how can I ratproof a row of delicious brassicas?
April 25, 2017 1:22 PM Subscribe
The neighborhood rats agree that my brassica plants are tasty. I want them go eat something else. What do I do?
A few months ago my spouse and I moved into a house that's great, except for the horrible backyard hedge made of huge English ivy plants entwined in a chain link fence. When we saw that we said, yikes, I'll bet there are rats in there, but we haven't seen any. (Note: we live in the city of Seattle, so there are rats pretty much everywhere. Nothing is particularly gross about our house or neighborhood. Also, we're renters.)
On the our-yard side of the hedge is a garden bed that gets good light. Yesterday I planted a row of beautiful cauliflower and romanesco starts there. Unfortunately, some creature (I have reasons to suspect rats, not slugs or insect larvae) was even more excited about them than me and ate all the plants down to the ground overnight.
I want to replant these - soon because of growing timing - and discourage the rats from eating them. (We also have a plan to discourage the rats from being alive at all, but that's longer term.) How can I protect these plants? I have the tools and skills to build mesh cages or something like that, but I suspect a determined rat would laugh at that and eat them anyway. What has worked for you?
A few months ago my spouse and I moved into a house that's great, except for the horrible backyard hedge made of huge English ivy plants entwined in a chain link fence. When we saw that we said, yikes, I'll bet there are rats in there, but we haven't seen any. (Note: we live in the city of Seattle, so there are rats pretty much everywhere. Nothing is particularly gross about our house or neighborhood. Also, we're renters.)
On the our-yard side of the hedge is a garden bed that gets good light. Yesterday I planted a row of beautiful cauliflower and romanesco starts there. Unfortunately, some creature (I have reasons to suspect rats, not slugs or insect larvae) was even more excited about them than me and ate all the plants down to the ground overnight.
I want to replant these - soon because of growing timing - and discourage the rats from eating them. (We also have a plan to discourage the rats from being alive at all, but that's longer term.) How can I protect these plants? I have the tools and skills to build mesh cages or something like that, but I suspect a determined rat would laugh at that and eat them anyway. What has worked for you?
Best answer: A neighbor back in New York lined the edges of his vegetable garden (a 5x7 plot) with a thick, rigid, mesh barrier. The barrier was buried two or three feet deep, with about a foot of material sticking up at the top. (This is how I remember it, but maybe it was a few sheets of mesh, layered and wired together?) There were mesh pyramid structures over the plants, too, not as densely woven, that lifted off. Here's an article on rat-proofing an urban garden.
posted by Iris Gambol at 1:55 PM on April 25, 2017
posted by Iris Gambol at 1:55 PM on April 25, 2017
City rats will not be deterred by anything but poison or physical barriers. You'll have to put up wire netting around your garden, and even then, they may chew through to get at your food. Galvanized steel hardware cloth is a good start; get the kind that's a thick gauge.
posted by juniperesque at 1:55 PM on April 25, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by juniperesque at 1:55 PM on April 25, 2017 [3 favorites]
If there are outdoor/feral cats nearby, maybe you could make a comfy or attractive shelter for them or otherwise attract them to a location adjacent to the garden? This would be a kind of longer term project if it's a possibility at all.
Also, depending on your neighborhood, you could possibly have a couple of feral cats intentionally relocated there -- I realize this is unlikely to be allowed if you're in the city, but I figured I'd throw it out there. Cats are nature's rat control, and there are so many out there that need a place to live.
If you already have your own indoor cats, though, then having more visible outside might be traumatic for them. OTOH, that would open the possibility of using used cat litter as a short-term rat deterrent (of very limited effectiveness, I'd imagine).
posted by amtho at 2:50 PM on April 25, 2017
Also, depending on your neighborhood, you could possibly have a couple of feral cats intentionally relocated there -- I realize this is unlikely to be allowed if you're in the city, but I figured I'd throw it out there. Cats are nature's rat control, and there are so many out there that need a place to live.
If you already have your own indoor cats, though, then having more visible outside might be traumatic for them. OTOH, that would open the possibility of using used cat litter as a short-term rat deterrent (of very limited effectiveness, I'd imagine).
posted by amtho at 2:50 PM on April 25, 2017
I am here to propose that you don't rule out the birds.
I quickly lost a bunch of garden starts to sparrows and juncos one year.
The birds, they get up early. That's when they get the worms and the brassicas.
Don't rule out the birds.
posted by mudpuppie at 2:58 PM on April 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
I quickly lost a bunch of garden starts to sparrows and juncos one year.
The birds, they get up early. That's when they get the worms and the brassicas.
Don't rule out the birds.
posted by mudpuppie at 2:58 PM on April 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
Best answer: The article Iris Gambol linked to above specifically advises against expecting cats to take care of feral rats -- they are quickly outnumbered.
Iris has the right idea. What you want is essentially a chicken coop that has your brassicas inside it instead of chickens. You'll dig a trench around your beds a foot down and start your half-inch hardware cloth down there, or else splay the edges of your hardware cloth a foot out right around the bed, anchoring it with heavy paving stones all the way around. Do not skimp. The walls will stand up maybe a foot higher than you think the plants are going to get, and you'll cut another piece for a lid over it that you wire firmly shut when you're not in there weeding or thinning. You can water right through the hardware cloth.
Remember -- this is your hobby, but the rats are at this professionally, and they have all night long to work on what you put up. Do not underestimate them.
posted by nohattip at 3:00 PM on April 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
Iris has the right idea. What you want is essentially a chicken coop that has your brassicas inside it instead of chickens. You'll dig a trench around your beds a foot down and start your half-inch hardware cloth down there, or else splay the edges of your hardware cloth a foot out right around the bed, anchoring it with heavy paving stones all the way around. Do not skimp. The walls will stand up maybe a foot higher than you think the plants are going to get, and you'll cut another piece for a lid over it that you wire firmly shut when you're not in there weeding or thinning. You can water right through the hardware cloth.
Remember -- this is your hobby, but the rats are at this professionally, and they have all night long to work on what you put up. Do not underestimate them.
posted by nohattip at 3:00 PM on April 25, 2017 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Thanks, all. As I thought, we are following the urban garden rules except for the bloody hedge that we can't remove. I had a backyard garden in New York City and didn't have this problem, so I was thrown. Off to the hardware store for some sturdy mesh, poison and new plants!
posted by centrifugal at 4:34 PM on April 25, 2017
posted by centrifugal at 4:34 PM on April 25, 2017
You want hardware cloth for the mesh, rats can squeeze through chicken wire. And no to cats! Unless you want cat shit and probably toxoplasmosis on all your veggies. Loose cats are more of a pita than pests in most urban gardens. Plus they don't kill rats, just birds.
posted by fshgrl at 8:24 PM on April 25, 2017
posted by fshgrl at 8:24 PM on April 25, 2017
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If you try it, I'd love to hear whether it was successful. My anecdote may also be dumb luck. (I've used it a lot, but we also have a dog. I can attest to its fine work with slugs, however, who are unaware of the existence of dogs.)
posted by A Terrible Llama at 1:39 PM on April 25, 2017