Seeds in the City
By Karen Contreras
SDUN Columnist
I never realized city dwellers have many of the same challenges dealing with critters as we did living in the country, miles from town. I suppose things are slightly different in the city. For example, chances are you won’t find a black bear in your apple tree, but then again the 12-year-old neighbor boy can do just as much harm. I’ve found that screaming while banging pots and pans together is an effective deterrent in both cases. But seriously, what are the options when woman meets nature in an urban kitchen garden?
Every neighborhood has a slightly different ecology, but the critters that present the most challenges for us are skunks, opossums, rabbits, ground squirrels, gophers and rats. Now, folks, I’m an animal lover, so don’t get me wrong, but when I go out to my garden to harvest that first ripe tomato of the year and I discover that the rat lounging around in the palm tree on my parkway beat me to it, it’s war, I tell you! I don’t advocate poisons for a multitude of reasons, so that makes dealing with critters more of a competition.
The first thing to do when you find your garden under attack by a four-legged freeloader is to find out who the culprit is. Are there bunny droppings in your garden? Holes in your lawn? Try to identify what is causing the damage. After you determine with whom you’re dealing, you can begin to effectively solve the problem.
Know your critter’s etiology. For example, some animals aren’t after your plants but they might be looking for grubs and insects. Skunks and opossums will dig up your garden looking for dinner, up rooting your plants as they do so – try spraying your garden with beneficial nematodes that provide grub control, thus limiting their food supply. Rabbits usually don’t jump, so build raised beds with a small fence around them. Ground squirrels are almost impossible to get rid of and will climb over and under fences. If you have an established colony, they must be trapped and “relocated.” Most critters will move on to the next vacant lot if you make their lives difficult, but some infestations will require professional help.
I recently came across a wonderful pest control device that has kept a resident skunk out of our garden for some time now. It’s a motion-sensor water sprayer that goes off when the animal walks into the yard, making a loud clacking noise and spraying water in huge droplets. It shuts off automatically so as not to waste water, but the critter is startled by the noise and water hitting the ground near it. This device has also encouraged the neighborhood cats to find a litter box other than my raised bed, and I know from personal experience it will scare the heck out of an unsuspecting human.
As spring approaches, I recall what my grandma taught me about planting a garden. She said, “Plant one-third for the weather, one-third for the critters and one-third for yourself.” So I do. Sometimes we have extra and sometimes we don’t. But it’s always a challenge, which is another reason why that first tomato tastes as wonderful as it does. So I shake my fist at the palm tree again and swear this year I’ll be smarter than the rat. Maybe I’ll pick that tomato early!
Good gardening to you all.
