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Parsnips
RevMother
Posts: 1
Last night some animal snuck under my plastic fencing in my 2 foot tall raised bed and ate the tops of my parsnips. It did not touch the carrots or peppers. Earlier in the spring the same thing happened to my new kale plants. I live in the USA and hardly anyone knows about parsnips (I used to live in England). We have squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, woodchucks and opossums on our property and the occasional deer. Any ideas? And, will they still grow without the leaves?
Ta
RevMother
0
Posts
I don't know about the others, but rabbits and deer could have done that. As long as the growing point of the parsnips didn't get eaten then they'll still grow - but I suspect your visitors will return - can you fix some better protection? Perhaps some netting , but if you use netting keep it taut and inspect it regularly to prevent small birds from becoming entangled and getting injured or dying.
Good luck
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I'd've thought rabbits would've gone for the carrots first - they certainly destroyed mine. Agree about the netting.
In my garden, the preferred order of consumption for rabbits seems to be: flat-leaved parsley, parsnips, carrots then anything/everything else! Luckily the foxes and owls seem to be on top this year so no rabbits to be seen!