I am so sorry for y'all that have varmint woes. We used to have an armadillo that loved to go through the daylily beds and turn up the freshly planted earth. It didn't eat the plants just tossed soil and tags willy nilly. I also have a dog that will prey on anything that enters her yard uninvited. She comes inside at night though. She treed a 'possum one night and barked for hrs.

BBQ sauce!

Last year a bunny chewed a Habanero pepper to a stub first night in the ground...

Most productive Hab I've ever grown! Bought a 3-pack yesterday and if the bunny doesn't do it for me I'll cut them in half myself.

Is it possible to smooth vaseline on your plant with pepper in it? I heard that worked on dogs that were licking their sores--so why not bunnies.

It has been raining every day so anything you put on the plants just washes off. It is sad because this is the time of year they eat everything because everything is just coming up and it is tender and fresh food on their menu.

I read that vicks vapor rub worked and when we had rain every day one summer I used that on the tips of my Hostas to save them from the deer and groundhog that will eat them to the ground in a night.

To night I am gong to go out and sprinkle some red pepper and black pepper. Since the leaves are moist it should stick to the leaves.

It has rained here just about every day too, but today was the exception. I sprayed my whole yard with Liquid Fence a few days ago. It rained within hours. Today my husband fashioned a chicken wire fence around the phlox. Looks stupid. We'll see if it works. I also chopped up a bunch of garlic and sprinkled it around the plant.

Karen

I heard that soap on a rope hanging around , human hair or cat hair scattered around the plants works. Sprinkling pepper on the wet plants is a good idea too. I have a Big Bunny who has a place where it can get under my fence--I think it is eating one of my new daylilies. Its been raining here for 2 days. I'll try the vaseline and pepper tomorrow.

Thanks, I been watching this thread.

Sandy

I have had pretty good luck with a couple of moth balls at the base of the plants, also helps with groundhogs.

I'm going to arm myself with some of the above mentioned items tomorrow and go to war. We're not forecast to have any rain until the end of the week. I may end up putting chicken wire around my phlox, as 3 large clumps have been eaten down to a few stems and only stand a few inches high at this point. Yes, it will look silly, but it may be necessary to save my plants from these varmits.

Arlene
I wouldn't be surprised if your phlox still blooms. It has a lot of days ahead before normal bloom. i have had deer mow them down, they regrew bushier and more beautiful than ever!
Gary

Yes the moth balls worked. I found a couple boxes at the Dollar store. That stopped whatever was eating my Bluebells.

hostasmore said:Arlene
I wouldn't be surprised if your phlox still blooms. It has a lot of days ahead before normal bloom. i have had deer mow them down, they regrew bushier and more beautiful than ever!
Gary

Mine never get a chance to regrow. The rabbits just chomp on it continually.

Karen

Karen, hopefully the chicken wire cover will work for us both this year.

Thanks for the encouragement, Gary. I'll be happy to see it in bloom.

Hey Karen, try getting some dark colored nylon net or tulle from the fabric store and draping that over the chicken wire. It should help hide the chicken wire and also deter the critters. They get a mouthful of nylon instead of plant. I used it this year on my corn, peas and beans. Didn't lose a single plant.

So far the chicken wire fence is working well. It's pretty tall, too.

We layer bird netting over our tomato cages and that keeps the deer away from them. Otherwise, deer eat the entire plants.

Karen

Aside from deer, our big problems are squirrel and chipmunk. Last year, I moved my corn outside when it was about 6" tall. It was gone overnight. This year, I put the netting over it and left it on the patio to get more sun. Not a single plant was chewed!

To RickM, Nylon net is a good idea--I can never grow beans because of bunnies. Thank you. I'll try it.

I just read that glass jars full of water can deter rabbits because it makes a distorted reflection that they don't like.

a 3 foot tall chicken wire wrap is working



Karen

Yes it is Karen. You've got phlox growing and blooming.