How to save veggies from deer, bunnies and squirrels

My tiny vegetable patch is right along the woods with deer, rabbits and squirrels. I need a plan to save my plants from them.

Can I plant Sandia A Hot peppers in the periphery and plant amaranth, okra, sweet pepper and eggplant in the center? Will this layout, along with chicken wire, help? Can I place something on the top to cover it? But then how do you harvest?

I have a deck on which I am already growing some tomatoes and herbs. I don't think it is squirrel proof but I can move everything there if the above option does not work.

Then the alternative idea for the veggie patch is to just plant Sandia A Hot Peppers and place Morning Glory at the back (let the vine climb over the brush. I have no problem if it became invasive in the woods. In fact it will look lovely). But I don't know if Morning Glory will just kill my hot peppers. Or if the critters will eat my hot pepper plants too.

The bunnies and squirrels are such a big problem that I moved my snow pod pea containers into my wheelbarrow for added safety. So really need ideas.





This message was edited May 19, 2009 3:39 PM

We have very hungry rabbits, so I'm interested too.

One of my best friends has for three years lost her peppers to rabbits. Chicken wire around them if you can. I live 25 miles away and have an aboundance of squirrles. My tomatto score is me one, them two. Hardware store this week!

Wow! I did not realize they ate hot peppers too. That is scary.

Now last year we lost almost all tomatoes (until I put them up on the table) but none of the hot peppers... hmmm. (That's all we grew. I mean tried to grow.)

Ok, so we live right near the woods as well and have the same critters plus woodchucks. In fact this past winter we had 12 deer dining on our landscaping every day all season, so this has been a big issue for us. Here is what we have planned:

Phase 1: Chicken wire fence. We found chicken wire coated in plastic to avoid corrosion seeping into the soil. It'll be about 3 1/2 feet high and six inches deep.
Phase 2: A fortress of marigolds around the outside. Animals apparently don't like them and stay away. Plus they're pretty and will cover the ugly fence.
Phase 3: Fox piss. Apparently animals don't like this either. They sell it at The Bass Pro Shop if there's one around you or any hunting store I'd imagine.
Phase 4: Human hair, very similar effect as the fox pee but I can just give my husband a hair cut. I guess I'll spread this and the pee around the outside of the marigolds.

I figure with this four phase fortress I am doing every foreseeable natural remedy to keep my garden safe. I'll let you know how it goes.

Sylvaere,Good job! The Marrygolds are A nice thouch. My Akita would be sooooo confused by Fox pee. Hair last about ten minutes in my yard. My neighbor has lots of bird houses and they love it when i comb out the dog. They change out the nest bedding and I don't have to clean up the yard hair. win win.

Aside from mechanical methods (chicken wire, electric fence, moat of burning oil, machine gunner nests) you might try making a spray out of water and hot peppers and applying it to your plants. Rabbits and squirrels might eat pepper plants but they don't care for the actual fruit so much. The pepper spray seems to keep the furry critters here from eating plants (dogs, squirrels, rabbits, horses). The downside is you have to reapply regularly to cover the new growth, and after every rain. I don't know how big your garden is going to be but I have about 50 small plants going and it only takes about 10 or 15 minutes to thoroughly spray them with a 99 cent spray bottle.

Do you make pepper spray from hot chilli powder/flakes or is there a pepper spray product you are referring to?

You could use powder, and I'm sure there's probably some commercially available pepper based repellent but I just take a couple of hot peppers and toss them in the blender with some water and blend them together. Whether you use powder or fresh peppers you'll need to strain it through a cheesecloth or coffee filter etc. to avoid clogging up the sprayer. Most hairy animals don't care for hot peppers and after a bite or two they give up. Once I've given the squirrels and rabbits a few weeks to get used to idea that eating from my garden is a painful experience they generally stay away for the rest of the summer. Your mileage may vary. No warranty express or implied. Yadda yadda yadda.

I have the deer fence from Gardener's Supply - the regular, not the heavy duty - and it seems to be working to keep the deer out. I've got it anchored to the ground, too. The deer in my neighborhood will eat anything - tomatoes, lettuce, zucchini, hot peppers, eggplant, etc. Without the fence we would have no garden. Before the fence I had tried all the sprays, the human hair, the soap - nothing worked. My worries this year are squirrels and crows. I've seen plans for a squirrel noose, which I may be desperate enough to try. Last year they ate one bite out of each of my apples! I can't afford to let that happen again. We've never had a problem with crows before, so I'm not sure what they may do, but I'm keeping watch!

Could you put bird netting over the tree when the fruit starts to grow?

This year, So far everything I'm growing is in containers. The class at a local nursery said 5 gal containers are big enough for each tomato or pepper. I have tomatoes: 2 in 5 gal nursery pots, one in a 25-30 (?) gal nursery pot and 2 in maybe 8 gal pots. I have some seedlings, both peppers and tomatoes in 4 " pots to transfer into big pots. Need to buy more potting soil.... That being said, all this is because of gophers that have made last year's garden plot look like swiss cheese, then the rabbits and ground squirrels... I am thinking of trying some squash and potatoes in the ground with chicken wire (again) above and below.

I think Dorkasaurus has the best idea with the machine gunner's nest. The burning moat would work, but e are in a fire zone.

Lynda

Fences are the only thing that works for deer here in Colorado, and they need to be either high or doubled with about 3 feet between them. Alternatively you can use a guide wire system along the ground extending out about 8 feet. (Wire on shorter stakes, strung on lines surrounding the garden.) Don't trip on it yourself though.

Out here the deer eat absolutely anything we plant unless it is where they can't get to it.

got so tired of squirrel eating my tomatoes
. . . . if you cant lick 'em, join them!

so I only plant grape or cherry tomatoes.
They can eat their fill eat there will still be enough for me! LOL
I freeze them too - whole - and add to winter roasts or stews.
(they look and taste just yummy roasted too!)
I prefer the grape for cooking
- better flavor and color is just spectacular in those dishes!

I know this sounds really bad, but I had monster size squirrels in my back yard. They ate everything in sight, including most of the bird food. It got so bad they were no longer scared of my dog,(only a basset hound but still???) I had my husband shoot one w/ a 22, I had reached the end of my rope with them...... He left it's tail in the yard for the week. I have not seen a squirrel in the back yard in over 6 weeks. I know this sounds really terrible but my plants are mine again....

We have a FAMILY of rabbits who my kids and husband think are cute!!! I'm trying to grow lettuce and tomatoes....

Your fixing to have a larger family of rabbits to enjoy!

I've heard that spreading mothballs around the perimeter of a bed can ward off at least rabbits. Not sure about the others though.

I did this around my herb garden and haven't lost anything yet, and we have a lot of rabbits in my neighborhood.

This message was edited Jun 3, 2009 3:02 PM

I'll try mothballs and mint. Also raising them up where the little brats can't reach (in containers).