Holmes and Watson, Riggs and Murtaugh, Starsky and Hutch; When it comes to sleuthing out just what critter is munching on your spring garden, you may feel like your partnership with Mother Nature is as contentious as any that ever graced the big, or small screen. After all, how are you supposed to fight the “crime” of a decimated garden if you can’t identify the suspect who’s been devouring your daylilies?
And while Mother Nature may happily grace your garden with rain, warmth and sunshine, she may not always be on the same team when it comes to keeping critters out of your gardens and landscapes. Foraging pests can destroy your yard, literally overnight.
It is possible to thwart garden thieves, but first you have to know what animals have been dining on your plants and shrubs. Once you’ve identified the culprits, you can settle on effective animal repellents that will persuade pests to leave your garden alone. Here are some facts to get your detective work under way:
Devouring deer – Ragged bites, typically a foot or more above the ground indicate deer damage. Deer are notorious for devouring gardens and landscapes. You’ll see them, and their offspring, every year, making dinner of your daisies, daylilies and other ornamental plants.
Ravenous rabbits – If plant damage is low to the ground — a few inches above the soil — and includes stems clipped cleanly at an angle, you’re probably dealing with rabbits. These four-legged foragers will eat just about any kind of vegetation, including your fabulous flowers, bushes and other woody plants. If you don’t want bunnies nesting and raising families near your garden, remove brush and other debris that could provide them with shelter.
Voracious voles – When flower bulbs disappear from the ground or plant roots go missing, chances are you have voles — mouse-like creatures that burrow underground and that are highly destructive to gardens. Exit holes are further indications that voles are tunneling under your garden. Teeth marks around the base of trees, droppings or trails in the grass can also indicate the presence of voles.
Greedy groundhogs – Mounds of dirt beside burrow entrances are a sure sign of groundhogs, a garden pest that eats just about every type of green plant. Groundhogs can destroy a garden. These solitary herbivores live in burrows underground.
Source: http://www.bobbex.com
Reprinted with permission from RISMedia. ©2013. All rights reserved.
