Deer

We will start with what some people consider, cute and fuzzy, I consider it a four-letter word, better known as deer. These critters can devour the vegetation in your yard in a matter of hours. Some of their favorite snacks are: hostas, daylilies, knockout roses, cucumbers, and the list can go on and on. There are products on the market to help stop them, or at least slow them down. Some work, and some don’t. I wanted to try a bazooka, but my H.O.A. frowned upon that, so I had to find an alternative.

I was told that Milorganite works wonders. If you are not familiar with this product, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District manufactures it. It’s composed of heat-dried microbes that have digested the organic matter in wastewater. Sounds kind of gross, and it does have some smell, but to me it is not that horrible. How does it work wonders? It is first an organic fertilizer that will not burn the roots of plants. The greatest aspect of it is, it repels deer! I was skeptical about this when I first heard it. I talked to a gentleman that grows feed corn for hunting purposes. Until he wants the deer to go into the cornfield, he keeps a steady supply of Milorganite around the perimeter. They will NOT cross that barrier. When he is ready to let the deer feed, he stops applying it, and in they go! I tested it after deer started eating my cucumber plants down to the ground, and it does work.

Birds

When it comes to those air-borne critters, birds, there are a myriad of products and out there to help. Some are really, shall we say, silly? Let’s take the old CD in the tree for example. The theory is, the sun reflecting off of it, scares the birds. What really happens is, the bird reads the CD, then laughs at you, because, depending on the genre of music it is, you actually owned this particular one. It can’t be any good, or you would not be using it as a bird scare tactic. You could try the bazooka approach, but then, that H.O.A. is frowning again.

Truth of the matter is, netting is really the only GOOD deterrent. If your plant that you are protecting is small, make sure the net is all the way to the ground, those birds are sneaky, and can get underneath it very easily. If you have a very large plant or tree, it is going to be very difficult to cover it completely. Hopefully, your plant will produce enough that you can share.

Caterpillars and Insects of the Sort

Next on the hit parade is a creepy crawly that, when it becomes an adult, most people want to see and protect. The babies are known as caterpillars, and of course the adults are butterflies or moths. There are a few ways to protect your garden from this critter organically, unfortunately I already mentioned one method, and they could be considered a bad critter. Birds. The enemy of my enemy is my friend? They do eat caterpillars, but like I mentioned earlier, they also eat some of your produce, so attracting them could be a double-edged sword. I won’t even mention the bazooka method here, as that would probably be considered overkill, even if the H.O.A. approved it.

So, what else can be done for these critters? Handpicking works, but is very time consuming and for the squeamish it is definitely NOT an option. The best organic approach would be Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt. This insecticide is a natural occurring, soil-borne bacterium that has been used since the 1950s for insect control by organic farmers to stop crop-eating insects and by other world organizations to kill mosquitoes without using dangerous chemical pesticides. Bt is considered ideal for pest management because it produces poisons, which cause disease in insects or pests and because of its lack of toxicity to humans or the natural enemies of many crop pests. There are many different forms of Bt, make sure that you read the label and use it accordingly, it is the law.

More insects to deter

There is, of course, numerous other insect like critters that will wreak havoc on a garden. There are Japanese beetles, leaf-footed bugs, aphids, mealy bugs, as well as many, many others. One of my favorite organic ways to eliminate these critters is Neem oil. Neem oil is pressed from the fruits and seeds of the Neem tree (Azadirachta indica), an evergreen tree that is native to India. It is non-toxic to birds, fish, bees and wildlife, and studies have shown no cancer or other disease-causing results from its use. It works in many different ways, depending on the critter. The Neem causes insects to reduce or completely stop eating, can prevent young from maturing, reduces or interrupts their mating behavior and, in some cases, the oil will clog the breathing holes of insects and kill them. Remember; do not spray any kind of horticultural oil if the temperatures are over 75 degrees This oil is also useful in lubricating a bazooka firing mechanism and, oh, hello Mr. H.O.A. president, nope, no bazookas here.

Small Mammals

The last critter(s) that I shall talk about can also fall under the cute and fuzzy category, small mammals. These include rabbits, squirrels, mice, opossums, etc. This group is probably the toughest of the list! They are sneaky, conniving, and very, very smart. Fencing is a joke. They climb it, burrow under it, or just fit through it. A large dog can deter them to some degree, but you’d have to leave your dog outside all day and listen to it barking all night, or the effect is minimal at best. Dog urine, in large quantities, can be detrimental to many plants. So, again that double-edged sword is at play. Maybe if the H.O.A. members were out of town for a couple of days, I could sneak a bazooka in and, no, I am sure there would be some collateral damage that would be obvious.

The method I have found that works, and this would be for any non-edible crops, is pepper sprays. Make up a spray bottle of crushed hot peppers and water, and then spray it on your plants. The critters take a bite and go running for water. It usually only takes a couple of times and then they learn not to touch that plant. You will have to spray it after any irrigation or rain, but hopefully they learn quickly. Eventually, you may get a new generation of critters, then this whole cycle needs to be started again. There are also numerous products that use this same kind of method, some of which are okay to use on edible crops.

This is just a short list of what you can do to stop critters from making a buffet of your garden. In some cases, you may just have to learn to live with some damage, and accept that you will not ever be able to be completely critter free. We all share this planet called Earth, and they enjoy a nice garden as much as we do. As long as they leave me some produce from all of my hard work, and don’t kill the plant(s) entirely, I will leave my bazooka holstered and just try to enjoy my critter neighbors.

Happy Growing!

Darren