Total Landscape Care Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/183921
foliage Wildlife-Resistant Plantings By Arricca Elin SanSone Choose plants that are less appealing to animals N obody likes a glutton. That's especially true when wildlife comes to feast on your newly planted landscapes. While deer and rabbit are the most notorious grazers, woodchucks, chipmunks and a host of other hungry wildlife can chomp their way across plantings in no time. There's no perfect solution, but you can do a few things to lessen the impact of browsing animals. Fencing is the most effective means of keeping many types of animals away from plantings. "With proper installation, fencing is almost bulletproof for deer," says David Drake, extension wildlife specialist and associate professor in the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "But it can be costly, and it's not always an ideal solution in some settings such as a suburban neighborhood." Another choice is commercial repellants that you spray on vegetation. "But they're really just meant to reduce browse, perhaps around 60 percent," Drake says. "They won't eliminate it completely." The other downsides are that repellants are not always effective (if they're hungry enough, wildlife may eat even treated vegetation), it's expensive and it must be reapplied regularly and after rain. Choosing plants that are less palatable in taste and texture may help. "The truth is that there is no plant that is 'wildlife-proof,'" says Stephen M. Vantassel, program coordinator for the Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management (ICWDM) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. "But you can select plants that are less appealing. You could say it's the equivalent of us humans choosing between a hot fudge sundae and broccoli." It's important to understand there may be regional variations as to what wildlife will eat. For example, drought can have an impact, forcing wildlife to sample vegetation they may not normally browse. "And numbers come into play, too," Vantassel says. "If you see 20 deer in your backyard every day, you can assume the population density is high so there's more competition for food." In prime areas of wildlife activity, check with your local extension service, university, nursery or arboretum for suggestions about what's least likely to get eaten in your part of the country. The ICWDM website, icwdm.org, is another useful resource. And consider a few of these new varieties and old standbys that generally fare better against hungry critters. o c t o b e r 2013 TLC1013_Foliage.indd 15 TotalLa nd s ca p e C a re . c o m 15 9/24/13 4:01 PM