• Home
  • Meet Mary Schier
  • Speaking
  • Writing
  • Contact
  • Northern Gardener Book

My Northern Garden

June 25, 2012 · 5 Comments

An Easy Way to Protect Plants from Rabbits and Deer

How to

I toured more than a dozen gardens this weekend and saw lots of creative ideas, from antiques in the garden to exciting plant combinations. Two of my favorite ideas were ways to protect plants from marauding critters.

Upside down tomato cage to deter deer

Deer don’t like rubbing their noses in pointy tomato cages.

This contraption is a deer deterrent in a large rural garden near Hudson, Wis. No doubt deer are a constant problem in this area, but the home owner has out-smarted them with these home-crafted cages. The cages are made from regular tomato cages, turned upside down, with the pointy ends twisted outward.  Apparently, deer stub their noses on the cages when they come to browse the hostas and so they move on to less difficult territory.

Wire cover to keep rabbits off hostas

An antique water dish cover used for chickens protects hostas from rabbits.

These covers for hosta plants were intended to cover a chicken’s water dish, according to the South St. Paul gardener who found them at an estate sale. The chickens could get their beaks through to get water but could not fowl the water in anyway. The gardener uses them to keep rabbits from munching on her hostas.

Have you heard of other creative ideas for keeping critters at bay?

 

Related posts:

  1. Book Review: Deer Resistant Landscaping A Gardener’s Reading, 23 of 30 Like many northern gardeners,...
  2. Oh, Deer! While I’ve battled with a variety of four-legged marauders over...
  3. How to Reduce Deer Damage During a recent event, a local plant breeder went through...
« Photo Gallery: Artful Gardens in Hudson, Wis.
More Lessons from Garden Tours »

Comments

  1. commonweeder says

    June 26, 2012 at 8:59 am

    I have no good ideas, just complaints. We fenced in the vegetable garden so that it looks like Stalag 17, and it is safe from deer, but not rabbits. Where are the coyotes when you need them?

  2. Mary Schier says

    June 26, 2012 at 9:56 am

    We had terrible rabbit problems this year until our recent deluge of rain. I’m not sure if the bunnies drowned or moved on, but I have not seen any since then. Unfortunately, plenty of ground squirrels and moles still.

  3. Corrine says

    August 14, 2012 at 11:26 am

    I use all sorts of deterrents to keep the deer out of our driveway garden, the location with the most sunshine in our clearing in the woods. Nothing works for all season, but a variety of things seem to be working this year. Other than some nibbling late June we’ve been fortunate.

    Dog & human hair – let clump together in a bag tossed around a bit then put on top of raspberry trellis posts & looks like a wig. (grow Everbearing rasp, so they ripen late)

    Bloodmeal in pantyhose bags tied to supports.

    Eggs – any cracked from our chickens or doves goes out there mixed up a bit in a bucket with water or just tossed on the mulch for the aroma once rotten in the heat.

    Dog urine – I walk our little pomeranian around the perimeter & take him with me when working in the garden in hopes that his scent will deter them.

    Alliums planted near the perimeter – chives in the retaining concrete blocks plus garlic & onions in rows in front, between & behind the strawberries all along the driveway.

  4. Mary Schier says

    August 14, 2012 at 11:32 am

    Great suggestions! With deer, it seems you have to constantly change what you are doing to keep them at bay.

  5. Joe Felegi says

    January 6, 2015 at 4:23 pm

    Great ideas to keep critters away from your garden! This is also a fantastic way to avoid infestations because the critters will move on to better places to get food. Great work and insight, thank you!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Connect

  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • RSS Feed for Posts

Grow it, Minnesota Podcast

Now Available!

My Northern Garden book

Follow on Instagram

mynortherngarden_mary

Glass and gardens, you bet! We’re heading home Glass and gardens, you bet! We’re heading  home after spending a few weeks in Sarasota, Florida. A highlight of our time there was seeing the Tiffany exhibit at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. It was creative and fun and the plant-themed art glass really did shine a light on this tropical garden. So worth a visit if you’re ever in the area!
.
.
.
#sarasota #tropicalgardens #gardensofinstagram #artingardens #mngardenwriter #gardentravel #snowbird
Has your garden been transformed in the last year Has your garden been transformed in the last year or two? I'd love to see it! I'm back to editing Northern Gardener for a bit and one of the new features in the magazine highlights garden or yard transformations. We need help finding some great ones!

The spring issue "Before and After" features a vegetable garden created out of a blank backyard in Bloomington, MN. The homeowner worked with Rustic Hills Garden Co. to add raised beds, fencing, paths and trellises. It's incredibly productive and really nice looking, too! 

I'm looking for more transformations to feature in upcoming issues. They can be DIY or something you worked on with a garden pro. The goal is to give our readers ideas and inspiration. 

Send me a DM with details. Don't worry about writing the piece yourself. We've got a bunch of great writers available to help with that. But you need to have photos of both before and after. I can't wait to see your gardens! 

PC: @rustichillsgardenco 

#coldclimategardens #gardendiy #gardentransformation #beforeandafter #showmeyourgarden
Are you trying winter sowing this year? Now is a g Are you trying winter sowing this year? Now is a good time to sow perennials. Winter sowing is a way to get more plants at less cost by sowing seeds outdoors in mini-greenhouses in winter. The best greenhouse is a one-gallon milk jug. (Edit: leave the caps off! This was my first attempt at winter sowing and I did it wrong. The podcast episode explains why.) 

For advice on how to do it from an expert, check out a podcast episode from 2021 where Michelle Mero Riedel explains her process. Great info! Link in bio and in stories. #wintersowing #mnpodcast #mngardening
#gardenpodcast
#growyourownflowers
What’s new in 2023? My winter break in Florida c What’s new in 2023? My winter break in Florida coincided with the Tropical Plant International Expo so I had to attend. Research! So many cool houseplants. And pots! And roses with scent. And new ideas about everything from pest control to house plants as decor and gifts. Enjoy! 
.
.
.
#tpie #tpie2023 #houseplants #gardentrends
When you’re up to your knees in new snow, it’s When you’re up to your knees in new snow, it’s time to dig out your lists of favorite plants and start planning ✍️ this year’s garden.

My January newsletter includes lists of best annuals for pollinators (of course zinnias are on the list), best herbs for beginners and a link to a slightly older blog post about best trees for urban gardens in our current and future climate. Check it out and start making your own list of go-to plants! 

Link to the newsletter is in bio and stories. Please subscribe for occasional tips for Northern gardeners. 
.
.
.
#gardeningtips #annualflowers #pollinatorfriendly #urbantrees
2022 — uff-da — what a year! A few photos al 2022 — uff-da — what a year! 

A few photos all reeled together that mostly weren’t on instagram. Wishing you all a Happy New Year and a bloom-filled, homegrown 2023. 

Highlights include: Garden shots from Florida, England, my home garden, St. Cloud and Washington County, Minnesota, plus the Minnesota State Fair dahlia garden. Steve and I at Hadrian’s wall, then being escorted off the cruise ship after we got Covid (do NOT recommend!), harvest dinner at my brother’s farm in Wisconsin, my friend, Julie’s, indoor ripening set up for the Aleppo peppers she helped me trial, a bit of garden philosophy and @resawithoutherspoon’s amazing Christmas cookies. 
.
.
.
#gardenforlife #gardenyear #mynortherngarden #zone4gardening #happynewyear
Poinsettias are nice but kind of tough to keep goi Poinsettias are nice but kind of tough to keep going with the heat running 24/7. So how about some holiday plants that are not poinsettias. Norfolk Island pine, rosemary, paperwhites, amaryllis or any houseplant with red veining add that holiday cheer and are easier to keep alive or are not meant to last, so no need for guilt when they are gone. 

I have a post over on the @mnhort website with info about great holiday plant gifts that are NOT poinsettias. Link in bio and stories. 
.
.
.
#holidaydecor #holidayhouseplants #amaryllis #norfolkislandpine #paperwhites
My new favorite holiday plant is lemon cypress. Co My new favorite holiday plant is lemon cypress. Cool color. Interesting form. Not too hard to take care of. Put this on your houseplant must-have list! 
.
.
.
#lemoncypress #holidayhouseplants #houseplantslover #coldclimategardening #mngardener
Extra! Extra! My latest newsletter for cold-climat Extra! Extra! My latest newsletter for cold-climate gardeners is out. About every six weeks, I send seasonal info on plants and garden tasks plus lots of links to gardening resources, books to read and more. 

The current issue includes a cute idea for a hostess gift for the holidays (pictured), a free download on recommended tomato varieties for northern gardeners and some musings on talking about gardening with folks suffering from dementia (lots of memories grow in the garden!) It's free, not too long and only comes out once in a while. 

Link to the current issue in bio plus stories. 
Pix: the hostess gift, my mom's amazing blue hydrangeas, one of the recommended tomato varieties (can you guess which one?) 
.
.
.
#holidaydecor #coldclimategardening #mngardening #besttomatoesever #gardeninspo
Happy Birthday to my book! It was five years ago t Happy Birthday to my book! It was five years ago today that the Minnesota Historical Society Press published The Northern Gardener: From Apples to Zinnias. 

The book is about 85 percent how-to for gardeners in USDA Zones 3 and 4 and 15 percent history of organized horticulture in Minnesota. It's still available and selling. It's always a thrill when gardeners tell me that they read the book and it helped them. That's why garden writers write garden books (believe me, it isn't the money!). 

If you are looking for a gift for a northern gardener in your life, this might be an option. It's widely available and because it's been around awhile, it's frequently discounted. 

Photos include two of my favorite sections of the book -- one on martagon lilies (more gardeners should grow them) and one on buckthorn, which gardeners used to love (hence they photographed their families near the shrub) and is now a terror in the woods here. We're always learning.
.
.
.
#mnhspress #mybook #gardenreading #thenortherngardener #mngardening #mnhort
So much growth in 5 weeks! This scented geranium h So much growth in 5 weeks! This scented geranium has put on a lot of foliage and the reason must be the light in my new sunroom. It gets east, south and north light. Even in November when we are pretty dark in Minnesota, it’s doing fine. Great plant that I picked up for $1 at the @hennepin.extension.gardeners sale in October. #happyhouseplants #scentedgeranium #attarofroses #sunroom #houseplantsofinstagram #northerngarden
Is it too early to think about decorating for the Is it too early to think about decorating for the holidays? Nah! I checked out the ideas at @shopbachmans Holiday Inspiration nights this week. Looks like sparkles and an updated Mad Men vibe is trending this holiday season. Love it!  #holidayporchdecor #holidayideas #notanad #sparkle #bachmansideahouse #christmasdecor
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Top Posts & Pages

  • How to Pollinate a Meyer Lemon Tree
  • Growing Lilies in Containers
  • How to Build a Vegetable Garden Box for Your Deck
  • How to Grow Lemons in the North (Plus a Recipe)
  • Mushrooms Growing in Straw Bales
  • Big Changes in Minnesota Hardiness Zone Map
  • Winter Sowing for Flowers and Vegetables
  • Will the Redbuds Bloom?
  • 7 Easy Annuals to Grow from Seed
  • How to Use the Winter Sowing Method to Start Seeds Outdoors

Post Categories

  • Books/Writing
  • Climate
  • How to
  • Plants
  • Recipes
  • Uncategorized
  • Why We Garden

Copyright © 2023 · captivating theme by Restored 316