Georgia Magazine - January 2018 - 44

(Continued from page 42)

Deer

Moles 

Critters come from all
directions in Georgia. The telltale signs of mole activity are
meandering lines of slightly raised
soil (1 or 2 inches high) that snake
across the yard. Moles don't actually
eat the roots of your plants; they eat
worms, grubs and other underground
bugs, but their tunneling activity is
tough on lawns and flowerbeds.
Garden centers carry mole traps
that are quite effective, but if you're
squeamish about disposing of
squished moles, your best bet is an
underground fence. Surround any
planting areas you want to protect
with 24-inch-tall wire mesh (with
holes no more than 3/4-inch in size),
buried in a trench 16 inches deep,
with 8 inches sticking out above
ground. You also may opt to cage individual plants as you plant them.
When building raised wooden beds,
line the bottom of the bed with wire
mesh before adding the soil.

Squirrels
Squirrels can cause a variety of
headaches in the garden. If they're
digging up bulbs, flowerbeds or vegetable seedlings, the best remedy is
often to lay wire mesh over the sur-

face of the soil.
Depending on the situation, this
may need to be put in place before
planting (cut little holes in the mesh
for seedlings) or after (cut pieces to
fit around existing plants). If planting
seeds, simply sow them first and then
cover the soil with mesh; the seedlings will grow up through the holes.
You can cover the metal mesh with
mulch to conceal it.
Squirrels are especially fond of
digging up the soil in potted plants.
You can use metal mesh here, too, or
simply cover the soil with small
stones to deter them. They are also
fond of nibbling on unripe fruit, such
as tomatoes and apples. If there aren't
many of these plants, you may have
luck wrapping them individually in
plastic mesh bags.
This is impractical, of course, for
larger trees laden with fruit. In this
case, you might try wrapping the
trunk with 12-inch-tall metal flashing.
The squirrels can't climb up the slippery surface. However, that approach
works only if there is no nearby tree
or structure that the squirrels can leap
from to get at the fruit from above.
Brian Barth is a freelance writer
living in Ontario, Canada.

OC
IST

The telltale signs of mole activity are
meandering lines of slightly raised soil
(1 or 2 inches high) that snake across
the yard.
44

D
EL
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IDD
/M

The sweet sounds of songbirds
are a blessing-unless those birds are
chirping with glee because they've
just discovered your blueberry patch.
Many bird species love berries, and
they are happy to eat them before
they're ripe enough for you to pick.
Things like reflective tape and plastic
owls are marginally effective deterrents at best. The only foolproof
method is to completely enclose your
berry patch with mesh fencing on the
sides and top.
However, putting a cage around
your plants isn't generally considered
attractive landscaping, which is why
some savvy gardeners create temporary enclosures that are used only
during the few weeks each year that
the berries are ripening. Lightweight
2-inch-by-2-inch lumber or even flex-

M
K.CO

Birds

I S T OC

Even in the city, deer manage to
eke out an existence. Deer will jump
a 6-foot fence if there is something
really tasty on the other side, making
them difficult to exclude from the
garden, but there are ways to make
such barriers more effective.
For example, attach lightweight
bamboo poles atop existing fence
poles and string twine between them
to create the impression of a taller
barrier that will make the deer think
twice about jumping.
While deer can jump high, they
can't jump high and far in the same
leap. A 4-foot-tall fence with a 4-footwide hedgerow on one side of it is as
effective as an 8-foot-tall fence on its
own. Ask for advice about deer-resistant plants at your local garden center
for planting areas that can't be fenced.

ible PVC pipes (3/4-inch diameter works best) are easily
cobbled together into a
frame over which to drape
bird netting, which is a
thin, plastic mesh. This is
readily disassembled after the berry season is
over and stored in the garage or under the house
until next year.

K.
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