Pesky Critters

After putting up the fence, I felt fairly confident that my garden was protected from the dogs for the year. How could I imagine that it only fueled their destructive imagination?

The last thing I did in the garden was to refill my large pots with soil and plant some flowers. The pots are 18" - 24" high, so they are high above the ground

I went out today to find that the dogs had dug in EVERY ONE of the pots - even though I placed tomato cages (most of the flowers are climbing plants) in each of them.

Apparently that was not enough to keep them from digging, I had to take the next step and make a cap of chicken wire over each of the pots. At least now they cannot dig, I just have to find a way to keep them from climbing up inside and sleeping there.

I have a few ideas about what I can do and am confident at least one of them will work. I remain confident that I am smarter than my dogs though lately there is scant evidence to that effect.

Pest Control

Every gardener has to take steps to control the pests that invade any well-kept area – whether vegetable or flower. Since moving into my house, I have had an ever growing (in size) vegetable garden and each year I encountered different types of pests that would do-in my horticultural efforts. Now that I have the grass and most of the weeds under control, I find more bugs than I have encountered in years.

Today as I pulled the winter weeds, I found doodle bugs (we also call them pill bugs because of the way the wrapped up into a ball) around every weed I pulled. I have never seen this many of them in one place before. In childhood, they were fun little critters to play when we found them. I don’t know if they are damaging to my garden or not, but too many fond memories from childhood prevent me from harming them unnecessarily. 

doodleus pillus buggus (seriously people, I have no idea what they are called).

Also as I planted the peppers, tomatoes, and other plants that were pre-started, I found earthworms in every scoop of dirt I moved in the planting process. I did not just find earthworms, I found fishing worms. If I actually enjoyed catching fish, every perch in the region should be afraid. From what I read in garden blogs, it sounds like my garden is overall very healthy and as long as we continue to get rain, it should be quite productive.

My biggest challenge, though, is the four-legged kind. While white-tailed deer are a problem for many gardeners in the area, my biggest pests are my two dogs.

Last summer they ate so many of my vegetables, I thought for a while they may be vegan.

They are still less than a year old, so I know they will continue to dig and chew everything I do not want them to dig and chew.

After considering what to do about my garden, I decided the best thing I could do is build a fence to keep them out of that part of my yard. The country-boy in me relished buying the posts and wire at the hardware store as well as figuring out how to put a gate in the fence so I could get though.

I ended up building a gap (a rigged gate of the same material as the fence). The country-boy in me was running full throttle.

Now my garden is fully protected from the dogs and awaits the next challenge to come it’s way.