Hello- I am new to the clematis forum and of course looking for advice. I'm contemplating purchasing a clematis for my mother, who lives in zone 5. There are two seemingly ready spots in her yard that could use a clem. One is a chain link fence that divides her property from next door. She has an established, mostly perennial flower bed in front of that which is quite spectacular. She also has on one side of the house a riotously large and vigorous rhododenron that is well over 40 years old. The chain link fence may be a no-brainer space since it is chain link, roots would have cover, etc. The idea, though, of a clematis rambling through the rhododenron is kind of compelling to me in a weird way. Would the soil under a rhod. be too acidic? Also, there is a pretty hearty chipmunk population that sees this HUGE shrub as their territory. Are chippies known to eat or hassle clematis?
Chipmunks and clems?
I don't know about eating them but my issue with them is that they dig so much in the soil around the plants that the plants loose their grip in the soil and can die. I want my chipmunks gone.
I hadn't thought of that angle. Thanks!
I have too many hawks to even have a single chipmunk at this property.
Send some of them Hawks this way...lol
Send the deer eating hawks this way, please!
I would if I could! I miss the rabbit family that used to prune my mini roses. They always ate just enough to make them flush out really well. They did a better pruning job than I!
Chipmunks are real easy to trap in a small hav-a-heart trap. With peanut butter for bait, you can get them within hours of setting.
I am getting one of them this year. I am tired of having to push my plants back down in the dirt and hoping they survive. It took the cake when they almost made my JM fall over and die from digging around it.
Squirrels are just as bad. They dig up my bulbs, uproot my clems and trample my hostas. They are so fast my cats have quit chasing them. They realized they can't catch them and just ignore them now.
One of my neighbors is feediong them peanuts. I have peanuts burried all over my yard and pull up two to three dozen tiny peanut plants every year.
AARRGG!!
It's fun to watch their antics but I wish they would leave my bulbs alone.
I love to watch the squirrels in my yard. My father liked to do the same thing. He even made boxes for them and put them up high in the trees. He had started to feed one of them peanuts through one of the window's of the house. Only thing is, one day my parents left and forgot to close the window and left only the screen down. Well that squirrel wanted his peanuts, so he chewed through the screen and got his peanuts...lol
Sometimes I mix peanut butter with oats into little chunks and leave it out for them on the top of the fence. I don't want them to start to trust humans. There are too many people that are unfamiliar with the needs & rights of wild animals.
You are right mstish. My father taught us to respect nature and the animals. We were invading their home not the other way around. I am always amazed at people that build their homes in the middle of the woods and are surprised and mad that they have either deer or bear or what ever lives in that part, come into their yard. Well golly gee, did they think that no Animals allowed sign would work...lol
And then to have the gull to ask for help to get rid of them... People!!!! you moved into their back yard, you move.
There were no deer, here at the eastern end of Long Island, even 40 years ago so we have to wonder why the deer don't respect our properties, not that they're capable of understanding the issue.
My house backs up against a city park. We have a racoon family that lives close. Sometimes I see them walking across the top of the fence with the babies trailing behind them. One night last summer I went out in the evening for something and when I started back up the steps of my porch there were three sets of eyes looking out at me from under the top step. Three little baby racoons. They were so cute and a littler nervous. Mom had made the run across the yard to the fence but the babies hadn't and I was between them and mom.
A saw an owl sitting on my porch rail last fall. He was watcing the park, probubly looking for critters to eat. He was beautiful and almost big enough to carry off one of my cats if he had a mind to.
Hello- I am new to the clematis forum and of course looking for advice. I purchased 3 clematis plants to place near my mailbox and a closseby utility pole in my front yard. The soil in my area is clay. My azaleas loe it. I have never provided any food to them since I have lived here and they are faithful to come back beautifully every year. The white dogwood is in bloom and my cherry bush flowers but no blooms even though I feed it. Would the soil be too acidic? Also, there is a pretty hearty chipmunk, squirrel, rabbit, raccoon and deer population that make their way to my upper deck to sometimes get to my vegetable plants (container gardener). It is seen as their potential territory. Are chippies known to eat or hassle clematis?
Yeh they got my Clems out in the front flower bed this past winter. I am trying to find ways to get them to move.
Welcome to the Clematis Forum!
I've never had chipmunks so I can't help you with that problem. Maybe someone else can help.
If the azaleas are happy and bloom well then the soil is on the acidic side. I don't know what a "cherry bush" is - could it be cherry blossom?