How to Critter-Proof Your Garden

[Please enjoy this informative and helpful sponsored guest article by Red Brand.]

A garden should be a beautiful, relaxing space that you should be able to enjoy throughout the year. When critters and pests invade, your peaceful outdoor space can quickly turn into a mess. Animals destroy your plants, burrow in your garden, and can destroy your entire outdoor space.

Rather than suffering from infestation and destruction, there are plenty of things that you can do to critter-proof your garden and keep it looking beautiful. Here are some of the top ways that you can keep critters and pests out of your garden and away from your home.

Install a Durable Fence

One of the simplest, most effective ways to keep non-burrowing animals out of your garden is to install a tall, durable garden fence around the perimeter of your space. Deer can wreak havoc on your garden and are difficult to keep out. Many homeowners may not realize that deer can jump as high as eight feet in the air, so it’s a good idea to install a fence that plans for deer in the area.

Fence posts should be spaced roughly 10-feet apart to ensure stability along the perimeter. Don’t install your fence too close to your garden, or deer may be able to eat your plants through the fence openings.

If deer are a persistent problem in your area, a deer and orchard fence is a good option. The woven wires are closer together near the base of the fence where deer and other animals are more likely to reach your garden plants.

Repairing and Upgrading Your Fence

In addition to installing a durable fence, you should consider upgrading your fence depending on the wildlife in your area. If you don’t have a persistent deer problem, you may not need a tall fence. Consider planting thorny bushes on the outside of your fence perimeter, or install underground mesh to keep out burrowing animals.

You can dig a trench during the fence installation process to install underground mesh to keep burrowing animals out of your garden. We recommend a depth of at least 18-inches to deter a majority of critters from burrowing under your fence and into your garden.

One of the biggest issues that homeowners face is gaps in fencing. Whether through broken panels or simply incorrect fence installation, gaps essentially render your fence useless. Broken panels or loose wires are a simple fix that can make all the difference in securing your garden.

Motion Detection Lights or Sprinklers

Many animals can easily be scared off, meaning an automated light or sprinkler system can be a simple yet effective way to ward off unwanted guests. Setting up a motion detector around your garden perimeter ensures you scare off animals before they even enter.

Sudden bright lights and sprinkler systems are more than enough to startle most creatures, and for the ones that are not frightened away, you’re going to notice sudden lights or sprinklers turning on, giving you the chance to scare off the animal yourself.

Paired with a solid fence, an automated alert system placed outside of the fence gives your garden the extra protection it needs from destructive pests. Not only will sprinklers keep animals out, a sprinkler system set on a timer doubles as an efficient irrigation system for your garden and lawn, keeping your outdoor space looking beautiful with minimal effort.

Overhead Netting

Not only do animals burrow underground and hop over fences, but they also infiltrate your garden from above. Squirrels and birds can easily bypass your fence, and if you have tall trees around your perimeter, they may be home to quite a few squirrels and birds that now have easy access to your garden.

A simple and effective way to keep these animals out of your garden is to install overhead netting. These finely-woven nets or fences protect your garden from squirrels, birds, raccoons, and other creatures that can easily climb over your fence.

For smaller gardens, simply place posts around the bed of your garden and attach the netting. For fenced in, larger garden areas, you may need to install taller posts at regular intervals to securely attach your net or fence above the rest of the fence.

There is a wide range of lightweight fence options that you can use for an overhead fence, such as high-quality poultry wire. The type of fencing or mesh you need depends on the wildlife in your area. What might be right for someone with a field mouse or vole problem isn’t necessarily going to be the right solution for someone with a squirrel or bird problem.

Additional Food Sources

Why do animals try so hard to get to your garden? To eat, of course! Flowers, fruits, and vegetables are incredibly enticing to wildlife, which is why they try so hard to get into your garden. If you direct their attention away from your garden to another source of food, it may help reduce the number of critters that you see in your garden space.

The trick is to put the food far enough away from your garden that it doesn’t draw even more animals to your outdoor space, but close enough to draw out the existing animals that frequent your garden and get them away from your home. Regularly setting out discarded plants and vegetables in a designated area may give you the relief you’ve been looking for.

Keep Your Garden Safe All Year Long

Dealing with animals and pests in your garden is a task often easier said than done. With so many ways to get into your garden, it can be all too easy for animals to get in and destroy your plants. Regardless of what kind of wildlife is in your area, we all know how frustrating it can be to try and fail at preventing pests from getting to our gardens.

With these tips, you can keep your garden safe and beautiful all year long. Have even more ways to critter-proof your garden? Let us know in the comments!

About the Author

Trey Tennell is the Marketing Category Manager at Red Brand, a line of premium agricultural fencing products that is known as the most recognized brand of farm fence in the United States..