Repurpose An Old Pencil Holder To Easily Protect Your Plants From Pests

There's nothing more aggravating about gardening than watching your freshly planted seedlings and bulbs get destroyed by pests. A cage around the perimeter of the garden may keep out ground-level invaders such as rabbits, but it doesn't keep out critters willing to dig for a tasty treat. Voles and groundhogs love feasting upon treats they find underground in your garden, including your precious plants. Mice and gophers also enjoy plant bulbs and shoots, accessing them from below the surface. Gophers may even steal your plants cartoon-style, pulling them into their holes from below. Holes nearby and signs of damaged plant roots and bulbs are signs your garden has a pest problem, but there's one simple solution that may be as close as your desk.

A metal mesh pencil holder is tough enough to repel rodent teeth yet porous enough to allow moisture and air through. The holes are also small enough to keep other ground-dwelling pests such as grubs at bay. Small rootlets may protrude through the holes eventually, but the bulk of the plant roots will be contained within the pencil holder. If you'd like to try this hack on several small plants but don't have many pencil holders, grab some Jot Metal Pencil Holders on your next trip to Dollar Tree. 

To repurpose a metal mesh pencil holder as a plant protector, first dig a hole in the garden large enough for it (or dig several holes for several pencil holders). The pencil holder works for plants with roots still small enough to fit into it, such as small seedlings you might purchase at a garden center. Remove the plant from its nursery pot, squeeze the roots a little to loosen them a bit, then place the plant in the pencil holder. If the root structure is significantly shorter or smaller than the interior space available in the pencil holder, add a little potting medium. It's okay if the top of the pencil holder is an inch or two higher than the soil level within it, since that'll help keep ground-dwelling pests away even better. 

Place the pencil holder/plant container in the ground, then fill in the surrounding area with dirt to keep it stable. Water the plant in and you're all set! No pests will be able to access any parts of the plant from underground. If you do have above-ground pests that like to munch on plant stalks, another pencil holder or a mesh cage-style trash can placed over a young seedling keeps animals and insects away for a while as the plant gets established. Remove the cage when the plant grows too large for it. If your plant bulbs are being dug up from above ground, another option is to use chicken wire to protect bulbs from squirrels. Use laundry bags to protect plants from pests of an insect nature, as the mesh netting prevents them from reaching the tasty plants below.