permaculture

[Jason Gerhardt <jasongerhardt@gmail.com>]

Neil,

There was an article on this subject in an old issue of the now defunct
Permaculture Drylands Journal.  I don't have that one anymore, but my own
strategies were adapted from that article.

When I lived in Central Arizona I had a major pill-bug/rolly polly problem
very similar to what you are describing.  They would just come out at night
and lop/girdle the plants right off, like miniature beavers.  I was not
willing to go without mulch for very long in the hot dry climate, so I kept
my copious straw mulch year round and instead collared my new plants.  I use
yogurt cups, or any other plastic type cup, cut off the bottom and sink it
in the soil an inch deep leaving 2 inches or so sticking above the soil with
the lip still on the cup.  Pill bugs couldn't climb up the slippery surface
of the cup very easily so I managed to save most of my plants.  I still lost
a handful or so every Spring, but I compensated by planting overly dense.
 It seems like a lot of work, and maybe a lot of yogurt cups, but once you
have them they last for years, and it is only one extra step to collar the
plants.  When I moved to semi-arid Colorado I had the same issue and
continue to use the same strategy, which also works extremely well against
slugs, along with a little crushed egg shell.

Once the plants develop a tougher stem (after a month or so) I add even more
mulch right up against the plants and have near zero plant loss.

So, plant, collar, mulch in between the plants, and after a month or so pile
the mulch on as thick as desired.  I should note that this strategy works
best with transplants.  For direct seeding I would sow large seeded crops
like peas, beans, squash with the same strategy, sowing the seed inside the
cup, but small seeds in rows is trickier.

I can't imagine gardening without mulch in an annual garden in a dryland, it
is just too hot and dry.  Without mulch, there are too many other problems.

Last thought, how about mulching heavily and letting chickens run through
the garden for a week or so to knock down the population in early Spring?

-- 
Jason Gerhardt
Permaculture Designer and Educator