Get Growing: Excluding Pests from the Garden

Before we get to poisons, let’s cover, well, covers. One way to keep bugs from eating your garden is to create a barrier between your plant and bugs or squirrels or cats. 

Floating Row Cover is a spun fabric made for farms and gardens. Row cover might be more familiar as a tool to keep plants a few degrees warmer for later winter harvests, but there are lighter weight versions you can use to keep pests away from your plants. Row covers can keep out bugs, cats, rabbits, and deer. Sold to farmers in big rolls, you can buy smaller quantities from Johnny’s, Gardens Alive, Gardeners.com or other online garden suppliers.

Cages - What do you do about squirrels is the #1 question we get at E.A.T. South. About the only thing we’ve seen work for squirrels are well-built cages/covers for garden beds. PVC cages are light enough to lift on and off of garden beds. If you’ve had it with the deer, cats and rabbits, this garden enclosure might be the answer, but you’ll need to cover the top to keep out squirrels. 

Surround is the brand name for powdered kaolin clay. Mixed with water and sprayed on plants, it creates barrier between bugs and your plant. I’ve seen it used mostly on cucumber and squash seedlings as well as in orchards. You could try it on greens, but it’s hard to scrub off. Even though it’s not a poison, wear a mask! You don’t want these tiny clay particles in your lungs, and everyone should wear masks these days anyway.

In the world of squash, mostly in the world of preventing squash vine borers, we’ve also tried wrapping squash stems in stretchy athletic tape and made a moat around them stem filled with diatomaceous earth. Can’t really say that either is scientifically proven to help, but we encourage you to use your imagination and discover something that works for you.