Dealing with big pets


Alan Titchmarsh explains what steps you can take to protect your plants from deer, rabbits, squirrels and other uninvited guests


Tools for the job

 

If, like me, you are lucky enough to live in the country, uninvited visitors into the garden are a regular occurrence and often a delight. There are birds, hedgehogs and squirrels, of course, but also rabbits, foxes, deer, badgers and many smaller furry animals. Dawn or dusk is the best time to catch a glimpse. However, they don’t necessarily share our passion for gardening and may cause serious damage if left entirely to their own devices. In some parts, wild boar are making a comeback and will wreak havoc over lawns, beds and borders - turning a manicured plot into a roughly ploughed field overnight! If you are experiencing problems with any of these animals, you will need to either make your garden (or part of it) inaccessible, or render it less attractive to inquisitive and hungry wildlife.


Protecting your garden

  • Scented deterrents
  • Animal-proof cloches
  • Cages and enclosures
  • Ultrasonic alarms
  • Bark protectors
  • Bird scarers
  • Use pest-resistant plants

Cats and dogs For most people, the main ‘big pest’ is a neighbour’s pet. The curiosity and mischief-making of cats often makes them top of the unwanted intruder’s list, digging holes in cultivated ground, uprooting new plants and scattering seedlings. They can also squash delicate plants when sunning themselves and will predate birds, fish and frogs. You can prevent damage to small areas using netting or garden fleece. You can also get scented repellents and sonic deterrents that some gardener’s really rate. Old-fashioned remedies such as prickly prunings, mothballs, orange peel or crushed garlic maybe worth a try. However, the scented repellents will need replacing regularly to remain effective. If there are a lot of cats in your neighbourhood, it might be worth adapting your garden design to eliminate attractive ‘scratching spots’ and gravel areas. If you have a children’s sandpit, fit it will a cat-proof cover. Dogs tend to be more of a problem in front gardens. Enthusiastic diggers can seriously upset planting schemes. Fortunately, even quite low prickly hedges, such as berberis, and a garden gate will keep out casual off-the-lead canines.

Squirrels Grey squirrels can cause a lot of damage in some gardens. Digging up bulbs, eating soft-fruit and nuts and stripping bark from new trees and shrubs. They also dig to bury their booty. The main problem, in my experience, is that they’ll steal from bird feeders. You can get tree guards to protect the bark of young trees and squirrel-proof cloches to protect crops and prized bulbs. There are also squirrel-proof bird feeders that will thwart these cunning pests.

Moles Finicky furry creatures that are attracted to certain garden soils for their rich supply of worms and other snacks. They can be persistent and difficult to eradicate, but they can also appear one day and disappear just as unexpectedly. There are many traditional remedies often recommended, including prickly brambles and prunings pushed into the runs, strong-smelling substances and vibration-producing devices that moles are said to avoid. Empty wine bottles buried neck-deep into fresh holes and children’s windmills pushed into mole hills, that both vibrate and whine with every passing breeze, are two of my favourites. However, the only remedy I have found that works reliably is a professional mole catcher. But, even then, if your garden soil is attractive to moles it will soon be colonised by a neighbouring clan…and the damaging activity will start all over again.

Rabbits Hares and rabbits will eat almost any young plant growth near or at ground level. They can kill young trees and shrubs by stripping bark from around the stem and will churn up beds and borders when burrowing. A rabbit-proof fence around the boundary of your plot will do the trick, but will be very expensive. It will need to be at least 1m high with a skirt of wire-mesh, buried underground, to prevent burrowing. Alternatively, you can protect the bark on individual new trees and shrubs using tree guards and keep new plants safe under rabbit-proof cloches. If you have experienced rabbit damage in the past, it’s a good idea to choose rabbit-resistant plants as replacements.




Deer Beyond the urban fringe, deer can cause a lot of damage to rural gardens. They’ll eat any vegetation within reach, which can be surprisingly high up for these long-necked, agile creatures. But they are often most damaging eating emerging shoots in spring. They are also renowned for killing saplings, by stripping bark from around the base in winter. High, heavy-duty fencing is the only sure-fire way of keeping deer at bay. If red deer are your adversary, then the fence will need to be 2.5m high to keep out these athletic creatures. Again, if you have experienced deer damage in the past, it’s a good idea to choose deer-resistant plants as replacements.

Foxes These are more of a problem in urban areas than the countryside, where they raid bins and rubbish bags. Foxes are efficient scavengers and in the garden will snack on fruit, bulbs and anything else they can get hold of. There are fox repellants and sonic deterrents available which may be worth a try. However, the most effective method of keeping foxes away is to make your rubbish inaccessible. Rather than leaving plastic sacks out overnight, place them inside secure bins, in a bin store, where even a sly one can’t get at them.

Rats, mice and voles All of these furry foes will damage stored fruit and vegetables, bulbs and seeds. They’ll also snack on freshly sown peas, beans and sweetcorn. Make sure you store produce in a safe place and keep seeds and bulbs in special rodent-proof containers. Avoid adding anything to the compost heap that might attract them to you garden. In the garden, traditional remedies, such as mothballs are said to be effective, but these strong-smelling deterrents may taint the vegetables being grown. You can avoid losing freshly sow seed by raising vegetable plants in pots indoors and planting out when they are no longer of interest to these pests. Otherwise, you could try trapping or even get a cat…







Resistant plants