Which animals eat tulips

One way to foil bulb-eating animals is to interplant tulips with crown imperial Fritillaria imperialis. This tall, dramatic plant emits an odor that repels critters. Critters also avoid alliums and daffodils , so interplanting with those bulbs may help protect tulips among them. Commercial pest repellent products fill garden center shelves as an easy option for protecting tulip bulbs from animals. Some might work in your yard, for a while.

Deer, rabbits, rodents, and other critters often become so used to the repellent that it is no longer effective. Many are scent-based products that wear off after rain so they must be reapplied frequently. And remember, what works in one garden doesn't always work in another. Folk remedies include hanging Irish Spring soap from mesh bags , scattering human hair clippings, sprinkling predator urine, dusting with cayenne or crushed red pepper, and spraying rotten egg mixtures around the garden perimeter.

Again, the success of these remedies might vary. Talk about a government handout! Gardeners at the White House in Washington, D.

The squirrel-feeding program, in effect from fall planting time until bloom time, cut the bulb losses although some squirrels still helped themselves to the tulip bulbs. The gardeners also acknowledged that the peanuts might have attracted more squirrels to the grounds. By Deb Wiley Updated September 18, Each product we feature has been independently selected and reviewed by our editorial team. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission.

Save Pin FB More. Credit: Marty Baldwin. Person using garden tool to plant bulbs. Credit: David Goldberg. Credit: Peter Krumhardt. Early Spring tulips and flowers outside. Lay chicken wire across the bottom, plant the bulbs and then fold up all four sides of the wire as you backfill the hole with soil. Lay another sheet of chicken wire across the top to completely enclose the planting. An alternative to wire is making the soil too scratchy for rodent comfort.

Gravel, stone dust or similar crushed rock at about 10 percent volume also may do the trick at less cost. The bonus with this treatment is that the stone fragments also improve soil drainage.

To head off above-ground attacks in spring, repellents are your best bet. Another effective defense is enlisting an energetic cat or dog. To fence out groundhogs and rabbits, sink fencing 3 feet down — or 1 foot down and 2 feet out. Chicken wire is protecting bulbs planted in this pot. One last backup plan… you could go with the non-tasty stuff in the ground and plant your tulips only in pots and window boxes. Then cover the tops with netting or chicken wire. They generally feast on tulips, sometimes crocuses and occasionally hyacinths.

Daffodils Narcissus. Early to mid-spring bloomers with cup-shaped flowers of gold, white and pastel shades. Siberian squill Scilla siberica. Short April bloomers with cobalt-blue hanging flowers. Ornamental onions Allium. A diverse family of late-spring to early-summer bloomers, most with rounded purple flowers of varying sizes.

Glory-of-the-snow Chionodoxa. Short early-spring bloomer with star-shaped flowers of white, pink or purple-blue. There are several on the market. Some are formulated to repel a specific species, and others repel several different kinds of animals. How to protect tulip bulbs from squirrels and mice: wide wire mesh, such as chicken wire, is an effective deterrent. Lay it directly on top of the bed, extending the surface about 3 feet from the plantings, then stake it down.

You can also plant bulbs in wire cages for tulip squirrel protection. Bottom line. Yes, tulips are edible. The petals, if not treated with chemicals, make good garnishes.

The bulbs can be poisonous -- and it doesn't sound like they're worth the trouble. Like a lot of beautiful things, tulips inspire malfeasance, and they take a lot of work to maintain. Careless people pick them. Mice, rats, voles, skunks, squirrels, and deer eat them. One is burrowing rodents — such as mice, squirrels, voles and chipmunks — that eat bulbs before they ever have a chance to shoot up.

The other is above-ground foragers such as deer and rabbits that chew the flower buds off growing plants before they open. Do birds eat slugs? Hedgehogs, newts, toads and some birds, such as song thrushes, love to eat slugs and snails, so it is a great idea to attract these beneficial creatures into your garden. Probably the best way to attract them into the garden is to make a pond or boggy area, which they will use for drinking or as a place of refuge.

Do snails eat tulips? They will eat holes in tulip and hyacinth leaves and although daffodils bulbs are poisonous, the flowers are a tasty delicacy.

Slug and snail bait can prevent this. To keep away from animals it can be hidden under established plants. What is eating my flowers at night? To see of snails and slugs are your plant-eating culprits, come out at night with a flashlight and look under leaves.