how to keep animals out of garden without fence

How to keep animals out of the garden without a fence?

Having a garden is a great thing, you have your own peace and can enjoy sharing your property with wildlife around you. While raccoons, deers, and rabbits are re an enjoyable sight from a distance, having them in your garden is not so pleasant. There are some simple steps to keep your garden animal-free, so if you ever wonder how to do that, this article is for you. Fencing around your property or garden is a good solution, but still, some creatures will find their way to your garden. With some practical methods, you can keep them away without fencing and reduce the amount of damage they do.

Determine who are your guests

First of all, you need to determine what kind of pests visits you and that depends on where you live. Identifying them you can choose the right method to prevent them from coming back. Look for any tracks in the soil. Deer tend to leave behind hoof marks and will leave nibble marks on shrubbery. Rabbits will leave small footprints and snip away at small plants. Groundhog will damage leaves on plants and make a home near your garden. Birds also will visit your garden, they tend to pick at any crop even if it's not done growing. Birds aren't picky eaters so it will take a lot of hard work to get rid of them.

Change the plants in your garden and sprinkle coffee around them

Plants that are less attractive to animals are less likely to get eaten by them. Although animals will eat pretty much anything when they are hungry, switching the type of plants you grow can deter them. Try plants lants with pungent smells, prickly textures, or fuzzy exteriors. Coffee can be a natural repellent in the fight against pests. Sprinkle a small amount of coffee around every plant and it will keep away cats and bugs. The soil won't damage any of the plants and will compost over some time.

Other natural repellents

A modern and good solution is to use plant repellents that are designed to keep listed animals away from your garden. Most of them are easily accessible and pretty cheap. There are natural and artificial types of repellants so you can switch it up if necessary. Some of natural repellants are castor oil, garlic clippings, predator urine, or hot pepper extract. Artificial repellants include ultrasonic sounds and chemical sprays.

Trapping techniques or maybe guard pet?

Not all agree with trapping techniques but today there are several methods that will not harm animals and will keep your garden safe. It only takes being trapped once or twice before pests will change their mind and leave you alone. Live traps are with steel mesh and spring-loaded doors. They will attract animals inside and trap them alive. These are forbidden in some states, so make sure to check state laws before any action. Hunting is also one of the methods, but also questionable depends on where you live and state law because some of the animals visiting you could be game animals. Gardeners located in legal hunting areas can go for it.

Getting a guard pet can be a great idea and an effective method against unwelcome guests. Small intruders will be easily scared off by dogs or cats. But if you have problems with foxes and wolves then better to avoid getting a pet. Dogs can also be useful against larger animals but can make a mess by themselves as well. You must train him or he will cause even more damage to your garden. On the other hand, cats can deter smaller animals, their urine gives off a specific smell that will scare away rabbits and bugs. Cats aren't as effective as dogs and are less likely to guard your garden.

Use wire cloches and install automatic sprinklers

If you have only a few plants that might be in danger probably the best solution could be wire cloches. These are small wired mesh covers that will protect your plants. They are very effective but can cover only a small area, so keep that in mind. Despite that, wire cloches come in numerous sizes and you will find the right one for your garden. The only problem with this method could be larger animals who may be able to remove these meshes because they are lightweight.

If none of these methods earlier mentioned didn't work for you, you may think about automatic sprinklers. They can easily scare off animals. However, use sprinklers if you have only a few intruders attacking your crops. Motion-sensitive sprinklers will react on any move, even on wind or leaves and your plants could easily become overwatered. Use it only against smaller animals because larger ones probably will use it as a water source.

Alternative food sources?

The main reason why animals are visiting your garden is that they lack food in nature and if they are desperate they can get their hands on plants they usually wouldn't eat. You can place alternative food sources around your backyard and garden to deter them from eating your crops. Of course, before any action, you need to research an animal's favorite food. Place bird feeders if birds bother you, other smaller animals will also climb up the trees and eat nuts and seeds. For larger animals, you can place food pellets. Be careful because this method is very risky and easily can end up attracting more animals to your property.

Use noise or lights

If all mentioned before fails, it's time for unconventional methods. Sharp noises can be perfect to scare away animals. Invest in motion-activated lights is also a great idea. Many animals that may visit you tend to move early in the morning or late at night when you can deter them with noise, that's why using lights can be effective. Motion-activated traps can be useful too. It's actually electronic scarecrows that will scare off small animals away.

Final thoughts

To sum up, there are plenty of good methods of how to deter animals from your garden and property without a fence. Investigate which animals are visiting you and select an appropriate method, some of the nonviolent methods will certainly work for you. Good luck!