irish spring and vegetable garden - Ask Extension
Is it safe to use irish spring soap as a small animal deterent in a vegetable garden. If so, grated and scatted throughout garden, or cubed and tied ...
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irish spring and vegetable garden #794785
Asked June 07, 2022, 5:48 PM EDT
Is it safe to use irish spring soap as a small animal deterent in a vegetable garden. If so, grated and scatted throughout garden, or cubed and tied in cheesecloth or netting and attached to fencing/stake, etc.
Does it affect the flavor and safety of eating the vegetables?
Oakland County Michigan
Expert Response
Hello Sue,
There is a lot of information using Irish spring soap as a repellant for small animals in the vegetable garden - these are from commercial websites. (non-science or research-based organizations)
I am providing research and science-based information from universities
Animal Control in Vegetable Garden: Deer, raccoons, woodchucks, rabbits, mice, squirrels, and even turtles are often unwanted visitors to vegetable gardens. The first line of defense against browsing wildlife is to try to keep them out of the garden area. Locate the garden plot away from areas that are obvious as favored wildlife areas or travel paths. Leave as much open area as possible between field edges and
garden plantings. Fencing will restrict many mammals, but a good fence is expensive. To effectively prevent damage from deer, a fence must be 8-feet tall. For many other garden pests, such as woodchucks or turtles, a fence needs to be dug into the soil about 6 inches. Commercially available products designed to deter animal pests through scent, sound, or touch are usually only partially effective and can be difficult to maintain. Some animals, including deer, are partially deterred by hanging bars of very fragrant soap near plants. The presence of a dog or a cat may be a more effective choice for control,
depending on the pests of concern. Reference: Vegetable Gardening Missouri Master Gardener Core Manual - Vegetable Gardening - Animal Control at this link: https://extension.missouri.edu/publications/mg5
Here is some additional information at the below link: Reference:
Wildlife: Excluding and Repelling Problem Wildlife from the Garden - the University of Massachusetts Amherst at this link:
https://ag.umass.edu/home-lawn-garden/fact-sheets/wildlife-excluding-repelling-problem-wildlife-from-garden
