They’re cute, they’re cuddly, they’re slimy, and they’re HUNGRY! Yes, the garden scourges you need to worry about right now are the 4-legged & NO-legged ones.
Bambi and Thumper are cute and fun while rollicking in a Disney film but you do not want them prancing around in your gardens.
These furry four-leggers have been surviving on roots & bark all winter and would love nothing more than to munch on fresh, tender, green shoots in the spring.
If you didn’t install winter deer fencing around your shrubs and gardens or have already taken it down, now is the time to apply animal repellents to areas including your precious perennials as well as your spring and summer blooming bulbs. There are scent deterrents like Liquid Fence and Green Screen or taste/contact deterrents like Hot Pepper Wax that are easy to apply and readily available here at Polly’s. Some will need to be reapplied as new growth forms or as spring showers wash them away.
As for the NO-legged trouble makers, the slugs, you may think it’s too early to worry about them, not so. The warmer weather is waking them up too and their first order of business is to increase their numbers. If you generally have problems with slugs in the summer, you can take some preemptive measures now to minimize future destruction. Applying products like Sluggo or Sluggo Plus (both are organic and safe to use if you have pets) or Bug-Geta Plus now will ensure you have less to worry about later…literally less slugs (& bugs depending on which one you choose to use.)
And I guess this would fall under the No-legs category, you can even get a jump-start on weeding. How, you may ask? By applying Preen Garden Weed Preventer to stop the weeds before they start! Sounds too good to be true, I know but according to their website:
“Preen…stops weeds from germinating in flower and vegetable gardens, in ground covers and around trees and shrubs. Although Preen will not kill existing weeds, it can be used as a grass weed killing alternative. It will prevent new weeds from sprouting – eliminating the need for difficult and time-consuming hand-weeding.”
Sounds like we had better stock up! By the way, there’s also an organic version safe for vegetable gardens.
Happy Gardening!