Keeping wild animals out of your garden

Indoor hydroponics systems do not have this concern but outdoor ones do...wild animals who feel you planted a garden just for them to eat!

My hydroponics growing systems are mainly outdoor set ups and I am plagued with rabbits, woodchucks, racoons, skunks, opposums and too many deer to count. It's a war, and you need to devise clever ways to keep them out of your garden.

I'm really not the kind of person who would kill an animal that is pestering me so I have come up with some good ways to deflect, distract and discourage them from eating my plants.

I realize that in different parts of the world there will be different animals to contend with but these techniques will be just as effective...

The 'war' is waged on many fronts meaning there must be a combination of techniques keeping wild animals at bay at work at the same time. Here are some strategies:

• If you have a compost pile, make sure it is a good distance from your garden. Containing leafy food scraps, these piles are bound to attract feeding animals - racoons are the worst; when they feed and fight they sound like a horde of banshees from hell have descended upon your garden.
• The makings for compost tea should be covered, weighted down and located far from your garden.
• If you cannot put a portable greenhouse or similar structure around your plants, try to enclose them with a fence.
• Forget about shiny and noisy objects strung around the garden to frighten animals away - this only works for about 30 seconds.
• If you must feed those cute deer during the winter months like my wife, feed them in a location away from where your garden will be located or these same deer will come back all year to that very same feeding spot and if a garden happens to be there...all the better for them.
• Deflect deer from your garden by putting a salt lick a distance away.
• Urine, even human urine, is viewed by animals as territorial marking - I don't need to mention the possibilities here...
• One of the best ways to keep out deer is to place a dryer cloth (those little perfumy, smelly sheets you can throw in a dryer with your clothes to make them smell nice) on a stake putting one cloth/stake next to every plant. Deer seem to dislike this smell intensely and will go elsewhere to feed.
• You could always get a dog...

To sum up, use a variety of methods to keep animals away including deflection, territory marking and a little common sense and you may just have some vegetables to eat when you harvest...

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