Bulbs, Without Pests

Rabbits. One of the most effective ways to keep rabbits from nibbling at new shoots is to install a temporary wire fence using inexpensive, readily available chicken wire. (You may have seen green, plastic garden fencing at your local garden store. It may look nicer, but rabbits can easily chew through this material.) To keep rabbits out, you'll need a roll of 2-foot-tall chicken wire and several plastic, metal or wooden stakes.

Start by weaving a stake through one end of the chicken wire and pushing the stake into the ground until secure. Place a stake every 8 to 10 feet, working your way around the bulb planting area. Once the wire fence is in place, use tin snips to cut the wire and fasten the overlapping ends together. (Be sure to wear gloves when working with chicken wire.) You may want to adjust some of the stakes to neaten the shape of your fence.

To discourage rabbits from burrowing under the fence, bury the bottom of the fence a couple of inches below soil level or put landscape timber around the base of the fence. This temporary wire fence can be removed once the tender, young shoots are mature--when the blooms are just about to open on most of the plants. At this point the plants will no longer be so tasty to rabbits, and they will look elsewhere for a snack.

An option that can stay in the ground is a barrier of galvanized mesh. You can bury the mesh to a depth of 24 to 30 inches, leaving six inches above the ground. The moles won't be able to tunnel through this mesh as they search for worms and grubs.

You might also try hanging fragrant soap bars in the garden. Drill a hole through the bar, slip a length of string through and hang from a branch. Place a bar wherever you think deer will pose a problem; place some bars directly on the ground near the bulbs.

Try as you might, not every deterrent will work to keep deer from munching on your spring flowering bulbs. Be patient and stick with it; try different things throughout the season. If deterrents don't work, plant diffierent bulbs. Although deer enjoy eating tulips, crocuses and hyacinths, they don't like narcissus, alliums and scilla. By next year you should have the problem under control.