It’s the second day of February, and the furry varmint wakes after a long sleep, stretches, and pokes his nose out of his burrow. After a lungful of brisk winter air, he hauls his stiff self out of his hole and takes a look around. If it’s a cloudy day, that means winter is over, and it’s time to get busy. Or if it’s sunny and he sees his shadow, time to hit the snooze button for six more weeks, because winter’s not over yet.
But either way – today or six weeks from now – that varmint is going to look for ways to get under your fence and spend all of spring and summer rooting through your garden, feasting on asters, lilies, lettuce, peas, sunflowers and carrot tops.
Happy Groundhog’s Day! Now, how are we going to thwart these critters and their plans for yard domination?
Your best defense is a good fence
Consider a solid fence, rather than a chain link or wrought iron, so the clever varmints can’t see your prized garden. Since these critters can climb, a taller fence is better. Also, check that your fence is not rotting and in need of restaining or waterproofing before spring storms! An apron at the bottom of your fence buried below the soil discourages burrowing.
Natural repellents
Groundhogs, also known as woodchucks, love soft fruit and flowers. You know what they don’t like? Hot sauce. You can buy hot pepper spray to protect your garden beds naturally. Not aggressive enough for you? Invest in blood meal or, better yet, some granulated fox urine. Nobody likes that. Not even other foxes.
Guard those roots
If you really love your plants, and a groundhog infestation seems imminent, it’s worthwhile to protect roots with underground wire mesh cages. It’s a terrible thing to miss out on juicy summer tomatoes because a varmint’s staged a subterranean guerilla attack on your plant. You can buy rolls of wire mesh at Home Depot.
Got a Tip?
Have you dealt with groundhogs in the past and got a tip for keeping your garden safe? Then you know just how difficult removal and prevention can be! Send us your tip here for preventing and removing groundhogs and we will add it to our list!
Call on Us
With your yard protected, you can relax and hit snooze on Groundhog’s Day. Probably not for six weeks, but at least 30 minutes of peaceful slumber, free from nightmares of rampaging woodchucks. And if you need any help with your anti-groundhog strategies? Give your friends at Buzz a call.
