Ecological Gardening by Marjorie Harris

Author:Marjorie Harris [Harris, Marjorie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-36665-8
Publisher: Random House of Canada
Published: 2009-06-12T16:00:00+00:00

Bags of human hair outlining your territory will also help.

Mark the territory with your own urine. Easiest to obtain at a party: just send the men outdoors and they will know what to do.

Dogs: If you don’t own one, you may find that dogs can be a drag. I have a regular canine visitor that urinates on plants near the sidewalk (watched by the doting owner). I’ve taken to sprinkling cayenne pepper over the spot, which does discourage it from using the same spot over and over. I’m told that Epsom salts sprinkled at the front of a border will help. Pound small sticks a foot (30 centimetres) or so apart around an area to keep dogs from trampling through easily. It’s very hard to train owners who let their dogs off-leash, but a large sign saying you’ve just poured poison all over the front garden can sometimes get the message across that dogs can be vandals.

Gophers: Most of the suggestions for getting rid of gophers are so cruel I cannot even begin to record them. It’s better to encourage natural predators such as dogs, hawks, snakes or skunks. If the gophers are pernicious, try growing your plants in 5-gallon (20-litre) plastic buckets. Remove the bottoms and drill holes in the sides; then bury them in spring. For small plants, use berry baskets.

Groundhogs: Other than drastic measures, a really good fence is your best option. You’ll have to sink it fairly far into the ground. Or try planting a separate area of the garden for these animals; they like clover and alfalfa. Keep a section around the garden mowed and they may spend their time there. Natural predators are cats, dogs and hawks.

Mice: I’ve never really had a problem with mice but if you do, try planting caper spurge (Euphorbia lathyris), which will help deter them. Be careful of all the euphorbias; they have lactic acid in their stalks and can cause dermatitis if you handle them carelessly. Borders of daffodils, narcissi, scilla and grape hyacinth will also discourage mice. Make sure that you keep areas around fruit trees free of mulch. In fact, don’t mulch any places mice like to nest until after the ground is frozen solid. Use plastic tree-guard strips or aluminum foil to protect trees. Cats, snakes and owls are natural enemies of mice.

Moles: If moles are a problem, it may mean that your garden is infested with all sorts of snails, ants, bees, wasps, centipedes and grubs, which they enjoy eating. In some ways, they are really doing you a favour. However, they can destroy root systems and spread plant diseases. At freeze-up, all this life retreats deeper in the soil, and the moles follow, aerating and moving humus into the subsoil. I know one gardener who, whenever she sees a mound of dirt rising up, pokes a stick down the hole, enlarges it, then drops a couple of mothballs down there. Mothballs aren’t environmentally friendly, so I don’t have them around. But then I don’t have moles, either.

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