Humane Ways To Protect Your Garden From Critters And Wildlife

Maintaining a beautiful garden can be a labor of love that requires hours of hard work and dedication. However, all your efforts can be in vain if your garden becomes a buffet for wild animals and critters. We like to call them our garden arch-nemesis. 

Garden arch-enemies are relentless in their quest to drive us up the wall with their shenanigans. They are unwanted wildlife, and garden pests can wreak havoc on carefully cultivated plants, flower beds, and vegetable gardens, causing frustration and property damage. Fortunately, there are humane ways to protect your garden and coexist harmoniously with the wildlife in your local ecosystem. 

In this blog post, we will explore various methods and strategies to safeguard your garden while respecting the delicate balance of nature.

1. Identifying Common Garden Pests

Common garden pests, critters, and wildlife can vary depending on your geographic location and local ecosystem, but for the most part, they are the same. 

Small Rodents：

Mice, voles, ground squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, and opossums are nocturnal marsupials that may forage for food in gardens and are notorious for rummaging through compost piles and causing chaos in your garden.

Birds：

While bird feeders can attract these beautiful creatures, some may become pests, eating your garden fruits and vegetables.

Large Mammals：

Deer, foxes, skunks, weasel, coyotes, and squirrels may eat fruits and nuts from trees, dig bulbs, and terrorize your chickens if you keep a coup. 

Insects：

Garden pests like aphids, frogs, slugs and snails, caterpillars, whiteflies, Japanese beetles, scale insects, and spider mites can spread and infest your plants and flowers.

2. Humane Solutions

Fencing Solutions

Electric Fencing: Serves as a reliable deterrent by delivering a mild shock to larger animals that attempt to enter your garden.

Chicken Wire and Hardware Cloth: Create protective barriers around specific plants or garden beds vulnerable to small animals and insects, preventing them access while allowing your garden to thrive undisturbed.

Netting and Mesh: Protect your plants from pests and wildlife by covering your raised beds with netting, mesh, and bungee cords to keep the netting from tearing from the pressure of the wind. Vego Garden has a Modular Cover System with durable, powder-coated steel frames and high-quality mesh covers that are easy to install in raised beds. They are available in different sizes depending on the raised bed and provide easy access for easy maintenance.

Repellents

Natural Sprays: There are homemade natural spray recipes that work effectively as deterrents, creating an unpleasant environment for pests while preserving the health of your garden. 

Mixing cayenne pepper, water, and a few drops of dish soap results in a spicy-scented spray that repels animals because the pungent aroma discourages pests from approaching your garden, offering a non-lethal, eco-friendly solution.

Minty Fresh: Soaking cotton balls in peppermint oil and strategically placing them around your garden provides a minty aroma that most animals find unpleasant. 

Coffee Grounds: Repurpose used coffee grounds by sprinkling them around your garden as a natural repellent since coffee grounds' strong scent and texture deter pests while enriching the soil with organic matter.

Olive oil: Dish soap mixed with water and olive oil is a great insect repellent in your garden, but make sure the soap is organic pure castile liquid soap, since regular dish detergent can be harmful for your garden.

Neem Oil: Neem oil offers a long-term solution for controlling garden pests without harming beneficial insects. Its natural properties make it a sustainable choice for preserving the health of your garden.

Traps and Relocation

Live Traps: A humane way to capture small mammals like raccoons and opossums and then release them safely in a remote location away from your property, minimizing harm to both wildlife and your garden.

One-Way Doors: Installing one-way doors at entry points allows animals to exit your property but prevents them from re-entering. 

Visual and Auditory Deterrents

Motion Sensor Lights: Motion sensor lights are a visual deterrent for nocturnal pests. When triggered, these lights startle wildlife, dissuading them from approaching your garden during the night.

Wind Chimes: Send invaders into alert and trigger their flight mechanism, causing them to flee the garden to safety.

Strobe Lights: The disruptive effects of strobe lights alert the group of invaders and send them far from your garden. 

French Marigolds: Planting French marigolds in your garden can deter nematodes and some garden pests over the long term. These colorful flowers not only beautify your garden but also serve as a natural defense against destructive critters.

Habitat Modification

Remove Nest Sites: Do daily walks around your garden to identify and relocate nest sites to discourage breeding among wildlife.

Brush Piles and Wood Piles: Regularly clearing and cleaning up brush and wood piles where animals can hide minimizes opportunities for critters to take refuge near your garden.

Support Local Wildlife

Build Owl Boxes: Setting up owl boxes in your garden encourages natural predators like owls to move to your garden and help control small rodent populations. 

Nonprofit Organizations and Professionals

Wildlife Management: Seeking assistance from a humane wildlife control company or a local nonprofit organization can provide expert guidance and support in managing unwanted wildlife in your garden. 

Consult Pest Control Experts: Pest control companies often offer humane wildlife removal services, ensuring that animals are safely relocated.

Preventive Measures

Secure Containers: Storing pet food, compost, and other potential food sources in secure containers prevents wildlife from accessing these tempting food sources in your garden.

Maintain Green Spaces: Designating green spaces or providing alternative food sources diverts wildlife away from your garden, reducing the likelihood of garden damage and fostering a more harmonious coexistence.

Ultrasonic Devices

Ultrasonic Pest Repellent: Ultrasonic devices emit high-frequency sounds that deter pests without causing harm. 

Beneficial Animals

Seeing a diverse array of animals, critters, insects, and wildlife in your garden is a positive sign of a healthy and thriving ecosystem. 

Beneficial insects such as ladybugs, bees, and butterflies are indicators of a pollinator-friendly environment that promotes plant growth and fruit production. Birds like bluebirds, sparrows, storks and owls eat pests without raiding your garden. Small mammals like hedgehogs and amphibians like toads can be welcome guests as they help control insect populations. Plus, the presence of native wildlife shows that your garden is making a positive contribution to the local ecosystem!

Final Thoughts

By implementing these humane approaches, you can safeguard your garden, promote a healthy local ecosystem, and find peace of mind knowing that your garden coexists harmoniously with the wildlife around it. 

And a word of encouragement for you: having a nemesis in your garden is almost like a rite of passage, a sign that you've leveled up in your gardening journey!