Garden Tip 81:

Longer days, warmer temperatures and rabbits in the garden are sure signs of spring. The rabbits in my garden have expensive taste. Bypassing swaths of bittercress, chickweed and clover they go right for the good stuff like children in a candy store. They must be watching me as well for when I plant a new specimen in my garden! Among the thousands of plants that are there, they seek it out and are in for the taste test within twenty four hours.

 

Rabbits are more than welcome to eat my clover and chomp on my lawn but I must protect my prize specimens. My latest line of defense, with mostly satisfying results, is applying fish emulsion fertilizer weekly to garden plants using a pump sprayer or watering can.

 

There are many positives to this scenario. Fish emulsion is made from the waste material produced during seafood processing (while it’s alarmingly aromatic during mixing and application, the scent quickly dissipates). It is a liquid organic fertilizer that it is readily available to plants, unlike the dry forms that are very slow to react.

 

Fish emulsion is a weak fertilizer, usually in the 1-1-1 to 3-3-3 range, so it can be used frequently as a foliar spray without burning plants. Applying fish emulsion fertilizer to deter pests and feed the plants at the same time is a win-win situation!