Replacement for Irish Spring Bar Soap to Deter Rabbits?
2 years ago
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Comments (91)Outsmarting the tree rats (squirrels) around my house is a full time job. This past spring I hit on a new idea. When I plant a container I invert an empty wire hanging basket over the container and the plant gets sun and can be watered but the squirrels can't dig in it. Another idea: I bring in a lot of plants to "over winter" under lights in my garage. I have so many that it is hard to reach my hand under the lights (4 shop lights) to the middle for watering. So I bought a pump sprayer with a long wand and it works great! In late winter I add a little liquid Dawn detergent, few drops, to each gallon of water and not only does the soil get wet easier but the worms that are waiting to hatch into distructive pets just don't hatch. Don't know what it costs me to run those four shop lights all winter but I don't care. It is a small price to pay to be able to "garden" every weekend in the garage. Many people have mentioned that they mark their outdoor plants with a "permanent Sharpie". In my experience there isn't a "permanent Sharpie", they all fade and quickly too. A grease pencil/china marker or expensive "no fade" garden center marker are the only markers I have found that won't disappoint you by fading. Eight years ago I decided to learn about gardening so I tapped into my local library. I checked out nearly every book they had on gardening and learned so much. The Gardenweb forums are also a wealth of information and entertainment. There is always something new to learn and I appreciate all of you who take the time to write in your ideas. One last idea from me...I keep a small notebook on my computer table and jot down any idea I find that's new and I will want to try. Little pieces of paper get lost but I always know where my notebook is and also use it when I order "on line" so I will remember the name of the company and the order date. Tina or Trowelgal...See MoreIrish Spring Deer Repellent?
Comments (7)Here's what I used to do when I had a major deer problem.. I would drill a hole through a bar of irish spring and put a string through it and hang from a stick in strategic places throughout the gardens. I also put a bar in a 5 gallon bucket and filled the bucket with water and let it sit. When the bar was mostly disolved I would take some of the water and put it in a spray bottle and go around and spritz my plants. Reapply after each rain. This method worked very well for me. Maybe you could just do one or the other and it would still work. I just got tired of them eating everything to the ground so I did both. Alexis...See MoreBar soap to keep pests out of the garden ?
Comments (6)I live in San Diego also, and have the same problem with mainly two roses (36 of Ingrid Bergman and one Janice Kellogg, and a few others). I have caught both GROUND SQUIRRELS(you know those cute baby ones!) and fruit rats in the act of decapitating fully opened roses, and also defoliating the shrub itself branch by branch, leaf by leaf. Very hungry rabbits will do this also after the spring green stuff dries up and before the next rainy season. Only two things have worked for me, and that is potting up the rose and placing it where there is no bridging stems or foliage-the rodents aforementioned cannot climb(a slippery smooth surface)or jump over approx. 12". I have also cut the bottoms out of +15 gal size nursery pots and inverted them over the plants-it works, not very attractive!! Several of my roses have a small (1" hexagonal chicken wire) cage over them ie Easy Going, Barbra Striesand, and The Mayflower-that works, but buds that stick out still sometimes get decapitated-next year bigger cages. The best thing that worked was a large cat, but this is San Diego, and coyotes really like cats better than rabbits, squirrels,and fruit rats-so, as much as I like the cat, and as well as that worked, I can't bring myself to getting another one just yet. If only I was able to build a tunnel of chicken wire, closed on both ends. I don't like to resort to poisons as our canyon has lots of active hawks and owls(but not enough). With the number of unpicked fruit in the neighborhood, the rats and squirrels are really multiplying. So until the fruit ripens, they will munch on what's available and tasty, and right now that is roses. By the way, raccoons or possums may have eaten your soap, and it just doen't work well for ground squirrels and rats. Jackie...See MoreRecycling small bar soap
Comments (18)I, too, press the sliver onto the new bar. Have been doing that for over 30 years. The trick, of course, is to do it at the END of the last shower of the day, so that it has at least overnight to dry. I've never ever had one 'fall off'. Also unwrap soap as soon as it comes home from the grocery store, giving it at least 3-4 months to dry out so it doesn't dissolve as quickly. It's also a good idea to use a soap dish where it won't be sitting in 'wet'. The more the soap dries out between uses, the longer it will last. Marilyn Sue--hope you're still around and reread this thread. Soap and detergent are NOT compatable. Put most simply, soap sees detergent as dirt and vice versa, so they FIRST react with each other, using up their cleaning power, cancelling each other out. Combining soap and detergent, you actually have LESS cleaning power instead more. You might want to save the soap chips for another use, so your clothes come out cleaner....See More- 2 years ago
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