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Gardeners’ Forum: “giving up on gardening”

• giving up on gardening

  Posted by Sharon on Saturday, July 18, 2009 12:55 am ADT

  I'm done...the porcupine that's been eating my trees, and the rabbits and deer that have been eating all my flowers have won! I haven't been able to find a deterrent for the critters, or to find the kinds of flowers to plant that those wascally wabbits won't eat. HELP. This is my last chance to find what to do, or what to plant. It's so disheartening to spend all that work and TLC on the flowers, and watch the rabbits eating them. If I can't find something, then I'll have to give up gardening...

  • re: giving up on gardening

    Posted by Brian T on Monday, July 20, 2009 10:10 pm ADT

    Gosh I know how you feel. On top of those other problems we are in a drough and the well is running dry. Most of your problems can be solved, some even by legal means. Have you thought of speaking to a friend and borrowing a dog, not a little yappy one but a big growler. That should teach the deer rather quickly and the rabbits a bit later. As to the porcupines they just nibble the bark and I use skoot for those. I also bought some concrete reinforcing mesh, sut it to 8 foot lengths and circled a bunch of trees with it. Sure stops the deer especially in winter. If you are on city water perhaps one of those motion sensing water thingys that start squirting water when the animals get near. On the bright side you do not have skunks. Then is when you move. Have fun as there is always next year and you might have your firearm acquesition certificate by then.

  • re: giving up on gardening

    Posted by Sharon on Tuesday, July 21, 2009 9:25 am ADT

    Thanks for the tips, Brian. The animals seem to be so bold, too, as if they know what they can get away with. And I actually DO have skunks, digging up my lawn, but they apparently eat June bug grubs, so they've been welcome, thus far..

  • re: giving up on gardening

    Posted by KATHLEEN on Wednesday, July 29, 2009 5:21 pm ADT

    You may have already tried the following things, but I just hate the thought of a gardener giving up gardening! I bought a book by Gerry Baker called "Bug Off" which had a lot of info about all kinds of pests. Gerry writes in such a hilarious way, I would suggest you take a look at his website. Also, I just noticed that his website has a "Critter Control" chart listing some commercial products not in the book. I have seen that several people say they have been successful with an egg based spray. The following recipe is from the above mentioned book by Jerry Baker: dissolve 2 well beaten eggs and 2 teaspoons of beef broth in 1 gallon (4 litres) of water. Let it sit for 2 days (until it stinks!). Pour into a hand-held sprayer and spray the plants on the edge of the flower garden. Gerry Baker suggests you can grow a surrounding hedge of plants deer don't like: barberry (Berberis), box elder, butterfly bush, holly, juniper and/or mountain laurel. Not sure which of these grow in Canada except the barberry and juniper. Other plants deer don't usually like: Castor oil plant (poisonous to humans) Catnip Chives Garlic Lavender Onion Spearmint Thyme Yarrow Bleeding Heart Delphinium Foxglove (poisonous) Iris Peony Snowdrop Crocus Daffodils Glory of the Snow Siberian Squill Ageratum Verbena Ice Plant Scabiosa (pinchushion flower) Snapdragon Zinna Finally, he suggests hanging smelly things around the yard, such as old socks, deodorant soap, or baby powder. Change it up once in a while so the animals don't just get used to it. Make bags for the smelly stuff out of something like old onion mesh bags or panty hose and tie the end with a long piece of string. Make a little umbrella for it with either a small upside down flower pot with a drainage hole, or use paper cups with a hole poked in the end. Pull the string through the hole until the pouch is inside, and hang by the string around the edges of your yard. The pot or cup will protect it from washing away in the rain. You can use blood and bone meal in cans sunk into the ground and around trunks of trees to discourage rabbits (and deer) from chewing the bark. Leave enough room in the cans for rain so you don't overfertilize your plants with the bloodmeal. The smell also turns off other little critters. A recipe for Hot Bite Spray (also from Gerry Baker) to spray on flowering plants: 3 tablespoons of cayenne pepper 2 cups hot water 1 tablespoon of Tabasco sauce 1 tablespoon of ammonia 1 tablespoon of baby shampoo Mix the cayenne pepper with the hot water in a jar or bottle and shake well. Let sit overnight, then pour off the top liquid without disturbing the sediment at the bottom. Add liquid to the other ingredients and pour into a hand held sprayer bottle and spray on new shoots often to keep them hot to the taste. The final thing is to try is a triple-thick hedge around the edge that deer do like, to satisfy them so they don't bother going into the flower garden. This sounds expensive to me and I am not sure if the suggested plants grow here, but they are American arborvitae, Buckeye, European mountain ash, Fraser Fir, Korean lilac, and rhododendron (I know there is a zone 2 rhododendron, but it needs to be set up with rich well drained acidic soil). Decoy plantings for rabbits could be alfalfa, clover or lettuce. They also enjoy WEEDS such as crabgrass, daisy fleabane, dandelion, knotweek, ragweed and lespedeza (a shrub). Why not rise up, declare war one more time and try everything and see if it helps?

  • re: giving up on gardening

    Posted by Sharon on Friday, July 31, 2009 1:39 pm ADT

    Kathleen...thank you SO much for the tips...I WILL try some of your suggestions. And I'm open for any more. I've jotted down Gerry's name so that I can do some more research, as well. Thanks again.

  • re: giving up on gardening

    Posted by sharon coombs on Thursday, September 17, 2009 8:32 am ADT

    Don't give up gardening, get a hound and a gun, and then you can have rabbit pie, and venison is delicious. You fed them and now they'll feed you.

  • re: giving up on gardening

    Posted by Sandy Geary on Sunday, October 25, 2009 9:11 pm ADT

    Don't give up & do get Gerry Bakers book. I've been plagued with bold brazen squirrels. They not only eat my most expensive tulip bulbs but have the audacity to knock the heads off them too, so that all you see in your garden is the stems & leaves. This year I bought all the bulbs I could find that squirrels and chipmunks hate & planted those babies. Also bought Gerry's book & plan to use lots of home recipes he mentions. Hang in there.

  • re: giving up on gardening

    Posted by Sharon on Tuesday, November 3, 2009 2:27 am AST

    Thanks, everyone, for the advice and encouragement. I really do get a lot of pleasure from gardening. We'll give it another try. Any suggestions on flowers that rabbits don't like to eat?

  • re: giving up on gardening

    Posted by Deedee on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 12:35 pm AST

    Hi Sharon, I too have problems with pests. One of the best controls I have ever found is to pee around my gardens! I know this sounds awful but trust me - it works. You can always catch some in a jar and sprinkle it around the edges of the garden. Good luck