It's so frustrating. I thought I'd cracked the mice eating my potted bulbs when my Jack Russell, Poppy, spent ages outside barking at the pots after the first signs of damage. Whilst I was having a wry smile to myself I didn't notice that the deer were eating, for the 4th year in a row, my yew sapling hedge! AND my wonderful crop of curly kale that I thought would keep us in greens throughout the credit crunch had been decimated by 2 pheasants. Now the snow is melting I wait to see what other havoc is awaiting me.
I tried chilli when I planted this year's bulbs, but our squirrels evidently like it! We also mixed cayenne pepper to deter the squirrels from our bird feeders, but to no avail!
aaah well, there is some comfort to hear that so many of you, although obviously love to have wildlife, also suffer from the eating and excavating damage it can do....be it furry or featjered, large or small. But they say gardeners thrive on challenge !!
i also have had problems with mice eating my crocus bulbs and i found the only way to deal with it was setting mouse traps last thing at night and getting them in early moring so not to catch any little birds and i caught over 100 mice in about 3 months and now have a lovely show of colour
It was very interesting for me to read that article. Thank author for it. I like such themes and everything connected to them. I would like to read more on that site soon. By the way, pretty good design that blog has, but don’t you think it should be changed from time to time?
What can I do to discourage mice from eating all my outside crocus bulbs? After reading the comments posted by Gwen April 2010 I may have to take action and declare war. This would require bring out the big guns :- (Mice Traps)
Having seen the graveyard in the centre of Knutsford a riot of colour with swathes of purple and white crocus last year I invested in a quantity for a family grave but was devastated to find all the growth shoots had been eaten , what is the most likely problem ?
My stored spring bulbs have been eaten! We have had mice I'm afraid but what I'd like to know is will they still flower, once planted for next Spring, with all the bitten bits!
I've used stone chips on my bulb pots for 2 years now and it does seem to protect the bulbs. I've had no squirrel or rodent damage. Of course, that still leaves the shoots vulnerable once they're up and wire isn't pretty....
We knew we had field mice, but donot realise they ate crocus bulds, until the other day, couple of weeks ago we plant at least 1000 bulds, and looking forward to a fantastic show next February 2013, on close inspection the other day (26th December) I noticed holes in the ground and new broken flower shoots, I googled the problem, and found it is a field mouse fav food, I read a blog saying they don't like blood, fish and bone, so we have tried this, I hope it works, or we will have no display, and will not plant anymore. Will let you know if it works, fingers crossed.
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We also mixed cayenne pepper to deter the squirrels from our bird feeders, but to no avail!
Brandy Swingfield
After reading the comments posted by Gwen April 2010 I may have to take action and declare war.
This would require bring out the big guns :-
(Mice Traps)