Tucked into our homes, it’s easy to pretend humans are in charge. But you’ve only got to plant a few outrageously expensive hostas to discover the truth. You think the garden is yours, but so does Bambi, not to mention Peter Rabbit and all his cute little friends. Those hostas are a mere appetizer, and the gorgeous tulips you planted this fall? They’re dessert.
It would be easy to fall into an “us vs. them” mentality after watching your carefully tended garden turn into someone’s lunch. The thing we have to remember is those animals have as much of a right to be here as we do. While I have neighbors who think the answer to raccoons is a shot gun and the response to snakes is a spade to the head, I choose to take another path.
It’s true, I nearly had a fit when the deer who share my yard ate the leaves of my fabulous hostas down to the ground. The same year that happened, I bought a native smooth sumac from a sale at the local nature center. It turned out the deer liked sumac even better than hosta, and the sumac sent up roots all over the place. Every time the deer eat it, it comes right back. The deer are happy, and I’m happy, too.
A friend of mine is at war with chipmunks, and a neighbor goes ballistic at the sight of mole hills. My yard is overrun with raccoons, but that’s fine with me—they hang out with my cat. We consider them practically pets. When we lived in England, we shared our yard with a family of foxes and some shy little hedgehogs. In Chicago, we had groundhogs and rabbits. My daughter in Florida has geckos, armadillos, and snakes. I’ve had some of those—black rat snakes, hog snakes and racers. They're harmless, but I don’t want to see them up close. Coyotes are common in my area, too.
It’s a culture clash when native animals bump heads with determined gardeners. I’m trying to convince myself that moles serve a purpose, but I’m not quite there yet. I won’t kill them, but I wish they’d move somewhere else. You can either focus on keeping wildlife out, or adapting your garden to welcome—even attract—wildlife.
It’s not just about butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees. Large and small, welcome and not-so-welcome, there are a lot of critters who consider your yard home. And yes, they drive me crazy on occasion, but I can’t imagine life without them. I want my garden to be welcoming—not just to other garden-lovers, but to animals, too. If you feel the same, you might be interested in the books I’ve featured here. If not, check out the zombie raccoons and remember—they’re out there. And they want in.
What about you: do you welcome wildlife or want to abolish it? What animals are your friends, and which are your pet peeves? I’m always interested in plants that deer avoid so if you know of any, let me know!
Becke Davis is the senior writer for The Landscape Contractor magazine, a member of Garden Writers of America and the Ohio Nursery and Landscape Association. She has written well over 1,000 published articles and is the author of five garden-related books in addition to being the moderator of B&N's Garden and Mystery book clubs.
