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AverageWalrus
- Full Member
- Posts: 18
- Joined: Wed Mar 11, 2015 4:12 pm
Groundhogs murdered my Garden
Well, title says all. I came home to day to discover a horrible sight in my backyard. As I opened the gate to my backyard, A Groundhog scurried away, and then I saw It, every Squash, Melon, and Pumpkin completely de-leafed. Beans mowed down to Little Stubs. Cucumbers practically Non-Existent. Tomatoes that have became little more than big piles o stem and a leaf or two (Except for the Roma, which was left alone completely, strangley) Carrots? You Mean That Patch of once Carrot green filled dirt. Only Roma Tomato, Basil, Peppers and Corn Survived. Looks like next Year I'm going to have to go full Groundhog-Repellents and Cage Traps Next Year
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freedhardwoods
- Senior Member
- Posts: 253
- Joined: Sun May 17, 2009 9:32 pm
- Location: Southwest IN
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applestar
- Mod
- Posts: 30550
- Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
Ohhh.... I'm so sorry to hear that -- oh the wretched creature!!!! 
It's such a horrible feeling when they destroy all your hard work in the garden and dash the mounting anticipation towards their growth and harvest -- yeah I have been there, many times.
Now that they think there is food to be had, they will be back. If you already have a secure fence, find out where they got in from and try to block or better yet, set your live trap there. It feels even worse when they come back and finish off the rest of the garden, so.... Take action right away --
First step is protecting what's left. Once you have the heart, look over what remains and see what can be salvaged or re-planted. If you can't put up a secondary fence around the entire garden right away, decide what you want to protect most and take care of those first.
If you can't get to the store, look around and see what you have that can be used temporarily. Anything that will give them a pause will help.
- I once hung empty plastic bottles at groundHOG level and stuck little flags for American holiday decoration all over the garden.
- I pulled out the motion activated mounted bass gag gift DH received for his B-day out of storage and put it out in the garden.
- I sprinkled nearly an entire spice jar of cayenne pepper where the groundHOG dug under the fence
- I used to throw away thorny clippings of roses, brambles, smilax -- now I put them where the groundHOG usually try to get into the backyard.
It's such a horrible feeling when they destroy all your hard work in the garden and dash the mounting anticipation towards their growth and harvest -- yeah I have been there, many times.
Now that they think there is food to be had, they will be back. If you already have a secure fence, find out where they got in from and try to block or better yet, set your live trap there. It feels even worse when they come back and finish off the rest of the garden, so.... Take action right away --
First step is protecting what's left. Once you have the heart, look over what remains and see what can be salvaged or re-planted. If you can't put up a secondary fence around the entire garden right away, decide what you want to protect most and take care of those first.
If you can't get to the store, look around and see what you have that can be used temporarily. Anything that will give them a pause will help.
- I once hung empty plastic bottles at groundHOG level and stuck little flags for American holiday decoration all over the garden.
- I pulled out the motion activated mounted bass gag gift DH received for his B-day out of storage and put it out in the garden.
- I sprinkled nearly an entire spice jar of cayenne pepper where the groundHOG dug under the fence
- I used to throw away thorny clippings of roses, brambles, smilax -- now I put them where the groundHOG usually try to get into the backyard.
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
That was only in one day? Not quite making sense to me, unless it was a whole party of groundhogs and you just saw the last one leaving.
Groundhog damage is usually recognizable. They start eating a plant from the top down and nibble everything away, until they leave just a few inches of stump:
https://www.ourediblegarden.org/gardenin ... -large.jpg
It's very neat. They don't pull things up, trample them, or make messes. If you have that kind of damage, you probably also have raccoons.
In any case the solution is FENCING. Even if your yard/garden is fenced, wrap your individual beds in fencing. Deer netting or plastic garden fencing is cheap and easy. Put the stakes in the ground and wrap the fencing around them.
But our resident groundhog that we had for years (we knew where at least a couple of her holes were) decamped after we got a dog who spent a lot of time outside patrolling and watching her holes.
But so sorry -- I know how frustrating it is!!!
Groundhog damage is usually recognizable. They start eating a plant from the top down and nibble everything away, until they leave just a few inches of stump:
https://www.ourediblegarden.org/gardenin ... -large.jpg
It's very neat. They don't pull things up, trample them, or make messes. If you have that kind of damage, you probably also have raccoons.
In any case the solution is FENCING. Even if your yard/garden is fenced, wrap your individual beds in fencing. Deer netting or plastic garden fencing is cheap and easy. Put the stakes in the ground and wrap the fencing around them.
But our resident groundhog that we had for years (we knew where at least a couple of her holes were) decamped after we got a dog who spent a lot of time outside patrolling and watching her holes.
But so sorry -- I know how frustrating it is!!!
I had major issues with a groundhog last season, which eventually led to me using stakes and deer netting to protect my beds. You'd think I would have learned after he (or she?) decimated my kale and quinoa, but it kept a low profile for a while and I didn't take action....and it struck again. And again. And again. And THEN I finally took action 
At any rate, I've had two new neighbors with adjoining back yards move in, both with dogs. Now every property that touches mine, front back and sides - all have dogs. And guess what??? No more groundhog!
I hope you are able to resolve your problem - I know the groundhogs can be frustrating and relentless.
Fortunately the neighborhood raccoons are content to raid the garbage cans occasionally and they keep out of the garden.
At any rate, I've had two new neighbors with adjoining back yards move in, both with dogs. Now every property that touches mine, front back and sides - all have dogs. And guess what??? No more groundhog!
I hope you are able to resolve your problem - I know the groundhogs can be frustrating and relentless.
Fortunately the neighborhood raccoons are content to raid the garbage cans occasionally and they keep out of the garden.
I almost lost my garden to groundhogs. What I had to do, was put chicken wire all around the base of my fence, turned outwards, so that it couldn't dig in. That didn't keep the baby out though - it found a weak spot. My dog took care of it.
I then poured used kitty litter into the groundhog's hole, and it worked. He vacated.
I am a vegetarian and feel very bad causing any harm to animals, but honestly I would have been happy to shoot the things. They are awful. I was so upset when it ate all of my broccoli just as it was about to head, I had started indoors and nursed for months, all of the carrots, some of the peas, and most of the lettuce, I honestly was so frustrated I wanted to give up for the year and just mow it all down.
I then poured used kitty litter into the groundhog's hole, and it worked. He vacated.
I am a vegetarian and feel very bad causing any harm to animals, but honestly I would have been happy to shoot the things. They are awful. I was so upset when it ate all of my broccoli just as it was about to head, I had started indoors and nursed for months, all of the carrots, some of the peas, and most of the lettuce, I honestly was so frustrated I wanted to give up for the year and just mow it all down.
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GardeningCook
- Greener Thumb
- Posts: 787
- Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2015 8:35 pm
- Location: Upper Piedmont area of Virginia, Zone 7a
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jal_ut
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 7447
- Joined: Sun Jan 18, 2009 10:20 pm
- Location: Northern Utah Zone 5
I grew up in the wilds of Northern Utah. We had creatures from bugs to mice, rats, squirrels, birds, coons, deer, rabbits etc. destroying the garden. It came down to , if you wanted a harvest, you had best control the pests. Whatever it takes, poison, shot gun, rifle, traps, just get it done. When I lived on the lot out by the river, I ran a cable on the ground with a pulley on the cable, then tied a dog to the pulley with a short chain giving the dog the run the whole length of the garden. This was effective to keep the deer and racoons out.