Over the years I have battled Squirrels, Gophers, Rats, Moles, Voles and the occasional Rabbit but now a full-fledged war is on!
The mild weather and late spring rains have created a huge population of rodents in our area. Add to that the depletion of natural predators and we have a big problem on our hands.
Rabbits aren’t just in the wildlands anymore they are creeping into lots of urban areas and have been nibbling a perfectly trimmed skirt around shrubs, ruining lawns and decimating flower beds.
With Gophers eating the roots and Deer browsing the tops, some areas have become very frustrating garden spots.
If you have a fence for the deer then adding aviary wire along the base will help keep Rabbits out. The wire needs to be buried 18″-24″ along the base of the deer fence.
Deer repellent also works for Rabbits, so that can help if they haven’t taken over the garden. Repellents should be re-applied regularly to have an effect. Some commercially available sprays shown below (sorry for the blurry pics!)
Inside the fencing the Rabbits need to be trapped and moved out into the woods.
Gophers are also taking off and we now routinely use galvanized aviary baskets to plant new plants in but make sure the wire extends up high enough so they don’t dive over the edge into the root ball! 4-6″ out of the soil is good. I noticed the landscape crews are building the baskets too small. The baskets should be bigger than the root ball! At least 5-6″ on all sides and 16-18″ for trees. The bottoms of the root balls can sit on the wire of the cage. Shown above are some prefab. wire baskets- pretty expensive if you need a bunch.
If you build your own use galvanized aviary wire or small square steel mesh which comes in rolls. Notice the drawing above does not show having the wire extend up above the ground- this is a mistake! Don’t want those little buggers to climb over the edge! I usually make the baskets a canoe shape pinching the ends to close or a tube shape and pinch the bottom to close them. Be sure and pack the soil in well all around the root ball to avoid air gaps. Roots die when they hit air pockets.
In a future blog I will show some examples of making the baskets. Eventually the wire does rust out so controlling the gopher population is helpful, although pretty difficult.
Gophers also can be trapped or there is a pretty good pellet drop tool for poisoning them. Not so great for wildlife and cats though!
Let me know if you need information on Deer tolerant plants. I will add a blog for this too.
There is no sure thing with Deer or other pests but the damage can be kept down by taking a few precautionary measures. I keep experimenting to find what works.
One of the key things we have found with these pests is that herbs and aromatic plants i.e. lavender, rosemary, sage- seem to be something that Rabbits and Deer don’t like and even Gophers avoid. It’s not fool proof though, when hungry enough they will eat almost anything.
At least these are plants that are good for humans and bees plus are low water requiring for the most part!
Tree Squirrels and Rats are also an issue. They eat bark off trees, your fruit and the tips of branches just as they bud out. They are impossible to control and the best solution is a really good hunting cat (or a pack of them). Dogs help a bit but can’t get up high enough to be a real threat.
They are way out of control in terms of population size so trying to dissuade them from living in your attic or nesting in dense foliage is a definitely called for. Covering trees with bird netting or mesh doesn’t work for these guys at all. Best to plant fruit trees away from powerlines, fence lines and other adjacent trees and roofs. An Arborist friend pointed out that the powerlines are the Squirrel highways! I have resorted to planting fruit trees in front yards rather than back yards near fences and power lines to help keep down the Squirrel damage to trees and fruit. This has worked on some properties. It would be the opposite for properties with power lines and fences in the front yards.
Trim back vines on fences at least once a year to keep the vines from forming a dense nesting area. Prune back ivy and star jasmine that is used as a ground cover every 2-3 years to avoid Rat nesting pockets in the area.
We used to not have such an extreme issue and could share the fruit with animals but with the drought, warming climate and absence of predators to control rodents, growing fruits and vegetables has become quite frustrating.
I still try though and enjoy the trees and plants even when the animals cause issues. Some years I win the war and get some fruit!
