Do you know what you need when you have a pest problem in your yard? Chain link fences are sometimes the answer in the Denver area. Depending on the pest, the height and material change, but there is hope when it comes to protecting your yard!
Keep Backyard Pests from Eating Your Greens
Backyard pests—squirrels, rabbits, moles—can destroy your landscaping and lawns. Here’s how to get rid of the ravenous critters.
Peter Rabbit and other backyard pests weave a path of destruction through your yard. They eat shrubs and gardens, chew power wires, and gnaw tree roots. Here’s how to tell which critters are doing damage, ways to protect your greens, and landscape changes that will encourage these pests to dine elsewhere.
Rabbit rascals
Calling cards: Ravaged vegetables, beheaded borders and flowers(especially tulips), and gnawed trees, such as red maple, honey locust, and evergreens.
Protection: Install 2-ft.-high fences that extend to the ground or below ($50 for 100 ft. of galvanized poultry fencing). Surround young tree trunks with plastic tree guard cylinders ($10).
Change habitat: Eliminate piles of brush, barricade cozy spots under sheds, and flatten back-lot debris piles where rabbits nest. Ivy, wisteria, and periwinkle will curb the munching, and fragrant herbs like thyme and lavender will turn them away.
Squirrely pests
Calling cards: Bumps in the night because they nest in your attic; power loss due to frayed wires; missing vegetables and flower bulbs; quickly emptied bird feeders.
Protection: Plug house entry places, such as gaps around utility pipes, broken windows, and uncapped chimneys. Cover wires with plastic pipe that will rotate, causing the squirrel to fall ($2.50 for a 2-ft. section). Sandwich bulbs underground between two layers of wire mesh ($175 for 100 ft. of 24-inch wire mesh).
Change habitat: Trim tree branches 6 to 8 ft. from buildings so squirrels can’t jump onto your roof. Switch to squirrel-proof tilting bird feeders ($25 and up) or domed feeders that close when weight limits are exceeded. Don’t plant oak trees—acorns are squirrel caviar.
Deer disturbance
Calling cards: Flowering plants nibbled to the nubs; leaves torn from plants from ground level to 6 ft.; 2-inch gouges on tree trunks; hoof prints that resemble a broken heart.
Protection: Deer fence at least 8 ft. high; homemade and commercial deer repellents that taste and smell bad; barking dog.
Change habitat: Replace tasty fruit trees with spruce and pine. Swap lilies for ferns and rosemary. Add switch grass and ribbon grass—they’ll avoid these ornamentals. Bonus: Works for bunnies, too.
Read the full article here: Keep Backyard Pests from Eating Your Greens http://bit.ly/2fRgERK
