Why I Can't Garden

[retiredhappy]

Those of you who know me have heard me complain about trying to garden in Texas compared to California. Here is the main reason gardening was almost impossible.



This was taken thru the window of my RV which is parked beside my little house while I'm waiting for the escrow to close.

[VickieP]

Do they thank you for the fresh green things you put out for them?

[kdmac]

You could surround the perimeter of your property with an 18 ft tall fence wrapped in barbed wire and hooked up to electricity....that may do it, but probably not.

They are soooo darned cute!!!

[Travelinana]

The electric wire keeps them out of my bmf's garden. They can sense the sound we can't hear and stay away. Now my poor little Rudy is another story, he had to feel the sting KD, did you mention selling art off your tailgate? Are you and artist? Please put up some of your work

[kdmac]

The electric wire keeps them out of my bmf's garden. They can sense the sound we can't hear and stay away. Now my poor little Rudy is another story, he had to feel the sting KD, did you mention selling art off your tailgate? Are you and artist? Please put up some of your work

Several days ago I posted one in the"Arts and Crafts..." room. It's titled "My lastest three acrylics" or something close to that. Actually if a REAL painter saw them they would say how amateur they are but I am hoping to sell them in Arizona to replenish my gas costs...I figure that most art is WAAAAYYYY too expensive so I plan to price mine where people can actually consider buying it, instead of just looking at it and walking away. I have small canvas sized art that are condusive to hanging in RV's; will see how that goes.

[Liz]

Those of you who know me have heard me complain about trying to garden in Texas compared to California. Here is the main reason gardening was almost impossible.



This was taken thru the window of my RV which is parked beside my little house while I'm waiting for the escrow to close.

But Karen, if you plant it anyway, you get to watch all the wildlife that come to your backyard.

[Excel]

When I lived in the Santa Cruz mountains, our house was built on the side of a hill, so there were many 'landings' & stairs to get to the upper main floor. I had plenty of garden pots of various kinds of flowers on the stairs coming up and on one of the landings that met the hillside, I had a small garden .... One night when my daughter & I were sitting on the upper deck we heard these clump, clump sounds coming up the stairs....Scared the beegeezed out of us ....well, it was the 'herd' coming to taste the flowers & the garden...Guess it was dinner time for Momma & her 2 babies....Had an electric fence that protected the small orchard & the grape vines....well, they just jump that too.....Now that I live in the city you'd think my garden would be safe....well, not so...Racoon must live nearby cause my cucumber plant & the pepper plant are darn near gone....Netting is now up so we'll see.........

[Rufflesgurl]

I used to plant lots of flowers in my backyard. Now, I've got all these cute little cottontail bunnies that love to eat all flowers except geraniums. So, I don't plant flowers (petunias, pansies, etc.) in my backyard anymore. Through the years the bunnies have gone from one backyard to the next. Guess it's my turn. People say the critters were here before we were.

Linda

[JudyJB]

Deer and racoons are another story, but I used to solve my bunny problem by actually leaving bird seed and carrots at the ground below my bird feeder. They must have had enough to eat because they left my plants alone after that, although they did eat a newly planted drawf pear trees down to the snow level--about a foot tall. It survived however. Apparently they prefer all the new tender shoots and won't bother with the stem.

I also learned what they did not like and planted a lot of that.

It IS nice to see wildlife even in an urban garden, though.

[BarbaraRose]

I have heard that if you put human hair in your garden, that will keep the deer and bunnies away. Not sure if it really works, but worth a try. You can get the hair from your local beauty salon. I would imagine you would have to put new hair down every week or so, or after it rains. Theory is that they smell the human scent and stay away.

[Yakn1]

[quote]or after it rains

Sorry Barbie, but we in Texas don't know what that is. Maybe if we did Karen would have better luck with the garden!

[Excel]

I can tell you...human hair does not work....Nor does Irish Spring soap hung from the barbed wire...electrified fencing doesn't work either unless you put up a real heavy 'jolt' set up...which we didn't...Have to say when I first moved into the mountains here, I was so excited & just loved those pretty little deer & their babies, each year, and of course the racoons were cute as a button....hmmmm! After several years & lots of damage ... oh! forgot to mention the gophers....anyhow, it took a while, but I ended up having a really different opinion of the 'wild life' .... Except the partridge families that walked the road with their little ones....that was a sight to behold...On the other hand the mud swallows I could definitely do without !!!!!

[bluepinecones]

Maybe you'll have better luck with your next place, Karen. In the meantime, try to enjoy the wildlife and look for things to plant that they might not like to eat.

[cpatinjones]

Hopefully, you will be gardening soon in your new place. In the meantime, support your local farmers market.