Marianne Binetti's Garden Shed: Seadust Wildlife Controllant

Seadust Wildlife Controllant is new and not yet in retail stores, but can be ordered directly from the company, based in Olympia. It really worked to keep the deer from chomping all the new growth on my roses. (They still tasted a quarter of one plant before deciding to wander off.)

Seadust is a mix of seashells, alfalfa and corn oil, so it is not a pesticide and is safe for kids, pets and food crops as well as ornamentals. Unlike other deer repellents, it does not have an odor (at least one that I could smell) and is super easy to apply because you just shake the flakes onto wet foliage.

No mixing, no spraying and no need to wait for a dry day. This product was developed to protect new forest trees and is supposed to be weather resistant for a full year.

I haven't tested the product for that long, or against elk and rabbits, but after two months it still seems to be keeping the deer from devouring my roses. Contact: www.seadust.biz, info@seadust.biz, 866-352-6055. Cost: $19.95 for a one-pound shaker bottle; Bulk pricing available.

To read more articles written by Marianne Binetti for the Seattle PI, visit here:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/nwgardens/nga/marianne.asp

Marianne Binetti, an Enumclaw writer, is the author of several garden books. Her latest are "Easy Answers for Great Gardens" and "Perennials for Washington and Oregon". She also gives daily one-minute gardening tips on KIXI-AM/880, at 11:37 a.m. and 3:37 p.m. Her column appears Thursdays in the P-I. Send questions from her Web site -- www.binettigarden.com -- or to: Ask Marianne, P.O. Box 872-PI, Enumclaw, WA 98022. Selected questions will be addressed on the P-I garden pages each week.