How to Protect Your Garden from Local Wildlife

SANTA ROSA — In addition to watering, one of the most important aspects of maintaining a garden is protecting it from the local wildlife. While this can be a challenging endeavor, there are several simple ways to deter harmful animals and keep your garden beautiful.

Some people put up bird netting to protect their plants from wildlife, but there’s a simpler home remedy that offers a natural, nontoxic way to deter animals without diminishing your garden’s aesthetic value. Just follow these simple steps:

1. Combine raw garlic cloves, habanero peppers and jalapeno peppers in a blender and mash them up.
2. Put this mixture into an empty plastic container, add some water and let it steep for three to four days.
3. Strain the mixture through cheesecloth and put the liquid into a spray bottle.
4. Spray the liquid directly onto your plants.

In addition to vegetation, another thing that attracts animals to a garden is water, particularly from an automatic drip system. In some instances, deer will attempt to get a drink of water out of the drip system and pull off one of the water emitters in the process. Since a damaged water emitter can result in overwatering, it’s a good idea to periodically check your drip system for deer damage and watch for water-stressed plants.

Besides deer, two other common culprits of plant damage are moles and gophers. Moles thrive in softer soil, which is another reason to avoid overwatering. While traditional rat poison can be used to eradicate moles, the best products to deter gophers are “gopher baskets.” When these metal wire baskets are placed in the soil beneath your plants, they surround the roots and protect them from gophers.