Critter Trials

Spring and summer bring vegetable and flower gardening. My spouse and I both enjoy gardening, but with gardening, come pests and critters. This weekend, saw our first critter trials with potted plants, but I have had trials with the vegetable garden. This is a story of our critter trials.

May 6 Critter crater in raised bed

The critter trials began this spring in the vegetable garden. In fact, the main vegetable garden looked like a war zone, particularly in the area that had late harvest vegetables in which I did not get a chance to plant a rye cover crop, but even the rye cover crop area was not immune from the critter craters. Chipmunks hibernate, and the garden looked cratered most of the winter and early spring, I have to think it is chipmunks digging in the soil to bury or find their treasured nuts. When turning over the soil I found a number of peanut shells, some with, some with out peanuts. A neighbor at the end of the street feeds peanuts to the large black birds, grackles or crow like birds that are very big. They then come to our yard to sit and do whatever, scaring away the nice song birds. Hence, it is not a surprise to find peanuts. 

The war zone look continued after I planted part of my raised bed in early March. I placed a cold frame over much of what I planted, but in the nicer weather I take off the glass covers. Well, it did not take long for the critters to dig up seeds and plants, making the newly planted raised bed the appearance of eastern Ukraine. I use old storm windows, and took the one screen available and covered up part during the day, while covering the other half with glass to keep the critters out. When I planted most of the rest of the raised bed, in April, the same thing started happening.. I had an old wood screen door, which I cut the screen out of and placed over the newly planted area. It is amazing what one can do with the junk one keeps.

May 6, screen garden cover

Keeping the critters out of the planted pots involves more ingenuity than getting a rocket off the ground. This past Saturday we planted some of our flower pots, using a combination of some purchased and some plants started from seed. The plants I start from seed are not as large or hardy as the greenhouse plants. It was in a few hours that the critter, likely chipmunk(s), had dug up some plants in at least three different pots. They were nice enough to set the plant off to the side, but some had very little soil on the roots. We decided to use both red pepper flakes and the wife found that garlic also can be a deterrent. She brought up several cloves of garlic and cut them up and put them in the pots. Once again we were outsmarted as they got to a couple plants. 

With flower pots it is not like you wish to put a cover over them, as it destroys what you wish to view. Covers, can also hamper growth, and if a net type material the plant may well grow into the netting. I have added some blood meal to the container to see if that will help. There are times, experience shows, when there is little or no disturbance and then boom, there is disturbance.

Near 4" deep critter crater in planter
Just beyond red flower
May 7, 2024

Sometimes it can be a never ending battle with the critters, but yet we persevere. I wish they would find their way to the neighbor who feeds the large black birds the peanuts and feast and plant in her pots and garden all the peanuts to their hearts content.