A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 Something is dining on my flowers!

It has ate the flowers off a gerbera and one of my poor ranuculus is down to one flower stalk. The rest of the plant is gone! I can't find any burrows or signs of beetles or anything? What could it be and how can I stop it?
HELP!!!

raccoon maybe?? will they eat flowers?
squirrels possibly. i have a family osquirrels that love to dig in my flower beds and boxes not caring wha tthey destroy

I think it is rabbits....usually they don't come up by the house because of the dogs and cats but those are all in at night. Does anyone know how I can keep the rabbits from chewing up my sun bed?

human or animal (dog) hair is what is reputed to work best and be most environmentally friendly. #2 is cayenne pepper sprinkled about.

There is also a cayenne pepper spray. It goes on "waxy" to stick to the foliage. Said to deter chewing.

WARNING -- VULGAR

human urine is reputed to drive away varmints by smell. They think we are nearby.

It's SLUGS!

All yours, Cindy!

Well so far the dog hair hasn't worked, the birds keep stealing it to line their nests. LOL And I have found mole holes!!! YIKES Time to get serious here....but I am not going to put urine out there. I would rather sleep in the flower bed myself first. LOL

I also was told to put some moth balls around the bed, will they harm the soil or anything?

do you have kids around? castor bean plants are said to repel moles, and they are pretty...

I have heard of using castor beans but...I have a 6 year old (who would probably be ok)grandson and a 20 month old granddaughter who gets into everything!!! So I don't think I will be planting any castor beans for a few years.

I have never known mothballs to work on moles. My dad used to put them out every year, when I was young. But that never rid him of them.

When you have moles, it is because you have grubs. The moles come to eat the grubs. Use a grub treatment to get rid of them & the moles will seek food elsewhere.

That method has never failed.

ok I won't use mothballs. However, I don't have grubs. I do however have very nice loamy earthworm-full soil. So are the moles dining on earthworms and finding my flowers as dessert?

HOWEVER (gee have I said that enough???) I think I will try the cayenne pepper solution. Can't hurt anyway.

Yes, they do eat worms, too. Usually, a grub infestation occurs, while worms do not really infest. So, when you notice many mole mounds; it is usually grubs.

But, as worms are our friend, we do not rid ourselves of them.

I do not know if they work, but 'skunk lilies' Fritillaria camschatcensis & 'gopher spurge' OR 'mole plant' Euphorbia lathyrus, are reputed to work naturally.

good ideas...thanks!

Here is an article I found and the flowers are really pretty.


Spectacular Crown Imperials grow up to 3' tall with a circle of cascading flowers topped with a graceful emerald crown. These rare garden treasures are easy to grow, and if mice or moles are a problem in your garden, this may be the answer. The fragrant bulbs repel pests but not people! Fritillaria imperialis zones 3-8.