Bunnies & squirrels dig up tulips. Any suggestions?

Rubber snakes placed around the garden.

This is a bit long but I saved this article as we have a large garden as well as an apple & pear orchard. For large bulbs (like lily trees), an easy way is to wrap the bulb in a bit of chicken wire before planting. I cut a small square big enough to fold over the bulb and crimp down the edges. Just be sure to not let the cut ends poke into the bulb. For small bulbs, the easiest way is to dig a long trench and put a piece of chicken wire at the bottom, place the bulbs and then put another piece on the top. I like to fold the edges a bit to seal the bulbs into the wire. I also add a couple of cloves of garlic in the hole before adding the dirt. You can also sprinkle the top of the soil with garlic powder (I buy the big container at Sam's Club) and the critters will usually stay away from the newly planted bulbs. There are a couple of ways to keep deer, bunnies, and mice from chewing on plants, particularly in the winter when food is scarce. Unused fabric softener sheets can be tucked under the mulch around plants to keep mice from burrowing. They can also be clothes-pinned to those little bamboo skewers and placed around the perimeter of the gardens. Just use the strongest fragrance you can find. A longer lasting method is to take one of those little muslin drawstring bags that you can find at feed stores (usually around 25 cents a piece) and cut a small piece of original scent Irish Spring soap and place in the bag. The bag can be loosely tied to a tree or shrub branch or again placed on a little bamboo skewer. When it rains or snows, the soap actually permeates the bag better and the fragrance lasts for a number of months. I have suggested this to friends with cherry orchards and they have had great success with deer not chewing on the trees and breaking the branches.

One more way to keep animals away from your gardens is to buy some of those cute little foil pinwheels; check the dollar stores. Since they seem to turn in the slightest of breezes they work well to scare animals from the gardens, particularly bunnies and deer. As a side note, you will be the talk of the neighborhood as the "eclectic" neighbor.

Use human air for squirrels and plant with bulbs or throw in the soil and mulch. (ask your local hair salon to keep a bag of hair for you) I have also used moth balls to keep critters away such as skunks and raccoons. One other item to use is Cayenne pepper from the dollar store,

I have heard that the animals do not like the taste of daffodil bulbs, so plant them in with the rest of your bulbs. I haven't had any problems.