Grasshoppers and Garden

[krbshappy71]

Help please, last year grasshoppers destroyed my flowers in the front yard, it was so frustrating!!

This year I am starting my first garden in YEARS and the thought of losing it to grasshoppers is disheartening. I've been reading online but I'm not finding any sure-fire way to protect my plants! I don't want to do chemicals because it will be a food garden, I'm using organic soil and was trying to stay closer to nature if possible. I read that attracting birds could help but wont they also go after my garden?

I'm in CO if that matters. Flowers they destroyed last year: columbine, bleeding hearts, chocolate mint (survived but very torn up) sweet williams, shasta daisys. Totally ruined my front yard

plants I'm planning this year: tomatoes, cucumbers, baby carrots, acorn squash, basil, oregano, sugar peas

[frugalfranny]

Help please, last year grasshoppers destroyed my flowers in the front yard, it was so frustrating!!

I read that attracting birds could help but wont they also go after my garden?
plants I'm planning this year: tomatoes, cucumbers, baby carrots, acorn squash, basil, oregano, sugar peas

YEOW.........don't know that I have much help.........but will wish you the best of luck........it has got to be the pits to lose your garden to bugs.

I have started into some berries and have been warned that I will have to deal with birds for them. Have never had a problem with birds and my other veggies..........guess that would depend on the birds too.

Guess it could/would also depend on where they are planted in relation to your house..........I don't expect to have many problems with birds, with the strawberries that are up by the house.......but one of my two dogs discovered them last year and I will have to watch her!!

The berries --out, away from my house, I expect to have more problems with............and have more plants coming. Am looking for some sort of cover to use for them.

My sis warned me that if I use the 'screening' (as opposed to cloth) that she found a bird's foot in her's a few years back....

My spring thing will be SLUGS..........and with our current rain we could have TRUCKLOADS of them.........and have read they don't even need a partner to multiply!!!

[krbshappy71]

Slugs=a salt moat. *grin* I'm mean. Slugs are just homeless snails.

Grasshoppers can eat through fabric screening, maybe I'll look into window screening. I have tree stakes, wonder if I could stick those all around and drape screen over the whole thing.

[monkeywrangler71]

I don't think the birds are interested in any of those, they like berries and seeds.

Is it the leaves that grasshoppers eat? They might not be interested in the vegetables you are planting, tomato, squash and cucumber leaves are scratchy and taste awful. You might have other pests to deal with though. I would research each plant and find out what the most likely pest is going to be, and then protect against that.

How high do they jump? Some of those plants do well in a hanging basket. Keeping them off the ground eliminates a lot of problems.

[frugalfranny]

Grasshoppers can eat through fabric screening, maybe I'll look into window screening. I have tree stakes, wonder if I could stick those all around and drape screen over the whole thing.

Or don't forget to think of rebar (cement reinforcer)......

I use a lot of that in gardening things............it is cheap and sturdy.....and with my rocks, I can POUND it into the ground with a hammer! Can cut it to any length easy enough........lasts forever!
It would be small enough around to hook the screening right over it.

Thanks for mentioning the screening...........they also have a plastic screening and that might work for my strawberries.......will have to investigate...........should let in good enough light.