The family cat prowling the garden will control its population of chipmunks, mice, and young rabbits.

Cut plastic gallon milk jugs in half lengthwise. Punch a hole in the bottom to let out rain. Set ripening melons in these contraptions. They help prevent rot and keep mice and shrews from nibbling on the melons.

Are rodents feasting on your tulip bulbs? Plant daffodils instead. Their bulbs are bitter, so mice and chipmunks won’t eat them.

If you’re determined to have tulips, interplant with Frittilaria imperialis bulbs. The two- to three-foot tall plants have pendulous red, orange, or yellow blooms. They exude a skunk-like odor that repels rodents and moles. Read the rest of this entry »

The family cat prowling the garden will control its population of chipmunks, mice, and young rabbits.

Cut plastic gallon milk jugs in half lengthwise. Punch a hole in the bottom to let out rain. Set ripening melons in these contraptions. They help prevent rot and keep mice and shrews from nibbling on the melons.

Are rodents feasting on your tulip bulbs? Plant daffodils instead. Their bulbs are bitter, so mice and chipmunks won’t eat them. Read the rest of this entry »

Many of these seeds are chewed up and destroyed by animals and hers are broken down in the alimentary canal of birds, particularly of chickens, pigeons and seed eaters with strong beaks such as most the finches. A great number, however, have hard enough coats to remain intact while the fleshy parts are digested and are finally voided by the birds, sometimes after being carried for long distances. Birds which do not have the powerful beaks of true seed eaters do least damage; Read the rest of this entry »

Everybody loves giant sunflowers! Grown just to look at, or for seeds for you or the neighborhood birds, sunflowers are easy to grow, even for the beginning gardener.

I plant sunflowers directly in the garden a couple of weeks before the last frost. Because young sunflower seedlings transplant so well, they can also be started indoors very early in the spring and set out in the garden around the time of your last frost. Read the rest of this entry »

squirrels & chipmunks

Squirrels and chipmunks are fun to watch, but they are the hardest to keep away from your corn and sunflowers. A fence won’t keep them out, not even an electric one. They jump so well and scurry into the garden so fast that an electric shock doesn’t stop them. They’re in the garden while they’re still feeling the zap.

In the sweet corn or popcorn rows, squirrels climb right up the stalks and eat the ears. They’re smart. Often they only work the inside rows so you won’t notice them. A few times I have seen squirrels trying to haul away whole ears of corn. In a row of sunflowers they can jump from one stalk to the next as if they were in a tree.

In a small garden you may be able to use old stockings or heesecloth on the sunflower heads and corn ears to foil the squirrels at harvest time. In a big garden, an active cat or an eager dog may be your only hope. Read the rest of this entry »

Birds usually create the biggest problem, but you should look out too for mites and weevils.

• Apple blossom weevil The small white grubs of this tiny brown beetle eat the central parts of apple flowers. Infested blossoms fail to open. Spray with permethrin as the buds are forming or fenitrothion as the buds burst open.
• Big bud mites Tiny mites that live in large numbers inside the buds of blackcurrants. Infected buds are swollen and round, and usually fail to come into growth. Pick off and burn; spray with benomyl fungicide in spring and early summer. Read the rest of this entry »