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Oh my! Talk about war news updates for boomers and seniors. Nope, not the war overseas. The one in our very own, Sandwich Generation, back yard!
At first, my senior mom loved seeing the cute bunnies and squirrels as she worked on her gardening activities. Then she noticed the squirrels were snitching the bulk of the bird feed AND had started munching on the roots of her beloved plants. So she bought sunflower seeds, corncobs and carrots to entice them away, along with suet for the birds to try to give each critter their own goodies. But the bunnies kept eating the leaves and the squirrels kept munching on the roots and she kept getting more and more frustrated.They've also ignored her small plastic snakes that worked so well last year.
A friend recommended marigolds which seemed to discourage squirrels in her yard, perhaps due to the scent. So she asked me to pick some flats up for her. While there, we looked to see if there were any realistic rubber snakes for kids to buy that were bigger than last year's stock. Take a look at this giant inflatable snake my grandson and I found at Walmart. If nothing else, it makes for fun grandkid photos. Plus he wants three more snakes for his brothers and him for their bedroom! (I said no 🙂 ).
She planted some of the flowers in the "Sunflower House" circle and laid the snake out in the middle of it. She put the rest of the marigolds around her patio plants. Lo and behold, the flowers and giant snake do seem to be helping (it's been about 4 days now).
And what fun boomer, senior, and grandkid activities for our whole Sandwich Generation family! How about y'all? Are squirrels and rabbits giving you a hard time like Mary and us? Do you have any other great tips for us? We'd love to hear. By the by, a quick reminder that Sweet Shot Tuesday has moved, but is still just as much fun for all of us who enjoy showing off the photos from that fun and easy digital camera. And what a great story and idea Kent has for those grandparents involved in scouting or other group camping adventures with their grandkids! I'm also joining up with One Beautiful Thing as those marigolds of my mom put such a sweet smile on ALL our faces.
P.S. Wondering about the Sunflower House? It's a fun project my senior mom and grandkids and I have enjoyed during spring and summer gardening activities for the last few years. Click here for one of the first articles when we had just discovered it. Also, here's a great book from Sharon Lovejoy all about it! 🙂
Thanks for sharing. I love a good gardening tip and it’s on Sweet Shot Tuesday. What could be better?
I have another pest tip for you. If you google red-shoulder hawk “call” (or a predator bird in your area) look for an audio file of their call. Play it on an iPad, speakers hooked up to an iPod, or computer speaks out your window. The call horrifies squirrels and (I should be ashamed to admit, but I’m not) they run for the hills. 🙂
Oh Kent, what a great idea. Thank you for sharing it AND for continuing on with Sweet Shot Tuesday. 🙂
Wow…that was some interesting info!! And those snakes look real.
Thanks for the sweet comment on my blog, Kaye. Re: my post – My son has all his teeth, so I’m not sure why he is exhibiting symptoms of teething (my mom thought he might be teething also, but all of his second-year molars are in). We think it may be growing pains. I just hope this “phase” ends soon. Thanks for the prayers!
Love the marigolds. I have been wanting to plant flowers in my front yard and have some raised vegetable beds in the back for awhile now. But time and money have kept me from it. Maybe next year!