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Good grief!!! Bunnies have been eating off the tops of our dwarf mondo grass plants, which we have growing on both sides of our sidewalk (about 40 plants). I usually sprinkle a tiny bit of red pepper across the top of the plants to keep the rabbits from eating them. Since I've been sick and the rabbits have been voracious, I asked DH to do it this time. EEK!! He poured lots of red pepper around the base of all the plants. I've convinced him to somehow remove it. Hope it doesn't rain before he gets that done.
Do you smart gardeners think this will harm the plants or the soil? I've convinced him to get a shovel and try to get it up, but worried the red pepper will harm the roots of the plants and get into the soil in the flower bed.
Good grief!!! Bunnies have been eating off the tops of our dwarf mondo grass plants, which we have growing on both sides of our sidewalk (about 40 plants). I usually sprinkle a tiny bit of red pepper across the top of the plants to keep the rabbits from eating them. Since I've been sick and the rabbits have been voracious, I asked DH to do it this time. EEK!! He poured lots of red pepper around the base of all the plants. I've convinced him to somehow remove it. Hope it doesn't rain before he gets that done.
Do you smart gardeners think this will harm the plants or the soil? I've convinced him to get a shovel and try to get it up, but worried the red pepper will harm the roots of the plants and get into the soil in the flower bed.
What do you smart people think??
Our neighbors bought industrial-size bags of red pepper flakes to deter javelinas. It didn’t work, fences and chicken wire do work to keep critters away.
Tell your husband to scrape up the bulk of it and go scatter it loosely somewhere else as fertilizer for other plants. The remaining ground red pepper at the base of the plants won't actually hurt the roots or soil (it's actually nutritional and antimicrobial for plants) but if there's too much of it, it can kill beneficial earthworms (which is not good) and if there is way, way too much of it in the soil or on plants it can have a highly dehydrating effect on the whole plants (which is also not good because dehydration can kill plants).
So if there is still too much on the soil after your husband removes the bulk of it from the surface then get him to use the hose to water the remainder of it into the soil very thoroughly to dilute it and disperse it throughout the soil as much as possible so it's not all concentrated around the bases of the plants. Don't wait for it to rain, do it immediately after clearing away the bulk of the pepper.
Now here is an additional tip for you. Don't use ground red pepper in the future, use ground black pepper instead, it is just as effective as a deterrent but it is much safer than the red for both your plants and for the animals that you're using it to discourage, as well as beneficial fauna living in the soil. Keep in mind that animals don't just eat plants, they stick their noses right into the plants to smell and identify them and will inhale whatever is on the surface of the plants, and sometimes that can cause severe and unintended consequences.
The red and black peppers come from entirely different species of plants with different strengths of chemicals and compounds in them with black pepper having more piperene (irritant) and less capsaicin (heat) than red pepper. Piperene irritates the nerve endings in the nasal passages and makes animals sneeze violently and convulsively for a short while, but because it has less capsaicin than red pepper there is less risk of it causing serious damage such as blindness and severe inflammation and swelling or blistering of membranes in the eyes, nasal passages, back of the throat and lungs. Too much capsaicin (like in red pepper) can cause severe consequences not only to the animals being discouraged but also to any beneficial fauna that lives in the soil.
Whenever applying a foreign substance to garden plants do some research and consider the effects and consequences to the WHOLE garden system and to all the things that are living in that environment, and not just to the plants that the substance is being applied to.
Our neighbors bought industrial-size bags of red pepper flakes to deter javelinas. It didn’t work, fences and chicken wire do work to keep critters away.
The baby mondo's are planted along the front sidewalk leading to the front door, so fencing is not a possibility. Maybe the netting to stop the deer might work for bunnies, but it doesn't look very nice.
The baby mondo's are planted along the front sidewalk leading to the front door, so fencing is not a possibility. Maybe the netting to stop the deer might work for bunnies, but it doesn't look very nice.
I have the same problem but with rabbits and deer. A fence or chicken wire there isn't an option.
I'm pulling up all mondo grass this yr. Among other things. Haven't decided on the replacement plants yet tho.
I have the same problem but with rabbits and deer. A fence or chicken wire there isn't an option.
I'm pulling up all mondo grass this yr. Among other things. Haven't decided on the replacement plants yet tho.
We ended up with ~35 dwarf mondo grass plants. We needed something small along both edges of the sidewalk to keep the soil from washing out of the landscaping beds. Looked long and hard for them. They were expensive and a lot of work to plant, so we are not eager to lose them.
Hope you find a good replacement
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