This story was originally published in July 2023.
It starts the moment the first scoop of soil is turned. Each year, Maine gardeners battle all season long against pests big and small that threaten to consume what they've planted and grown.
While there are many commercial methods for pest control, homemade methods remain popular and sometimes effective, but those who swear by them refuse to hear that they don't work.
These are some of the more unusual methods of pest control and how you can try them.
Dog hair: The idea here is that vegetable-eating rodents, small mammals and deer will smell dog hair and pass by your yard, tricking them into thinking there's a predator nearby.
To try this method, try scattering hair or fur around your plants or placing them in burlap bags around your yard. If you don't have a dog to donate hair, try asking a friend who has a dog or a local pet groomer who is willing to share their dog hair.
Human Hair: Some gardeners swear that human hair keeps deer away from their yards, as the human scent will scare them away from the area.
To try this, you will need to provide hair regularly. You can buy it from a barber or salon. The scent will only last for one to two weeks. To protect your entire garden, place the hair in nylon or burlap bags and line them around the perimeter of your garden. You can also sprinkle human hair around the base of plants to prevent small mammals from digging them up.
Human or predator urine: This is the same as using fur or hair to keep pests away. At least one Maine gardener swears that deer are no longer a problem after his family started urinating just outside in their yard.
But it doesn't have to be human urine to try this: There are prepackaged urine samples from many different types of predators, including wolves, coyotes, foxes, and mountain lions, that you can order online and that some garden centers carry.
Slug Control: With all the rain we've had this summer in Maine, slugs have become a major garden pest. Everyone seems to have a favorite way to deal with slugs. Perhaps one of the most unconventional slug control methods is to dispose of live slugs with dead slugs. Slugs will eat most decomposing organic matter, including dead slugs. Placing fresh slug carcasses around the garden will attract nearby unseen slugs. You can then collect the slugs and dispose of them.
Burying dead slugs a few inches into the ground will add nutrients to the soil, but some gardeners go a step further by crushing the slugs in a household blender and adding the resulting mixture to the soil as nutrients. If you go this route, it's a good idea to use a disposable blender.
