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How to outfox hungry deer, rabbits, squirrels and more

Placer County master gardeners host free online workshop

Mule deer
Keeping deer out of gardens is a battle for foothill
gardeners as well as those who live near the rivers
or in semi-rural area. (Photo by W. Paul Gorenzel,
courtesy UCIPM)

What will deer eat? Whatever they like. The real question for foothill gardeners: What won’t deer eat?

The same goes for rabbits and other voracious critters, who can destroy a garden seemingly overnight. Squirrels can strip fruit trees bare. Gophers attack plants from below, chomping through roots and tunneling under lawns.

But there are ways to outfox hungry wildlife. Learn how with the help of the UC Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners of Placer County.

“From Bambi to Thumper: An Integrated Strategy for the Management of Vertebrate Pests” will be presented at 10:30 a.m. March 13. This one-hour Zoom workshop is available free to gardeners anywhere there’s internet access. No advanced registration is required.

Whether you’re dealing with deer who don’t know their limits or opportunistic rodents, the master gardeners have a plan. That starts with identifying what is actually doing the damage.

“Learn how to use Integrated Pest Management to identify and control garden damage from squirrels, gophers, deer and other pests,” say the organizers.

Those effective strategies include plant selection. For example, deer tend to avoid such aromatic plants as lavender, rosemary and garlic.

Don’t underestimate the intelligence or hunger of these pesky critters; garden defense needs several different methods to truly be effective.

In case you can’t make this workshop or missed earlier workshops, Placer County master gardeners are now offering recordings of their virtual workshops online via their website.

Full details (including the Zoom link to the Bambi workshop):
http://pcmg.ucanr.org/



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Garden Checklist for week of Feb. 2

During this stormy week, let the rain soak in while making plans for all the things you’re going to plant soon:

* During rainy weather, turn off the sprinklers. After a good soaking from winter storms, lawns can go at least a week without sprinklers, according to irrigation experts. For an average California home, that week off from watering can save 800 gallons.

* February serves as a wake-up call to gardeners. This month, you can transplant or direct-seed several flowers, including snapdragon, candytuft, lilies, astilbe, larkspur, Shasta and painted daisies, stocks, bleeding heart and coral bells.

* In the vegetable garden, plant Jerusalem artichoke tubers, and strawberry and rhubarb roots.

* Transplant cabbage and its close cousins – broccoli, kale and Brussels sprouts – as well as lettuce (both loose leaf and head).

* Indoors, start peppers, tomatoes and eggplant from seed.

* Plant artichokes, asparagus and horseradish from root divisions.

* Plant potatoes from tubers and onions from sets (small bulbs). The onions will sprout quickly and can be used as green onions in March.

* From seed, plant beets, chard, lettuce, mustard, peas, radishes and turnips.

* Annuals are showing up in nurseries, but wait until the weather warms up a bit before planting. Instead, set out flowering perennials such as columbine and delphinium.

* Plant summer-flowering bulbs including cannas, calla lilies and gladiolus.

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