How to make Flower Pot Skewers

So after planting a set of annual flowers for the third time in my ground sitting urns, my wallet and I decided to take revenge on the squirrels and rabbits that had happily gobbled up the previous flowers.  These not so adorable pests will come up into a pot and stand on their hind legs eating up your gorgeous flowers or, if your pot is big, they will jump right in and snuggle down for a delicious meal.  So, I went into my kitchen and retrieved a package of bamboo skewers and set out to fix my problem quickly and without spending much money.  The skewers will be turned into pest deterring spikes that will prick the paw of whatever animal is trying to dig up my flowers.

The pot that I was focusing on is rather small, only measuring six inches in diameter so I used five skewers.  One skewer would be placed in the middle of a recently potted urn while the other four would be put around the outside edges.  When adding the skewers to the pot, first invert them so the blunt side is upside down sitting out of the dirt.  Then use scissors or pruners to cut the skewer about an inch above the dirt line.  Then remove the skewer and flip it around now having the sharp point coming out of the dirt and pointing up to the sky.

You want to do this measuring trick to make sure that the skewers are the right height for the furry little animals to get pricked when they are trying to dig up and eat your lovely plants.  If the skewers are too tall or too short, they will not present much of a problem for the pests.  Also keeping the skewers cut to only an inch above the dirt will allow for the plant to grow around and above your skewers and hide them from view, but still be a deterrent to wildlife.  Do this for all of the skewers and place them around the edge of the pot as I did in my pictures.  Then sit back and enjoy your flowers!