I've had a hedgehog family living near, which means that might be her work. Is there any way to protect the bamboo without covering it, putting barbed wire or electric fence around it?
Devastator in my garden
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Tarzanus
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- Location: Ljubljana, Slovenia
Devastator in my garden
Last night I've noticed a beast of some kind devastated my mulched Fargesia murielae. Mulch was spread all around, peat moss from earlier this summer as well, there were a lot of roots torn off but there were many fresh shoots intact (yet exposed) a bit deeper. We've had several cold nights now with temperatures below freezing. I'm sure something started to search for food around my bamboo.
I've had a hedgehog family living near, which means that might be her work. Is there any way to protect the bamboo without covering it, putting barbed wire or electric fence around it?
I've had a hedgehog family living near, which means that might be her work. Is there any way to protect the bamboo without covering it, putting barbed wire or electric fence around it?
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Tarzanus
- Posts: 1457
- Joined: Sun Jan 16, 2011 12:05 am
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- Location: Ljubljana, Slovenia
Re: Devastator in my garden
I mulched it again and covered it with roof tiles. So far it only tried digging near the edge where the soil is hard to dig. Hopefully it will abandon the digging idea and when snow starts falling I will be able to remove the tiles. I'll have to use protection to keep bamboos alive. And they say bamboo is invasive! 
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GrowingHabit
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- Location: Lower left corner of Oregon
Re: Devastator in my garden
Have you got hedgehog family pictures to share? Would love to see some!
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Tarzanus
- Posts: 1457
- Joined: Sun Jan 16, 2011 12:05 am
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- Location: Ljubljana, Slovenia
Re: Devastator in my garden
They were always running around during the night and during the day, only thing they did was strange sound out of the high grass where they made some kind of nest, made of dry grass and branches. The nest was huge 
During the night in the summer, the whole family went out of the grass hideout and explore. I've heard they eat slugs, but it didn't look like it. There were thousands all around.
By now I found out that most likely damage was done by blackbirds. Hedgehogs are already gone, since it's cold (-1C during the day with depressive fog all the time) but there are a lot of blackbirds around here. I actually found one jumping around the bamboo, trying to find a gap to get to the soil. They can search elsewhere, there's a lot of food around and that shouldn't be a problem. Next spring they will return the favor and hopefully clean up the garden of all kinds of insects.
During the night in the summer, the whole family went out of the grass hideout and explore. I've heard they eat slugs, but it didn't look like it. There were thousands all around.
By now I found out that most likely damage was done by blackbirds. Hedgehogs are already gone, since it's cold (-1C during the day with depressive fog all the time) but there are a lot of blackbirds around here. I actually found one jumping around the bamboo, trying to find a gap to get to the soil. They can search elsewhere, there's a lot of food around and that shouldn't be a problem. Next spring they will return the favor and hopefully clean up the garden of all kinds of insects.