GRRRR! Bad Garden Day - There Is Hope!

A Couple of days ago, I noticed some of my potted plants covered with dirt! There were mounds of dirt and holes in the dirt in my pots. GRRRR. At first, I blamed the raccoons since we have many of them, but they only come out at night. If I were to find the culprit, I would have to be awake all night!


  Aha! I found the culprit and it was a cute little squirrel. There he was, digging really fast in one of my pots! I was so angry I went out and screamed at him to scare him away. Then we got out my air pellet gun and learned really quick how to use it.

   Well, I was determined to make an end of the squirrels, so I decided to look for an electric fence that would be adequate for a backyard garden. Everything I found though, was for gardens that were on a lot of property. Plus, the shock from the fence would be enough to kill a small dog or birds. I don't want to do that, especially when our turkeys come around. That would be terrible to find a dead turkey in our back yard!

We love our turkeys. They have been around
for many years and we have watched them
grow up. They still come around and they seem to be used to us now.

   On the gardening list I am on, they discouraged me from ordering the electric fence, so I put it on hold. But the good news is that we had some people over tonight for a cheese making class, and they were into gardening. The man suggested that I just leave it alone as the squirrels only destroy about 1/10th of the garden (or that might be the percentage of his garden they destroy!). That got me to thinking, maybe I could make a sandbox for them and put real sand in it. Maybe it would help pacify their need for digging. I could make popcorn for them, and then they would be tasty morsels for the hawks.

   One other good thing that happened tonight was that one of the mystery plants was identified! I had a plant growing that I didn't recognize, but I knew it was a real plant, so I put it down with the other potted plants. It is a vining plant, and it suffered from the cold weather, but if the roots are still alive, the plant will be ok. The man identified it as a grape vine. Come to think of it, I did grow grapes one time, and I could see how it looks like a grape vine.

My grape vine when it was a baby.

   My lychee plant was uprooted but I think it will be ok. So, my next plan of action is to order some bird spikes. In the reviews, some told how it helped deter squirrels. It is less than half the price of the electric fence and probably a lot safer for small children and animals like turkeys, to be around. 

  So, I will feed the squirrels and provide a sand box for them, outside of the fence in the back (our property goes beyond the fence. Let's hope that the bird spikes provide a good answer for this dilemma. If they do, I will order more and place them inside the big garden in the back, which they also destroyed twice.

I have a pepper plant that I was reluctant to put into a pot since the squirrels were out there, but now I can try these ideas and see if they work. Will post pictures in the future of the outside plants.