Protecting Your Plants From Wildlife in the Winter

The winter may be known as a kind of resting period for gardeners, but that doesn’t mean that there is nothing to worry about in your garden during the winter. There are still wildlife out there that are not in hibernation, they are struggling to find as many leafy greens to eat as there are in the spring and summer, and they want to feed on your evergreen trees, ornamental shrubs, and flower bulbs! The most common winter wild life threats to your garden in South Carolina are deer, rabbits, and raccoons. Here are some tips on protecting your plants from these hungry wild life animals:

Protection from deer: 

Deer can cause the most amount of visible damage to your garden. They especially love to feed on azaleas, hostas, cherry trees, maples, and many types of flowers grown from bulbs. The most effective ways of protection from deer are camouflage gardening and creating physical barriers. Camouflage gardening is when you use plants that deer do not like around plants that they do like. This discourages efforts to get to their desired garden meal. Plants that deer do not like include: impatiens, irises, yarrow, marigolds, conifer trees, zinnias, and delphiniums. Creating physical barriers for protecting your plants involves using hardware to create a cylinder shaped barrier around the vulnerable plants. These barriers should be at least 4ft tall and 4ft in diameter for most effective protection. 

Protection from rabbits:

Rabbits especially like to feed on the bark and low branches of plants, which may include vegetables, fruit trees, and ornamental grasses. This could lead to permanent disfigurement of the plant, leaving them extra vulnerable and weak. Like with deer, camouflage gardening and creating physical barriers are also extremely effective techniques against rabbits. Some plants that rabbits do not like include: butterfly bush, catmint, lantana, marigolds, milkweed, salvia, and spirea. A physical barrier created for rabbit protection should be cylinder shaped and at least 2ft tall and 2ft in diameter. 

Protection from raccoons:

Raccoons are most commonly known to target gardens with bird feeders, fruit trees, grape vines, and water garden features like fountains or bird bathes. However, raccoons will also dig up lawns in search for grubs to eat that are buried in the soil. Some great ways to protect your garden from raccoons include: placing baffles on tree trunks, motion activated lighting, and grub lawn control.