I find the groundhogs that live under the storage container near my garden like all the cabbages except for kale, and they like the beans but only before it's got real leaves, so I start my beans indoors in dirt-filled toilet paper tubes and transplant them once they've got real leaves, then I leave citronella tea light candles from the dollar store around the fresh plantings. I'm going to try a hardware cloth cloche over the broccoli this year and see if they dig under it, I'm glad that works for you. Last year I tried row covers and it thought a covered dining tent was the best thing ever :D I've also found that surrounding things with potato plants keeps the bunnies and groundhogs from investigating the area but my garden's a bit small to make it work every year, plus it takes a while before the potato foliage is developed enough to be a deterrent.
I find the groundhogs that live under the storage container near my garden like all the cabbages except for kale, and they like the beans but only before it's got real leaves, so I start my beans indoors in dirt-filled toilet paper tubes and transplant them once they've got real leaves, then I leave citronella tea light candles from the dollar store around the fresh plantings. I'm going to try a hardware cloth cloche over the broccoli this year and see if they dig under it, I'm glad that works for you. Last year I tried row covers and it thought a covered dining tent was the best thing ever :D I've also found that surrounding things with potato plants keeps the bunnies and groundhogs from investigating the area but my garden's a bit small to make it work every year, plus it takes a while before the potato foliage is developed enough to be a deterrent.