Groundhogs? Tips on getting rid of them
R. Wayne Mezitt answers your questions about plants, design, function, and more.
Good morning. My problem is WOODCHUCKS!!! I’ve done everything on earth to get rid of them with no luck. I’m wondering if you know of any sonic-wave kind of thing that would work on them? I’ve seen similar things to rid your house of mice, and people have told me that they work. The woodchucks destroyed my garden this summer. They even came up on my deck. I’m about to give up on gardening. (Woodchucks and groundhogs are the same thing, right?)
BETSY
Hi Betsy. Yes, in New England “woodchuck’’ and “groundhog’’ refer to the same rodent, and they certainly can be frustrating. Some gardeners recommend repellants like putting dried blood, predator urine, and hot pepper spray on or around susceptible plants, but these are temporary cures, at best. Rainfall washes them away, and once woodchucks realize predators are not really a threat here, they’ll simply ignore those treatments.
Stuffing handfuls of plastic bird netting into their holes and surrounding the entrances with molasses (they apparently don’t like their paws to get sticky) are other options. But it’s not easy to locate all of their entrances, and they tend to dig new ones if some are blocked. Using motion-activated water sprinklers adjacent to the plants you want to protect can also be effective. I know of no success using sonic deterrents.
A surer method is a sulfur-based woodchuck-den fumigant sold at many garden centers. For the best results and for your safety, follow the package directions. Ensure that all entrances are located and sealed and that the woodchuck is “in residence,’’ so after dark is best. Trapping is a further option, but it can be problematic; they are shrewd enough to recognize one, and it is both difficult and illegal in Massachusetts to relocate them.
Personally, I’ve had success in my garden with a 4-foot-high chicken wire fence, bending the top 6 inches outward and burying the bottom 6 inches after folding it outward at 90 degrees to discourage their digging attempts. Perhaps you can construct a fence using an attractive decorative material, even fashioning it to be a distinctive garden design feature. With the bottom buried and an overhanging top, your woodchucks should be sufficiently deterred to search elsewhere for their meals. Of course you should continue to check frequently for gaps or other breaches; woodchucks are clever and often find a way to climb over and tunnel under.
It may not be a legal option in your area, but I’ve also used the shotgun approach, which always works if you are OK with that and have good aim and lots of patience.
I trust you’re not really considering giving up gardening. Some of these ideas should surely help eliminate next spring’s woodchuck menace.
R. Wayne Mezitt, a third-generation nurseryman and a Massachusetts-certified horticulturist, is chairman of Weston Nurseries of Hopkinton and Chelmsford and founder of the advisory firm Hort-Sense. Send questions to [email protected].
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