Many kinds of animals create holes in the ground without leaving any sign of the soil that was excavated. If the holes or burrows are not active, the best you can do is guess about the identify of the digger.…
We live in a homeowner’s association with a covenant about the percentage of mulch (organic/wood) we can use compared to rock. It only allows 25% of our landscaping to be wood. They claim that wood mulch is home to rodents of all kinds. We prefer wood bark. Is there a publication I can use to argue our case?
All mulching materials have advantages and disadvantages. Research did not yield any documents that make a watertight case for or against any of them, including crushed rock, lava, etc. Here are some frequently mentioned concerns:
1. Rock mulch such as …
I am looking for ground cover plants to conceal bird droppings under a bird feeder. Can you help?
There aren’t many plants where bird droppings will drop completely through the leaves and flowers so that there is no sign of it. There are many, however, that camouflage the spots, some better than others. Plants with white spots, white …
Will placing a backyard birdbath in the shade versus in the sun make a difference in how quickly bacteria grow?
Only a controlled lab study could establish the types of bacteria growing in a birdbath and the rate with which they increase/decrease depending on the degree of exposure to sunlight (and specific temperatures). However, in a totally unscientific way, i.e., …
How can I keep deer from eating my shrubs over the winter?
Fence to prevent deer browse. Photo by Stephen M. Vantassel.
The only sure way to protect your plants them from foraging eer is to surround them with hardware cloth or other types of fencing. You can find rolls of hardware …
What can be done to prevent or repair woodpecker holes and damage to a wooden structure?
Woodpecker complaints come late in the spring as flickers select someone’s house instead of a hollow tree to excavate a nest or obtain insects in the wood. This drumming not only evokes the strongest of human emotions, but can produce …
What are some suggestions for keeping bears out of active beehives? I live in Colorado.
In Colorado, beekeeping generates close to $2 million a year through the sale of honey. In addition, bees provide a valuable service to agriculture and homeowners by pollinating crops and gardens. Successful bee yards are usually located in protected areas …
Opossums are tearing up my lawn, presumably looking for grubs or insects. This particularly happens in the fall. Is there anything I can do to deter this?
Your yard may be the perfect habitat for an opossum. If so, you shouldn’t expect it to leave and go to a site with poorer habitat. In this case, you have the following options.
Before anything though, I would make …
How can you tell the difference between vole and mole damage in the yard?
Moles dig complex systems of feeding tunnels just under the soil surface. In lawns, the digging raises the turf so that the tunnels feel soft when we step on them. Most of these tunnels are closed, but the moles may …
We had field mice do a lot of damage to our lawn. Is there any way to prevent that from happening? My husband cuts the lawn very short in the fall to prevent damage, but it doesn’t work.
Field mice or voles chew a lot of turf under the snow, but the damage often looks worse than it really is. Grass in the affected areas usually recovers without repair by the middle of May. If the crowns have …