Garden

[glb613]

On 6/16/2014 gardenman said:

Rabbit fencing is the only real answer. A natural solution is to get a pair of red tailed hawks nesting in your neighborhood. A few years ago we had tons of rabbits then a pair of hawks set up a nest in a neighbor's tree and the rabbit population went away. I haven't even seen any rabbits this year, but now we've added coyotes (in southern New Jersey) to our wildlife mix and I suspect they're helping keep the population in check.

The same thing happened here. They nested in the tree across the street and I haven't seen a single rabbit in my yard this year. Last year a bunny almost killed my lilies, crocus and roses by eating them to the ground. My neighbors and I have a communal vegetable garden and the tomatoes, peppers and radishes are fine. The rest has a fence around it because it's the only way to keep them out.

[Nightowlz]

On 6/16/2014 ennui1 said:

On 6/16/2014 Nightowlz said:

Good Question we have the same problem. We have problems with rabbits & squirrels. Last year a squirrel ate our zucchini plants. We looked out the window one day & saw it eating the zucchini. I ran out & chased it off. Later I saw it out there again. Had totally ate the whole plant & was in a hole it had dug & was eating roots & all of the zucchini. We had no zucchini last year.

And you're complaining? Most people can't give it away fast enough.

LOL!!! Yes. Love zucchini muffins & Brittany's Chocolate Zucchini Cake among other recipes. The in-laws also love all the free zucchini, okra, green beans, peppers etc from our garden.

[gardenman]

On 6/20/2014 glb613 said:

On 6/16/2014 gardenman said:

Rabbit fencing is the only real answer. A natural solution is to get a pair of red tailed hawks nesting in your neighborhood. A few years ago we had tons of rabbits then a pair of hawks set up a nest in a neighbor's tree and the rabbit population went away. I haven't even seen any rabbits this year, but now we've added coyotes (in southern New Jersey) to our wildlife mix and I suspect they're helping keep the population in check.

The same thing happened here. They nested in the tree across the street and I haven't seen a single rabbit in my yard this year. Last year a bunny almost killed my lilies, crocus and roses by eating them to the ground. My neighbors and I have a communal vegetable garden and the tomatoes, peppers and radishes are fine. The rest has a fence around it because it's the only way to keep them out.

Those baby hawks are just eating machines. I don't think more than an hour or two passes each day without the parents bringing back a rabbit, squirrel or some other creature for them to devour. The parents are incredibly good hunters and any smallish animal on the ground has little chance against them.

[happycat]

I tried to go back thru the replies, and cannot find anything about bone meal- to give credit to who ever posted it- but somewhere I read to sprinkle bone meal around to perimeter of the garden. So I did and I cannot believe it, but it is working very well! I do have to reapply after a rain, but my peas and okra are actually able to grow- I am so excited!

[JustJazzmom]

On 7/5/2014 happycat said:

I tried to go back thru the replies, and cannot find anything about bone meal- to give credit to who ever posted it- but somewhere I read to sprinkle bone meal around to perimeter of the garden. So I did and I cannot believe it, but it is working very well! I do have to reapply after a rain, but my peas and okra are actually able to grow- I am so excited!

I didn't post about bone meal but I can tell you why it would work. The rabbits think an animal has been buried or died there (they can smell the bone meal).