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Frequent Contributor
Posts: 88
Registered: ‎12-05-2011

HELP WITH DETERRING CRITTERS IN FLOWER GARDEN

Did anyone catch Hoda and Kathy Lee today, ( Wednesday 6 / 17 ) Jamie Durie was on and he mixed up a concoction of fish emulsion and cayenne pepper in a spray bottle, however I did not get the amounts of each or if there was anything else in the mix. He stated this could be used as a deterrent to keep away critters. Something is having a great time grubbing on my flowers, I think it is a possum family, and I would like to try this, I would really appreciate any suggestions if you have any experience with this.

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Posts: 63
Registered: ‎05-03-2010

Re: HELP WITH DETERRING CRITTERS IN FLOWER GARDEN

I have not seen this show, but I have had quite some success with "Repels All" by Bonide. Its is quite safe, all natural ingredients. But it stinks up your garden for a few hours.

 

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Posts: 3,985
Registered: ‎03-19-2010

Re: HELP WITH DETERRING CRITTERS IN FLOWER GARDEN

I will have to re-watch it on line. It looked that he poured straight fish emulsion into the watering can. Then he said something about straining it (?) and pouring it around the plants. I quit watching then as he moved to another topic. I didn't hear him say anything about making a mixture.

I use a premixed spray I get at a local hardware store, similar to Repel All and it does have an unpleasant odor. I have to spray it multiple times during the course of the summer as the scent will wear away. It has worked very well. Usually the deer will decimate my plants, but I sprayed early this year and I think they got the hint and stay away. I live practically in the middle of the woods and deer are basically my neighbors.
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Posts: 3,985
Registered: ‎03-19-2010

Re: HELP WITH DETERRING CRITTERS IN FLOWER GARDEN

I DVR their show and went back and watched the entire segment.  Jamie didn't give any measurements for the fish emulstion.  So I copied and pasted below what they have posted.

This doesn't help much.  It really looked like he was using straight fish emultion; pouring it directly into the sprinkler can,  but he did say strain it, which didn't make much sense to me.  I suppose you could some add water to it to make it go further

 

POSTED FROM KATHIE LEE AND HODA WEBSITE

"Fish fertilizer is another easy fix — the smell deters animals like gophers and rabbits, but will still serve as a natural, organic fertilizer in your garden.

 

Another option is to spray plants with cayenne pepper and water to prevent dogs from urinating on the area. Soapy water will also work!

 

Keep bunnies out by planting new greenery into a mesh bucket made of chicken wire — it will be partially planted in the soil, making it more difficult for animals to access."

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Frequent Contributor
Posts: 88
Registered: ‎12-05-2011

Re: HELP WITH DETERRING CRITTERS IN FLOWER GARDEN

Thank you all for your replies! I know that the culprits are possums. I read online that you can use mothballs, ( loathe that smell ) ammonia, and raw garlic, I actually put garlic in old socks and tied them at the top, this has worked for a couple of months, however two nights ago my sheltie decided to grab one and ran around the yard for 20 minutes giving us quite a scare, fortunately he had the end with the knot and so he was safe, now I cannot take the chance he will do this again, so that is the reason I want to try the fish emulsion. Plus it will be a great fertilizer.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 17,655
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: HELP WITH DETERRING CRITTERS IN FLOWER GARDEN

@share

 

Fish emulsion is a great fertilizer as a boost to your plants. It is not a high nitrogen fertilizer as say a Miracle Gro is (the 1st number on the bag or label). Its very low in nitrogen.

 

I would say use small bowls of ammonia instead of moth balls. Since you mention your dog grabbing a sock of raw garlic, I cringe at the thought of the dog going and grabbing a moth ball. They are poisonous to all creatures (including us if ingested). Also as the moth ball disintegrates, that stuff is going into your soil.

☼The best place to seek God is in a garden. You can dig for him there. GBShaw☼
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Posts: 4,615
Registered: ‎11-16-2011

Re: HELP WITH DETERRING CRITTERS IN FLOWER GARDEN

My biggest challenge in the Rocky Mountains--the deer and rabbits. Last year, my husband put slivers of Irish Spring soap in our flower beds & bushes & it seemed to work. This year, we have a vegetable/herb garden and it's completely fenced off, yet we're getting significant nibbles on our tomato and pepper plants. Could it be mice?

Honored Contributor
Posts: 17,655
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: HELP WITH DETERRING CRITTERS IN FLOWER GARDEN

[ Edited ]

Are there voles in the garden-- they look like mice but have no tails-- they eat vegetation.

 

Rabbit damage is as high as they can reach. They nibble on rose leaves too leaving the stems to which they are attached to the main stem.

 

Deer need special fencing-- usually to prevent them from jumping over a 6' fence, you need at least an 8' about 2' away from that fence. They dislike attempting to jump over a double fence.

 

Rabbits are deterred by also rabbit fencing-- small holed screening that they cannot squeeze through and then bury the fence about 6-12" below ground because they can do shallow tunnels.

 

We had to do this at the Earth Kind evaluation garden so they wouldn't nibble on the original cell phone sized plants we got! Now they are landscape sized!

 

ETA: where are the nibbles occurring? Sometimes even putting a plastic container-- cut a milk carton in half and place around each plant until the stems get firmer prevent a few critters both animal and insect from tunneling into the soft stem. Some areas get cutworms (the larvae of a moth that lives in the soil) so this barrier is effective until the stem gets firmer and  thicker. We get cutworms so we have to use either plastic barriers of milk cartons or OJ cartons around both tomatoes and peppers.

☼The best place to seek God is in a garden. You can dig for him there. GBShaw☼
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Registered: ‎11-16-2011

Re: HELP WITH DETERRING CRITTERS IN FLOWER GARDEN

JJM, thanks for all the great info--you are a wealth of knowledge!!! Much appreciated. I'm copying/pasting your response & emailing it to my husband. From what you've said, I think our fencing is woefully inadequate. I doubt the deer are jumping the fence--too little space to land in--but the rabbits could be getting through. I have no idea about the voles. I've never seen one. The damage varies--one morning, half the tomato plant was gone & other times, just nibbles. Maybe it's more than one critter at work?

 

The vegetable garden is my husband's "baby" (I do the flowers...) and it's been a challenge protecting the plants from all the hail we've been getting! If it's not the critters, it's Mother Nature! Thanks, again, for the help. If he has questions, I'll be back!

Honored Contributor
Posts: 17,655
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: HELP WITH DETERRING CRITTERS IN FLOWER GARDEN

I've been mulling on this--, so you are seeing the damage done after a night has passed, when you get up in the morning-- half of the tomato plant was gone?

 

Could be a nocturnal animal and I know that rabbits generally are not out at late night-- owls like them for Happy Meals.

 

Could be possums, raccoons-- both are omniverous-- eat meat and vegetation.

 

This is going to sound crazy but try putting out small bowls of ammonia in the veggie garden-- the smell might drive some of these nocturnals to look elsewhere for food.

 

I've even read of using a talk radio in the garden to fool the raccoons into thinking there are people there. I don't know if that works though.

 

I once had success with a small raccoon that knocked over at around 6ish our garbage pail outside my baby son's room (now he's 27!) and it just looked at me.

 

So I took an empty perfume bottle and filled it with ammonia. When the critter came round the next day, I sprayed the ammonia through the screen and it ran away. Then after that, I thought if that worked to repel it, why not just pour some ammonia directly into the pail itself? Well, that worked the best!! No more raccoon garbage can raids! The critter went elsewhere!

☼The best place to seek God is in a garden. You can dig for him there. GBShaw☼