Chicken wire cage to protect small shrub from rabbits
Since moving to the suburbs, we have noticed a lot more animal pests in our yard. Squirrels dig up and eat tulips bulbs, rabbits decimate small shrubs during the winter and mice tunnel into the vegetable garden and will eat just about anything that grows. It is a constant battle to keep the rodents away from our plants. Sometimes I rationalize that they must get hungry too, but mostly I just get upset.
Last winter I tried something new to protect a couple of small shrubs from our local rabbits. I cut off a section of chicken wire, wrapped in into a tube shape and placed one over each bush. I then used a couple of sticks and a few large landscape staples to hold the cage in place. When spring came both shrubs were fine — the rabbits must have dined elsewhere. So, based on that experience, I placed cages around all of my new shrubs this fall and am hoping for the same result.
Paving stones in garden protecting newly planted tulips
For our squirrel problem, I have tried a couple different methods. Basically I think that squirrels are hard-wired to dig into disturbed earth. They go straight to any new plantings in the fall and don’t really seem to bother the established bulbs. When we plant a whole section of the garden in tulips such as when I help my daughter, I lay chicken wire on top of the newly planted bed. Then we weigh down the whole thing with a few bricks. We also add a bit of mulch to hide the chicken wire because it looks ugly. Then in spring when the tulips break ground, she removes the chicken wire and bricks and the tulips grow undisturbed. That system works great for a larger space.
If I am simply adding a few extra tulips to an established bed, I plant in clumps of 6-9 bulbs. Then I place one of my paving stones on top of each new planting. The stone is too heavy for the squirrels to move and my tulips are safe for the winter. Since my home garden is not rectangular, this method allows more planting flexibility. When spring arrives and I see other tulips coming up, I simply remove the stones and the new tulips begin to grow. This seems to work pretty well. Those same bulb-eating squirrels don’t usually bother my tulips in the spring.
As for the mice, I have been trapping them with the easy outdoor mouse trap and so far this fall I have caught 21 mice. I shared the trap idea with some of my neighbors and we are all working to lower the mouse population in our yards. Also of note, I have seen a fat coyote walking through our side yard on several occasions, so I guess we are also receiving a little outside help.