees to scare off invading birds, rabbits and squirrels.
Grow a garlic barrier
Protect a favorite stand of flowers or vegetables from hungry rabbits, moles, gophers, squirrels, shrews and voles by encircling it with garlic plants.
Keep out four-legged creatures with vinegar
Some animals—including cats, deer, dogs, rabbits and raccoons—can’t stand the scent of vinegar even after it has dried. Keep these unwanted visitors out of your garden by soaking several rags in white vinegar and placing them on stakes around your vegetable rows. Re-soak the rags every 7 to 10 days.
Make a smelly drizzle
This mixture doesn’t smell so great to people, but if you won’t be around and think wild animals will take advantage of your absence, it’s worth a try. In a 3-quart (3-liter) jar, mix three raw eggs, shells and all, and a small bottle of hot sauce. Fill the jar three-quarters full with water, cap it tightly and shake it. Let the mixture ferment for five days, then drizzle it around the perimeter of your garden.
Use a scent fence
Dig a shallow trench along the side of your garden that’s often breached by wild visitors and fill it with the debris from your vacuum cleaner bag. To wild things, it will smell strongly of people, convincing them to stay away.
Thrift-shop row covers
Thrift-shop row covers can protect all sorts of plants from rabbits, deer and hungry birds. Collect sheer white or beige curtains and throw them over the plants at night. If you want to leave them on during the day, hold them aloft with pieces of PVC pipe stuck into the ground.
Whistling jars
Many old-time gardeners placed empty canning jars around the perimeter of the garden; glass bottles can be used too. The glass reflects light, and when the wind blows over the tops, the containers “sing.” The sights and sounds discourage rabbits and many other unwanted visitors.
Kimberly Deprey/iStockphoto
Some of the best defenses against raccoons and other animals come from everyday items.
