Virginia Home Grown
Protecting Garden Vegetables
Clip: Season 25 Episode 5 | 2m 33sVideo has Closed Captions
Get tips to protect your vegetable harvest
Shana Williams shares that wildlife in her garden is usually a welcome sight until they start eating the produce, and explains how she uses row covers and mesh netting to discourage birds and squirrels from feeding on her crops. Featured on VHG episode 2505, July 2025.
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Virginia Home Grown is a local public television program presented by VPM
Virginia Home Grown
Protecting Garden Vegetables
Clip: Season 25 Episode 5 | 2m 33sVideo has Closed Captions
Shana Williams shares that wildlife in her garden is usually a welcome sight until they start eating the produce, and explains how she uses row covers and mesh netting to discourage birds and squirrels from feeding on her crops. Featured on VHG episode 2505, July 2025.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship(upbeat music) >>When I'm just in the garden, I can hear the wildlife, I can hear the birds singing.
And I'll see bunny rabbits just hopping around and sometimes occasionally, I'll see a groundhog running through the garden.
And in the back wilderness is so cool just to watch some of the deer.
And sometimes I'll come into the garden and I'll see deer snacking but I also know that I want to enjoy some of what I'm growing just as much as they probably do too.
I use a metal fence, but it may be too small.
So some of the things that I do is, for the deer, I'll use this type of strong peppermint scent, and I'll put it around the border of the property.
That scent actually irritates their nose.
And also to stop some of the squirrels from damaging some of my seedlings because I like to make sure that they get a chance to grow up before, you know, there's any damage.
So what I'll do is I'll use some just simple plant covers and lay it on top of the beds just so the seedlings can get a chance to grow up.
But what I'll also do is I'll create some arches, and as the plants are getting taller, just so the birds doesn't snap off any of the top seedlings and things like that, I'll just make sure that they're covered using some arches.
But one of the things that I like doing with my tomatoes, and I said I'm going to do it definitely more often, is when my tomatoes start to turn red, I'll use just some simple netting, mesh netting.
But typically with these long rolls, you need an extra hand to make sure that it goes over smoothly and it doesn't damage any of your tomatoes.
So what I'll do is we'll lift this up and we'll securely put it over the top.
And as we're doing that, we're making sure that it drapes over the top and it drapes down, and we'll anchor this in place using some bricks or some sandbags.
So as you're gardening, consider using some of the different methods that I suggested.
Some simple plant covers just to protect your seedlings as they grow to slow the squirrels down.
And even some arches, just to make sure some of your plants don't get snapped off or eaten off the tops.
And also consider using some of this mesh netting to protect your tomatoes and other plants that you have in your garden.
Happy gardening.
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