Canada geese populations often thrive in human-altered landscapes, leading to conflicts over property damage, excessive droppings, and water quality issues. Geese are attracted to environments that offer safety, easy access to water, and abundant food. Landscaping serves as a non-harmful, long-term solution to manage their presence by fundamentally changing the habitat’s appeal. By selecting specific vegetation and arranging it strategically, property owners can create an environment geese naturally choose to avoid. This method works by disrupting their feeding habits and their innate need for clear sightlines to detect predators.
Plants Geese Find Unpalatable
Geese are primarily grazers and exhibit strong preferences for certain plant textures and tastes, making some vegetation naturally repellent. They generally avoid plants that are tough, fibrous, or coarse, as these are difficult to digest and provide less nutritional reward for the effort required to consume them.
Replacing fine-bladed turf with alternatives can significantly reduce a lawn’s attractiveness as a food source. Specific grass types, such as tall fescues, are known to be less palatable compared to highly manicured species. The thicker, tougher blades of fescue require more energy to clip and process, making them a less desirable food option. Planting native groundcovers, like creeping phlox or wild blue phlox, also helps by offering a dense mat of vegetation that geese are less inclined to graze on.
Other plants deter geese through their physical structure, acting as a natural barrier. Dense shrubs, such as Red Osier Dogwood or Willow, planted along shorelines create an impenetrable block to land access. Additionally, tall, coarse-leaved plants like certain sedges and rushes present a physical challenge, making the effort of grazing not worthwhile for the birds.
Common Vegetation Geese Prefer to Eat
Geese are strongly attracted to vegetation that is tender, easily accessible, and high in protein and moisture. The most significant attractant is the classic, heavily maintained, short-mown lawn, often consisting of cool-season grasses like Kentucky bluegrass. Frequent mowing and heavy fertilization produce young, tender shoots that are nutritionally dense and simple for the birds to graze upon.
These manicured lawns offer ideal grazing conditions: short, abundant forage paired with wide, open spaces. This allows the birds to feed quickly while maintaining an unobstructed view for predator detection.
In aquatic environments, geese frequently graze on the roots, stems, and shoots of tender aquatic plants near the water’s edge. Over-fertilizing and watering lawns further promotes the growth of palatable, lush grass blades. Eliminating or altering these preferred food sources is a fundamental step in any long-term deterrence strategy.
Strategic Planting for Geese Deterrence
The most effective use of repellent plants involves strategic placement to create physical and psychological barriers. Geese are highly reliant on clear sightlines for predator avoidance, and dense, tall vegetation disrupts this sense of security.
Implementing an un-mowed vegetative buffer zone along shorelines is one of the most successful methods for habitat modification. This buffer should consist of dense, tall-growing plants, such as native grasses, cattails, or shrubs, planted between the water and any desirable turf area.
The vegetation needs to reach a minimum height of 24 to 30 inches to effectively block the geese’s ground-level view. A wider buffer zone is significantly more effective, with recommendations suggesting a width of at least 10 to 30 feet from the water’s edge to the lawn.
The goal of this planting is to create a physical barrier that geese cannot easily walk through and a visual barrier that makes them feel vulnerable. Geese are reluctant to enter or nest in areas where they cannot see potential threats approaching. Maintaining existing turf at a height of six inches or more also helps, as the longer grass blades are tougher to eat and partially obscure sightlines.
For areas not adjacent to water, planting clusters of tall, dense shrubs or ornamental grasses can break up large, open expanses of turf. This technique fragments the open space, which geese prefer for easy landing and takeoff. Creating a complex, visually obstructed landscape makes the area less appealing for both feeding and nesting activities.