It’s rodent and deer season on bulbs

How to slow them down – don’t mono-crop.

By mono-cropping, I mean don’t pick a vulnerable species of flower or vegetable and plant rows and rows of it.

As Minnesotans with a farmer history, we have been taught that crops are grown in rows with identical plants for acres and acres. From a ecosystem point of view, this is about the worst thing that you can do: if you have one insect infestation or rodent attack, there is nothing stopping the pest from going on to the next plant. This is why the farm industry relies heavily on insecticides, pepper sprays and the like.

By as a gardener, you don't have have to follower the farmer example.

Ecosystems have natural barriers to slow down pests. There are hundreds of herbs and plants which deter rodents and insects. Understanding this can make gardening a lot more simple: you might lose one plant, but you will confuse the pest from finding the next one.

For example, rodents and deer love tulips, but daffodils and hyacinths are poisonous. Make it tough for these mammals to find the edible bulbs, by planting one hyacinth, one daffodil, one tulip and repeat the pattern. No more problems with the mow-down of your whole garden – the rodent or deer strikes-out two-thirds of the time. The mammal may decide it isn't worth the effort and move on.