Q: Do you have any suggestions for planting bulbs so they don’t get eaten or dug up by animals?
Judy L, Rockford, MI
A: It is time to order spring flowering bulbs for planting this fall. These bulbs can be planted right up until the ground is too frozen to dig in. If you have problems with small animals or even deer digging them up, I do have a suggestion but it requires a bit of extra work.
First of all, the deer are usually a problem if they detect that you have added bone meal. Bone meal (or Bulb Booster) is great to add to the soil when planting bulbs as it helps the bulb grow strong. It’s best to dig the hole and put the bone meal in the bottom of the hole and try not to spill it above ground.
Many of the smaller animals burrow underground and eat the bulbs. To prevent this, the bulbs need to be buried in a cage. If planting a bed of bulbs, dig all the soil out of the planting bed area to the proper depth you would normally plant your bulbs. This soil can be shoveled onto a plastic tarp right next to your work area so it is easier to put back in. Now lay down either a tight chicken wire or some type of closely woven wire with small openings. The openings must be large enough for the bulb foliage to grow through. Put some of the soil on top of the wire, push the bulbs into the soil then bury the bulbs with more soil. Use enough wire to be able to fold it over and make a box with it; enclosing the entire bulb area with the wire. Cover the wire with soil and bark.
Since this is quite a project, take advantage of your efforts and put in a lot of varieties of bulbs. Different types of bulbs can be stacked on top of each other and as their flowering times come along, they will just push right past the others.
