Plant Gardens 101

Moles: they are pests that plague many gardeners and cause trouble by eating earthworms that are beneficial for plant growth and causing unsightly tunnels and dirt mounds in your lawn and garden. There are many methods that are offered as remedies for mole infestations. However, most of them are ineffective and/or dangerous for children and other animals.

Some of the most common products for getting rid of moles are mole traps. However, if you bury the trap in a mole tunnel, the mole will see that the tunnel has been disturbed and smell your scent and is unlikely to come back through that tunnel. If the trap is placed near the surface of a tunnel, you risk children or other animals getting caught in the trap.

Another common method of mole pest control is using poison. However, this is dangerous if you have pets or children. Not only will pets be attracted to the poison, they will also get sick if they find and eat a poisoned mole. (more…)

This is a timeless struggle between the Gardener and Nature’s creatures.

Rabbits, Deer, Chipmunks, Squirrels, Gophers, Moles, Voles and Ground Hogs are probably our biggest challenge in the vegetable and flower garden world. Following are a few easy tips on how to get rid of these pests:

There are all natural repellents such as ShakeAway, Liquid Fence, Deer Away and Critter Ridder. These all-natural repellents all work well and all work in different ways.

Shake Away is a granular Predator Urine product. This is a fantastic product. It creates the scent of predators such as fox, coyote and bobcat. They will not wash away in the rain and do not evaporate. They are not messy or highly stinky, like their liquid counterparts. They even have one for cats. (more…)

If you are investing time and resources in growing a garden then you know full well how animal pests can destroy your efforts. Pests such as possums, rabbits, squirrels, moles, birds, and deer will often wander into a garden and eat vegetables and flowers. There are many methods available to keep these pests out of your garden such as fencing, traps, repellents, and new mechanical repellents that frighten the animal away. This article will discuss each method and examine what may work best for your animal pest problem.

Fences can be an effective method of keeping pests out of your garden and tend to work best when the animal doesnt know what the fence is protecting but while this type of large solid fence may provide a visual block, it will not block odors and can block desired views or violate local codes. A better solution for small pests would be to use a fence of woven wire or 2 inch poultry netting, 2 to 3 feet high and place around the area that you want protected. The bottom of the fence should be buried in the ground at least 6 inches to prevent animals from digging under the fence. Electric fences are especially effective for woodchucks and rabbits but if choosing this option, please make sure that you use a battery powered source that startles but does not injure the animal. While fences can be effective for some types of pests it is not the ultimate solution as larger animals such as deer can jump it and birds can fly over it. Another option would be to use a trap. (more…)