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Because I live on a farm, I have a dog, several cats, and miscellaneous wildlife, plus free-ranging chickens, guineas, and ducks. Chickens and guineas consider any fresh soil fair game for scratching or dust baths, while ducks bask in it and cats consider it an outdoor litter box.
Even my dog enjoys digging in the garden, the carnage would have been rampant if I hadn’t devised ways to protect my freshly planted seedlings and bulbs. My tools mainly consist of sticks and stones, but rest assured I’m not throwing them at any animals!
stones
My solution is not to pull out How to keep animals out of the garden But, instead, away from my most sensitive plants. I live in a rock rich area, so I use it often By laying a stone Next to each recently set seed.
Scratchers in my animals will usually avoid anything they can lay their claws or paws on, and stones will also help retain moisture near the seedlings. When placed over potting soil in a container, they also discourage ducks from rooting through that container in search of snails.
stake
A stake placed next to a plant will often provide protection like a stone. When they are playing or fighting, the animals sometimes run roughshod and tear up emerging plants such as bulbous lilies. It can prevent blooms both in the current year and in subsequent years because lilies rely on dead foliage to feed their bulbs.
I sometimes put Bamboo stakeClosely spaced, around clumps of lotuses, not by them to encourage running animals to go around those plants. Those stakes will also come in handy later on for tying the greens.
branches
Some of the larger trees at the edge of my yard put out a few small branches during the winter. If I’ve planted new seedlings in a fairly wide area, I often cover them loosely. The arch of those branches which allows light to pass through but makes it more difficult for animals to reach the ground.
Once the seedlings are tall and wide enough to dig out easily, I remove the branches. One advantage of sticks and stones is that they look natural in a garden setting, while other preservatives may not.
Daisy tray
Since inverted plastic daisy trays also let in light, I sometimes use them to protect recently planted spots and containers. Because they don’t look natural, I mostly use them during the winter to cover areas where spring blooming bulbs have been planted, because my garden doesn’t look so nice during the winter!
But I also reverse them on the rise Sunflower seedlings Because the wild birds here used to feed me sunflower seeds. Therefore, they will pick the seeds from the resulting seedlings, often decapitating those seedlings in the process.
planks
One year, I couldn’t figure out which animal it was Digging holes in my garden and recently planted roots Gladiola bulbs. I finally concluded that it was probably a skunk looking for grubs where the soil was wet, as I watered the soil over the bulbs.
I tried placing a heavy plank over the row until the bulb foliage started to emerge, which worked well. Of course, you have to remove them immediately when they sprout. This also serves to protect and keep moist seeds that do not require light for germination, eg Carrot seeds.
Patience and vigilance
No matter how well I protect my seedlings, I usually lose some Claws or Claws. But I remind myself that that is part of the price of loving both plants and animals.
And, because I usually stroll around my garden at least once a day in the spring and summer to see if anything is blooming, I often have time to restore dug-up seedlings to their rightful place before they dry out.
Meet the tools of the year 2025
