Guardin’ Your Garden

When I bought my first home a few years ago, I wanted to see if green thumbs were a hereditary trait so I decided to start a garden. My parents were avid gardeners, but alas, this skill has seemingly skipped a generation. After spending a small fortune on annuals and perennials, shiny new gardening tools, and enough fertilizer to put me on the homeland security watch list, I spent the weekend planting my new garden. Much to my dismay, the only thing I accomplished was setting the table for an all-you-can-eat neighbourhood buffet. The local bunnies seemed to really enjoy the freshness of the offerings and the raccoons were thrilled to find an abundance of worms in the expensive soil I had purchased.

The average homeowner will spend close to $500 on garden plants and supplies this year. Fortunately there are effective ways to protect your investments this season.

Check out: http://www.contech-inc.com/products/gardenprotection/

Spring Ahead

Last Sunday was one of my favorite days of the year. Daylight saving time…one of the first signs that spring has sprung and that evenings spent outdoors are just around the corner.

The ScareCrow motion-activated animal deterrent uses a harmless blast of water to keep deer, raccoons, cats, dogs and other unwanted animals out of gardens. Install the ScareCrow when the threat of frost has passed.

Yes, we lose an hour of sleep and dark mornings make it harder to get out of bed, but just knowing that we can squeeze a few more hours into the end of the day is worth the sacrifice. So, if you’ve been waiting for an excuse to tackle those outdoor chores that were neglected last fall, now you have it: that extra bit of daylight that makes the yard and garden so much more appealing.

As spring approaches, wildlife will find your garden appealing as well. Plan now to protect spring bulbs and vulnerable plantings from common backyard pests.

The Trouble With Raccoons…

…is when you first see them, they look so cute with their black-masked face, trill laugh and curious stance.

My recent encounter involved two of them, one of me (armed with a broom handle), and a tipped garbage can at 1 a.m. The larger of the two had no intention of leaving dinner scraps behind. In the end, I won – not because I was bigger, but because the water hose I turned on annoyed them while they were trying to enjoy the scavenged meal.

The garbage can problem was solved with a couple of heavy duty bungee cords.

As it turns out, that was just the beginning. My new yardmates have adopted some other annoying habits: visiting the fish pond (though it is too deep for them to catch anything), tearing up the turf in search of grubs, raiding fruit trees, and designating my Deodara as their outhouse.

The solutions:

1) Fish pond – I’ve installed a CatStop at the pond as getting a hose to the location just isn’t practical. Since there really isn’t a good place to sit and fish, the CatStop seems to be annoying enough that the raccoons haven’t been back in weeks. At my parents’ house, the CatStop was not enough of a deterrent – their pond is shallow–but the ScareCrow has solved their midnight raids.
2) Rolling and digging up turf – The raccoons are after what I am certain they consider a culinary delight – maybe even the equivalent of raccoon caviar – grubs. In my case, European Chafer bugs. They are huge, translucent and alien in appearance, but I can see how they might make a delicious mouthful.

The CatStop didn’t work on the lawn rolling problem – I think the lure of the grub is just too great. The addition of the ScareCrow (set up so as not to soak the mail man) has solved the problem, though I’ve had to install two, back-to-back, to keep the whole lawn covered.

The long term solution will be to get rid of the grubs. I will be applying nematodes in July to try and eliminate the “bait”. See The Bug Lady for more information.

3) Latrine practices – There are neat piles of dung encircling my tree. In my parents’ case, the raccoons used the roof of their flat-roofed garden shed as a latrine. My father discovered the problem one sunny afternoon when the family refused to dine alfresco because of the stench.

In both cases, we have found the CatStop has solved the problem.

Note: Clean-up of feces should be done carefully as raccoons can carry a host of not-so-nice things: rabies if you are bitten, and the scat can contain round worm eggs. See the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Ministry of Natural Resources for more information.

4) Fruit tree raids – Raccoons seem more determined to establish the perfect ripeness than I am. They do this by climbing the fruit tree and taking single bites out of still-green plums and apples, and throwing them to the ground if they are sour. Again, a ScareCrow at the base of the tree can be a great tool. Make certain the raccoons are gaining access from below (in my case, they were dropping from the neighbor’s fence onto the tree – a net over the top of the tree and a ScareCrow at the base has solved the problem).

Keeping Raccoons out of the yard:

• Keep garbage in cans that are tightly locked down
• Remove any “hiding/nesting” places around your property – i.e. debris piles or easy access to covered porches , sheds or crawl spaces
• Feed pets indoors – leaving food and water outside will invite unwanted guests
• Pick fruit promptly – don’t leave it on the ground to rot. If you can’t pick your fruit, contact your local food bank – they may have volunteers
• If you are installing a pond, make the sides steep and deep enough to discourage fishing, or consider installing a “pondless” water feature
• Treat lawns in summer with nematodes to eliminate the grubs below the lawn
• Do not feed the raccoons – they are wild animals and should not be given handouts
• Install a ScareCrow – a proven deterrent for destructive raccoon antics

– Karen Schindelhauer