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How to outfox hungry deer, rabbits, squirrels and more

Placer County master gardeners host free online workshop

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED MAR 1, 2021

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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Master Gardeners Sacramento online workshop deer pests Placer County classes gardening integrated pest management rabbits gophers rats UC IPM fencing

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Garden Checklist for week of May 5

Survey your garden after the May 4 rainstorm. Heavy rain and gusty winds can break the neck of large flowers such as roses. Also:

* Keep an eye on new transplants or seedlings; they could take a pounding from the rain.

* Watch out for powdery mildew. Warmth following moist conditions can cause this fungal disease to “bloom,” too. If you see a leaf that looks like it’s dusted with powdered sugar, snip it off.

* After the storm, start setting out tomato transplants, but wait on the peppers and eggplants (they want warmer nights). Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.

* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.

* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.

* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.

* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, radishes and squash.

* Plant onion sets.

* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias. Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.

* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom.

* Don’t wait; plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.

* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.

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