The Snarky Gardener discusses not his love for groundhogs, but what groundhogs love to eat from his garden.
For the garden, groundhogs are very destructive. They have great appetites and can wipe out a whole season’s productivity. Fencing does help, although groundhogs are known for going under or over to get at the buffet the Snarky Gardener has provided. After seasons of experience, the SG has developed a strategy to mitigate vegetable loss. Below is a list of groundhog favorites and another list of those that have never been touched. Some of the “groundhog safe” plants have even been grown outside the fence with no munching, including garlic, onions, turnips, and various herbs. Going forward, more of these will be planted outside the fencing and efforts will be redoubled (more fencing!) to keep these little guys out of the good stuff.
Groundhogs have never munched on:
Turnips
Garlic
Onions
Leeks
Herbs (lemon balm, thyme, sage, basil, rosemary)
Tomatoes
Potatoes
Peppers
Zucchini (bush)
What groundhogs really love (in order):
Broccoli
Carrot tops
Sunchokes
Peas
Beans
Cucumber leaves
Kale
Spinach
Lettuce
Corn (pulled down the stalks to eat the cobs!)
Pumpkins (the outside of the fruit)
.
That was interesting. I know the bunnies love the decorative plants planted next to my patio. They munch away while I sit next to them. Hey, if you ever find yourself in excess of produce, I’d like to sample the results of your hard work.
My rabbit seems love green bean plants exclusively. I need to put up smaller mesh as 2″ X 4″ steel fence let’s the little guys just come and go as he pleases.
The mesh fence worked. I added it to just the eastern side and now no rabbits.
Ah I feel your pain! We’ve got pocket gophers and they will eat just about anything. One year I planted a huge bed of sacrificial lettuce and the gophers didn’t touch it. LOL