Its Easter! And who doesn’t love a Bilby at Easter?
Well, me!
Did you know that a Bilby is a species of Bandicoot?
Here in the Whitsundays, we see a different species of Bandicoot but they are here and
in good numbers. I actually enjoy the little creatures and I have often watched them sneaking about in the night BUT I do not want them in my veggie patch (unless they are made of Chocolate – note to my family).
Bandicoots are lawn grub destroyers, which is fantastic.
Lawn grubs are the larvae of Scarab Beetles, and they munch away at the roots of our lawns and vegetable plants.
You’ll know if they are in your lawn as you’ll have dead patches in sections that spread.
Bandicoots will remove grubs from your lawn and garden beds, however, if you have freshly formed garden beds ready for seeding, they can make a mess of your tidy rows in a single night, which I have experienced many times.
So, what do you do to protect your garden beds from these nighttime foragers?
Bandicoots are shy creatures and they do not like light, so an automated flood light will often frighten them away.
This worked for me last season for about three months and then they sussed me out!
Getting braver and braver, until one night they decided my crops were worth the risk.
So double down, they do not like the smell of chook manure so feed your beds and deter Bandicoots at the same time.
The most effective method of keeping them out, is of course putting up a barrier.
Which brings me back to my old favourite, vegie garden netting.
Not only keeping the Bandicoots out but also other pests such as Grasshoppers and Cabbage White Butterflies, it’s a win, win.
So, over the Easter break, how about you make your own vegie bed covers.
Irrigation Pipe, a few connectors and shade cloth, could see your garden protected this season. If all else fails, come see us at Whitpro and we can show you some ready-made options.
Happy Easter!
Traditionally, within a couple of weeks of Easter, the heaviest rains cease in the Whitsundays. So, enjoy the last of the wet season, change is in the air. Vegie gardens are about to be seeded throughout the Whitsundays.
