Those cute little cottontails are fun to watch as they hop and play, but they aren’t so adorable when they’ve eaten all the tender young plants that you so carefully added to your landscape last week. How do you control these furry creatures? We can help!

Just when your plants were looking top-notch, they suddenly shriveled up and died. Were they overwatered? Did they get too hot? Good guesses, but it wasn’t either of those. This time, the raiders came through. They drank and ate until there wasn’t anymore, then moved on to the next unsuspecting garden. This is basic survival for some garden pests, whose slash-and-burn approach can devastate all kinds of plants. Here are some of the culprits:

Composting is nature’s process of recycling decomposed organic materials into a rich soil. Home composting is an acceleration of this same process. By composting your organic waste you’re returning rich nutrients to the soil, promoting soil microbes that aid plant growth. Essentially, finished compost is a free soil amendment for your garden. It encourages the production of beneficial bacteria and fungi that break down organic matter to create humus, a rich nutrient-filled material. By adding compost you’ll improve the overall texture of your soil, enabling it to retain and drain water better.