The friendly animals around your neighborhood might feel like they are part of the family however sometimes you have to manage the visits your friendly critters have on your home. Eating your plants and digging up your yard are two big reasons why some critters just might have to move to your neighbor’s house.
Rabbits
Vegetable gardens are a prime target for rabbits who eat the top of the plants down to the ground. Planting lavender in your yard can actually keep away some of these critters. The fragrance of lavender along with chili or garlic are also great options to keep away rabbits and some deer. Planting garlic plants in parts of your yard not only keeps some of the critters away but actually have blooms that can add some color to your yard.
Deer
Keep your roses safe from deer by planting them high out of reach from your uninvited guests. Deer not only dislike garlic but they also dislike rosemary and salvias, these are great plants to plant near your roses and in various parts of your yard to limit the appetite of your neighboring deer. These are also easy plants to take care to your garden. Dryer sheets and bars of tallow based soap are also great tools to shoe away a deer. Deer tend to avoid, boxwood, holly, barberry, blue spruce, daffodils, lily of the valley, Russian sage and ornamental grasses. You can even make homemade solutions involving garlic, eggs, cayenne pepper, hot sauce and even glue.
Moles
Moles or gophers are critters that visit under ground. If you start seeing raised tunnels appear in your yard, make sure you step along their top to flatten them and possibly plant daffodils and narcissus bulbs. They tend to avoid these plants. Gopher wire lining your plant beds is another way to keep these critters at bay.
Snails
Snails and slugs love what rabbits eat plus some other plants you have. Using cracked eggshells around your planting areas cause the snails to resist the area or risk demise due to the sharpness of the egg shells. This is also an all natural product. Over the counter snail and slug products can be poisonous to your pets if they are near the area.
Squirrels
Squirrels are mischievous critters. Keep your plants covered with wire if you have a squirrel problem. Raccoons are another mischievous house guest. Raccoons love trash, so make sure your trash is picked up around your home and your trash bins have tightly sealed lids. Using cords and bin locks can also help in case this guest decides to tip the can over. This tip also applies to dog and cat food that might be outside.
Birds
Birds attack trees with fruit in them. If you want to protect your fruit, use noisy items to scare off birds like clinking trash cans together, add noisy wind chimes to your trees and even metallic type paper like sheets of aluminum foil to keep the birds away.
Having our friendly neighborhood critters as visitors is fantastic as long as we can manage the amount of yard and produce they decide to consume.
