6 Tips for Keeping Pests and Animals away from Your Garden

A garden is a wonderful thing, whether you choose to raise beautiful flowers and plants or ones that

bear edible vegetables and fruit for your dinner table. One thing that can be a major pain for the avid

gardener is keeping pests and animals away from your tender plants. There are several options for

you to consider, and here are six basic tips for protecting your hard work.

● Fence - When you are dealing with the neighbor’s dog or wildlife that see your plants as an all

you can eat buffet, fencing seems to be the logical choice. First determine who your major

offenders are. For rabbits or small dogs, a simple short fence could do fine. If you are dealing

with deer, you will likely have to go a good deal higher. Keep in mind a determined deer may

push or otherwise subvert your fencing to get to your lovely tomato plants.

● Flooding Gopher Holes - If you have ever stepped in a soft spot in the yard, you know about

moles and gophers. What you may not know is how difficult they can be to get rid of and the

damage they can do to your garden. Some gardeners choose to use flooding or poison to rid

themselves of these pests, though there are some natural pellets you can utilize.

● Homemade Mixtures - Are you finding despite your best efforts that rabbits are tearing up

your fresh young plants? You can make your own animal repellent with a mixture of water,

 

dish detergent and hot sauce. Rabbits do not like the flavor and will leave your plants alone.

Of course, you should know they may become accustomed to the flavor and return to the

garden anyway.

● Sprinklers - When a neighborhood cat is giving you problems, your choices are a bit limited.

After all, cats can climb pretty well so the fence will not be much use. One creative way to

keep cats out of your yard and garden is by utilizing a motion detector on your sprinkler

system. Talk about natural pest control!

● Cage Your Plants - Squirrels can be a bit of a problem, particularly if you are raising juicy red

tomatoes, some of the best natural pest repellants are cats and dogs, but then they can

become more of a problem than they solve. Some industrious gardeners prefer to cage their

prized plants using chicken wire.

● Natural Animal Repellent Products - A very good and natural pest repellent is hot pepper

juice, but not everyone has copious amounts of it lying around the house. Spicy pepper

concentrates will not hurt your plants, but will deter a wide variety of pests including dogs,

cats, deer, rabbits and even some insect pests. If you don’t want to constantly deal with messy

mixtures or sourcing materials, turn to an all natural animal repellent such as Repellex. This

proprietary blend comes in tablets, granules and spray to address all of your gardening and

animal repellent problems.