I WATCHED ONE WADDLE across the road here yesterday, so it’s only a matter of time until my annual battle begins with Marmota monax, the woodchuck or groundhog. Typically these big rodents get going earlier in my supermarket garden, but I’m not complaining about the delay in our inevitable war games, and am enjoying having all the peas to myself for once. Any fur-bearing species of any description been giving you fits yet in your backyard? (Thanks to Andre Jordan for the garden doodle.)
THE LECTURE that he’s been giving for a number of years is not-so-subtly called “Kill Your Lawn.” Ecological horticulturist Dan Jaffe Wilder knows that starting over and creating an entire native habitat instead of a lawn isn’t for everyone. But Dan just wants to grab our attention and get us to start to make some changes at least in the way we care for the turfgrass we do want in our landscapes. And maybe give up a little square footage of it to some other kind of more diverse planting, too, like the wild strawberries (Fragaria virginiana, inset). Alternative, more eco-focused styles of lawn care, along with some lawn alternatives is what he and I talked about on the podcast. Dan is Director of Applied Ecology at Norcross Wildlife Foundation in Wales, Massachusetts, and its 8,000-acre sanctuary. He’s also co-author with Mark Richardson of the book “Native Plants for New England Gardens.”
(Stream it below, read the illustrated transcript or subscribe free.)
There is one perfect, 100% reliable treatment against bunnies, squirrels, deer, woodchucks, voles, moles, mice and varmits of all classifications. This remedy is harmless to the environment, does no damage to plant material, does nothing to discourage birds, bees and other insects….and licks your face. A Jack Russell. I’ve owned several and each one has taken the job of keeping my property varmit-free with great enthusiasm and astounding success!
does anyone have any suggestions about what to use to stop chipmunks from tunneling around and in the middle of my garden. they have already destroyed my Asiatic lily bulbs and tulips as well as my some other plants .
Yes the pocket gopher is what has invaded my space. Thanks for the info.
To Tracy’s comment I would add that our countrified French Bulldog Buster is somewhat disturbingly up to the task of keeping the woodchuck population in check (they’re usually found near the woodpile, but no, I have no answer to those questions about woodchucks chucking wood – if they can, and if so, how much…). And if we could leave our Boston Terriers out all night we’d have no deer problem, but unfortunately we now have coyotes edging ever closer (I saw one sniffing around the border fence, looking for a way in, as one of our feline rodent controllers arched her back and hissed, safely perched on a tree stump). We need a Jack Russell for the rabbits – ours run right by them as they play statue. Skunks? Now there’s a love/hate relationship!
Hi, Ed. Can you send Buster over? :)
I have some rotting stumps in my yard, and the various grubs and insects living there seem to hold the attention of both skunks and groundhogs, so they mostly leave my vegetables alone. Now, the deer . . .
And some feral cats live around my neighborhood, which seems to keep down the smaller rodent population. Lucky.
Has anyone had luck with those sonic mole controllers that send vibrations through the ground?