Badgers and tulips

[David Lowndes]

I’ve strayed over here from Galanthus. I’ve left my normal habitat because I’m looking for advice about marauding badgers.  We have always had badgers passing through the garden and not really had many problems with them - well, apart from the year they decided to use the lawn as a latrine.  I used Silent Roar ( dried lion dung) to get rid of them.
This winter they have been all over my tulips. Mainly newly planted in November tulips but also a colony of well established T.sylvestris.  This is no longer well established.  Silent Roar isn’t working. Yesterday I planted lilies where they had removed what was going to be a very fetching drift of ‘Orange Emperor’. Last night they were all over the loosened soil again. They have left the lilies though. Some parts of the garden look like World War 1 battle fields. Is there a thread on this topic or does anyone have any advice? Razor wire?

[Palustris]

We too had this problem. they dug up and ate over 3000 tulips. You have to find where they are getting in and block off their access. In the end we had to put wire netting all round the garden perimeter. No sooner had we stopped one spot they found another. We are fortunate in that they cannot dig in as the boundary is full of bricks and boulders. They can and will climb fences. Ours is now chicken wire, but loose so that climbing it is not easy as it gives them no support. Also we have fastened strips of plastic to the fence as they are supposed to dislike the flapping. We were also told to put half full (or half empty) clear plastic water bottles against the fence as that is also supposed to discourage them. Something must work as we have not had any in the garden for a couple of years now. That could be because the main culprit had run in with a farm vehicle, sadly.
Best of luck!

[David Lowndes]

Thanks. Some things to try.  Securing the boundary will not be easy.  I also heard that rags soaked in vinegar placed in old socks may deter them. 3000 tulips is a serious loss. I have only lost about 300.  Last night’s lion dung has worked so far.

[ArdfearnAli]

We get random badgers as well with no real damage apart when they decided to dig up a wasp nest last summer. They made a hole about 3 feet wide and two feet deep to get to the wasps nest right in the middle of the border. The Inula magnifica that was there didn't stand a chance.  I have a fence between us and the railway which they cross . First they ate through the rabbit netting so I replaced it with heavy stock mesh. They then dug under it. I have seen a  number of ultrasonic repellent devices as well as a sprinkler with an infra red detector that goes off when the beam is broken. Not sure how effective they are. I think the best option is to try and keep them out. Problem is if they want to get in they are pretty powerful creatures.

Alasdair