Kitchen Garden Forum

Two weeks ago, I sowed two rows of Borlotti beans in my garden. As there were a lot left, I sowed the rest at my allotment. Every day, I have looked in the garden for signs of life, but nothing. These things can take a while, and as the weather hasn't been good, I wasn't surprised.
However, I was surprised when I visited the lottie today and found that the ones there are through - normally, it is the other way around, as almost everything prefers my much lighter garden soil.

When I got home, I decided to root around and see if the garden ones were doing anything - but I have dug and dug, and there is nothing there! I couldn't find a single bean.

Any suggestions? I suppose that the chief suspects are birds, squirrels or mice. There is no obvious sign of aerial attack, so I really don't know. Anyone got any suggestions?

Dear Bert, well it can not be old age, and you forgot to plant them, not with you being of such a young age.....

oldherbaceous wrote:Dear Bert, well it can not be old age, and you forgot to plant them, not with you being of such a young age.....

Hmm, that's exactly what my OH asked me - if I was sure that I had actually planted them!

Of course you're right, OH - I'm far too young to make such a silly mistake (I wish!)

Anyway, there was definitely only half a packet left when I went to sow the rest at the lottie. Unless, of course, in my old age and infirmity, I spilled the first half without realising it. The eyesight isn't what it used to be, after all!

Mouse, very appropriately, I would say "mice".

We can never sow beans direct (not even field beans for green manure) because our dry stone walls are riddled with mice and bank voles which make a meal of them.

Ditto, same problem, I am pretty sure mice have consumed sown seeds in several places in my allotment, including the greenhouse. The small gaps I have in the greenhouse definitely make mice a main suspect!

Is there any deterrent that can be applied as a soil dressing to stop them digging up seeds? My guess is that they are finding the seeds by using their sense of smell. Could something be used to mask the 'seed smell'.

What has anybody tried?

many moons ago when I had this problem I was told to cover thebeans with sprigs of holly as a thorn in the nose puts them off so to speak ,it did seem to work though

I will definitely think of some form of defence before sowing any more - barbed wire, landmines, watch towers ...

Vaguely remember reading somewhere about moth-balls keeping mice away from peas, presumably the smell of the camphor puts them off?

I don't think they still contain camphor.

No Peter, they probably don't, just remembered where I'd read it -'In Your Garden with Percy Thrower' - first published 1959! (Though I do have a slightly later edition)

Well, I'll just have to accept it - those beans are now has-beans. They've bean and gone! I've bean robbed!

Terrible puns aside, I am now on to my second attempt. I have bought some new bean seed and sown some in modules, which hopefully are out of reach of mice, and some are exactly where the last lot started. I have raided my extremely prickly berberis and covered the newly-sown row with it. Now I will just have to sit back and see if that does the trick or not. I'll let you know if it works.

I have bean (here I go now) very impressed with the answers to this one.

Was talking to a neighbouring allotment holder yesterday. They said they covered their sown seeds with house guttering. Should have asked exactly how they did it, but I assume it is upside down with end pieces in place to stop mice getting in from the ends.

Sounds like a good idea to me.

I just thought I would give you a quick update: the beans that I sowed last week are now coming up. In other words, the berberis seems to have done the job, even though there wasn't as much as I would have liked. (Well, either that or the mice were still full from stuffing themselves silly on the first lot.)

Dear Bert, i think the knot you tied in your handkerchief also helped this time.....