Photo by KayVee. Used under Creative Commons license.
Since it's gardening season, I was hoping for some advice on humane and eco-friendly pest control in the garden.How on earth do I keep these insane squirrels away from my pumpkins? How do I save my blueberries from the birds? How do I do this without spraying toxins or harming the animals?
For what it's worth, I live in an urban area in a warm, dry climate. Thanks!
I've been meaning to get my hands on some coyote pee to dribble 'round our garden and stave off deer and rabbits.
What else have you homies got? Surely you can help Jessi deter birds and squirrels — and I'd love to hear about earth-happy ways to get rid of insects, too.
About Cat Rocketship
I am the Managing Editor of Offbeat Home. I have a rich Internet life and also a pretty good real life. Hobbies include D&D, Twitter, and working on making our household more self-reliant. I also draw things.
Andrell said
Certain types of soap hung on a string irritate deer's noses and keep them away. As for birds and squirrels- we use chicken wire with netting over the top. Additionally, weave a smaller wire through the larger openings to prevent the squirrels from squeezing through. We also house our dog near our garden…
Amanda Glazebrook said
At a large test garden I used to work in, the head gardener would set up an old radio in the middle of the garden. She'd turn it on to talk radio before she left for the night – the sound of human voices and laughter would scare the deer away. They eventually got brave and/or hungry enough to venture in, but the radio trick usually worked for several weeks.
Pixie Quikenwitty said
To keep the birds away, you can hang shiny things in your garden. Aluminum pie pans, bird flashing tape, pinwheels. Anything that will move and reflect light. Also, a balloon with the shape of a human face on it works.
I have never had to use animal urine, but I do brush my dog and then clean out the brush and leave the hair around the perimeter of my garden, which tends to keep the squirrels away. I also keep bird netting on hand to hang over my raspberries, strawberries and blueberries in case the birds decide to get really daring.
Jenny said
The dog hair idea is brilliant! I don't have a veggie garden yet, but I'm excited to try this.
Aurora said
We have shiny red and silver streamers that we hang in the garden near the blueberries to keep birds away. It works great because the birds think it's fire.
Colleen said
I've yet to try it (I have a bug problem and they don't mind people) but I've heard hair sprinkled in will help because it still carries the scent (and it's full of nitrogen so it's good for your soil). Next time you get a haircut (or ask for some from a salon, or ask a guy friend – they tend to get more hair cuts) ask to keep the clippings and just throw it willy nilly whilst singing whatever show tune suits your fancy. I also let my dogs wander through the garden daily so their scent is around.
Colleen said
Also, my husband's grandparents grow a shitton of strawberries every year and take old CDs and string them up on lines. The reflection confuses the birds and they usually don't make it to the berries.
Ashley said
We have people come in to work all the time to get hairclippings. They say it keeps the deer and bunnys out.. Im sure others too
Chickadee said
nets, nets and more nets is our cure! We have Deer, rabbits, badgers and so many different birds to contend with its the only thing we've found that works.
We net seedlings and then when they are strong enough most things can have the nets removed.
I'd love to find a different solution but at the moment we can't fence off our allotment so this will have to do. We're also right near a main road so it also deters human pests from stealing our veggies.
I've got a white fly problem that I haven't been able to solve yet.
ALKD said
to keep squirrels (and let's be honest, neighborhood cats) away from my potted plants/veggies, I sprinkle cayenne pepper (from your spice rack) on top of the dirt once a week. The sensation is itchy & unpleasant to paws trying to dig into your plants/get to the roots, but it does not harm the little guys. eventually, they will learn to stay away from your potted things.
hannah1cestmoi said
re: the blueberries: netting. Works like a charm and does not harm any bird or plant. Like this one: http://www.tuinadvies.be/shop/product.php?id=672
Or with a lampion, like this one: http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/1460/img4246f.jpg
falnfenix said
we make a solution out of hot sauce, garlic powder, and just enough water to make it sprayable…and we'll spray everything on our quarter acre of "farmland." we don't have a problem with rodents or lagomorphs when we use the spray, but it does need periodic reapplication – usually after it rains.
CJ said
I've heard the hair thing, and something about blood meal or bone meal, which I think is just gross, but hey whatever. My mom bought it at Fleet Farm and it seemed to work on a lot of things. Um… Monitor exactly what pests you have in what areas, then check out certain spices and how they deter things. Cats usually don't like citrus. Certain insects avoid cinnamon.
Brittany said
Complete side track, but my mom's cat loves grapefruit and oranges. Worst Cat-like Cat Ever. Just sayin'.
Rachel B. said
Birds, especially small ones can get caught in the netting and strangle themselves. After finding a dead finch in our strawberry netting we stopped using it. We mostly use scare tape to keep the birds out of our garden. It's what they use in the vineyards here and does a pretty good job. As for squirrels, I'm finding that my ducks are a fantastic deterrant and I don't know why. I thought we'd have to come up with something for our cherry trees that they decimated last year but since having ducks they haven't come into our yard.
Chickadee said
We use netting with really small holes. Never had a problem, the farmer uses the same and so does everyone else on our allotments.
Jessi B. said
Awesome! Thanks for posting my question! Also, thanks for all the suggestions, I will definitely try some of these out!
Chickadee said
Just remembered our farmer uses like a cross between a kite and a balloon he flies it above his fields thats next to our allotment and its pretty effective and keeping certain birds off.
Shannon said
I don't let my boys pee in the house after May. They know the key spots to perimeter the garden and if there is company over, they go in the watering can and fill it with water. We also brush the dogs in the yard. I have over 60 tomato plants, 2 strawberry patches, raspberries, peppers, etc…. and never have a problem. I watch the birds eat my neighbors strawberries right thru her nets, every year.
Annie said
What, like human boys or furry boys?
Katie said
My mom has had a lot of luck with chicken wire. She says the squirrels don't like the unsteady surface and won't climb up it. She just wraps long pieces around her pots or beds and says it works like a charm.
Kibby said
In Brisbane I battle against both possums and bush turkeys for my garden. The possums want to eat my herbs, but the bush turkeys just want to dig up EVERYTHING. The best way to keep possums out of things really is double rolls of chicken wire, buried into the side of my pots, around everything they want. We're looking to put up netting when we have a real garden and not a rental courtyard. The Bush Turkeys? I have a string of bells around my balcony that they knock when they make the rare foray up there. (How they manage it I don't know, a flapping fall out of a tree they've climbed perhaps). It seems to scare them off a bit, but more than once I've come home to several pots dug out over the balcony and a sleepy bush turkey nesting in my mint.
Gerlinde said
We found that hanging old CDs works well to prevent birds from eating all our yummi ripe fruit.
Caitlin said
I know that my roommates had some success last year keeping squash borers off the pumpkin vines by sprinkling crushed eggshells around the plants – apparently the creepy crawlies didn't like crawling over that, although your perimeter has to be pretty solid and also encircle the entire plant, not just the base.
I've also had some luck with coplanting- putting basil with my tomatoes, for instance, bc the bugs that like tomatoes hate basil and vice versa. I've heard of other pairings like that too.
Addy said
What about Snails?!? We live in the city so critters are not much of a problem. But there are an overabundance of snails that like to eat our fruits..
Kate said
My Dad used to put pie tins of beer in the garden for slugs and snails. They could crawl into the tin but not back out. Not the most snail friendly policy, but effective and at least they went happy…
kayfay said
1. YOU pee in your garden (Dilute half human urine with water so that it doesn't burn your plants
2. Sightly less scary: spit on it. Spit smells like human, and sticks, plus you don't have your parts hanging out in public
3. mix 10 oz of cheap hot sauce with 1-2 tbsps dish soap and a gallon of water. Use a pump spray mister of some kind. (Either the pressurized kind or the ordinary spritzer) the soap makes it stick, the hot sauce makes it repulsive to squirrels, etc. Most importantly, remember to reapply once a week and or after it rains.
Annie said
I've found good success using noxious plants as a border. Lots of rodents don't like mints or rue, and neither do lots of bugs, for that matter. For birds, I keep seed for them on the other side of the house, so they don't generally venture that close to the garden plot, except for the hummers who like my petunias (it doesn't hurt that my cat hangs out in the tomato patch, either). Crawlies don't like watery dish soap sprayed on the tomatoes and squash.
Melissa said
The squirrels are far too daring at my house. After trying all sorts of crazy tricks (CDs, pepper, pee, etc.) I finally bought some redwood and made a raised bed with a 4 foot enclosure completely covered with fine galvanized steel mesh. I haven't had any critter problems (except bugs) since then and I'm happy to report I have artichokes plants nibble-free.
Freckles said
This has come afew weeks late for me. I've lost all my silverbeet, baby beetroots and brocolli to a mouse! He's made a tunnel under my vege patch and nibbled the tops off these veges, he kindly left my lettuce, carrots and strwberries. I've never had this problem in my vege patch before.
Kate said
A volunteer at the farm where I work asks her husband and sons to pee in a watering can. She fills it with water to dilute the pee and then waters the plants with that. She swears by it, but I can't admit to trying it myself.
RyvirChild said
A kind of home made habanero pepper tea in a spray bottle has saved my flowers from the deer pretty well. God help you if you get any on you, though.
After spraying stuff constantly for about a month, all the animals tend to give up and go eat the neighbor's stuff.