Every spring and summer an epic battle goes on in my backyard:
The Gardener versus The Squirrel
I often lose, but I’m getting more savvy every year and learn new tricks to beat back these little pests that like to dig up my flowers, eat my plants, root through my flower pots, and make general chaos of our patio area.
Today I’m going to share 5 tricks I’ve picked up in the last few years of gardening to help keep squirrels out of your plants. These work best with container gardening, which is what I mostly do on our back patio, but several of these can be applied directly to your bed gardens.
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1. Plants flowers that squirrels don’t like.
It can’t really get more basic than that. To really make sure the squirrels leave your garden alone simply plant flowers they don’t like because of either their taste or their smell.
These flowers include alliums, crocus (tomasinianus variety), lilies, marigolds, hyacinth, daffodils and, from personal experience, impatiens, geraniums, columbine, and the squirrels seem to leave my begonias alone though I have heard that they are not against eating them also.
2. Lay chicken wire or plant stakes just under the dirt.
The idea with laying chicken wire or garden stakes (upside down) in your containers is that it prevents squirrels from being able to dig. Thus no holes in your pots where they have tried to bury food plus they can’t get to your flowers to dig them up. It won’t do any good if what they are after is the plants themselves though.
This is one trick I’m itching to try out. I just get so excited when I get new flowers that I forget to put the chicken wire into the pot first.
3. Human or dog hair as a deterrent.
It may sound a little gross, but putting your hair clippings or your dog’s hair into your flower pots will keep the squirrels away. Squirrels have an acute sense of smell and will stay away from the scent of predators. I trim my own bangs and have sprinkled the cut-off hair on top of the soil of my potted plants. Worked like a charm! But only for so long. Eventually the smell will fade away, and you will have to add more.
Also, if you’re thinking this will look visually displeasing, you’re not adding huge clumps of hair to the pots. Adding scattered clippings to the soil will not be visible to guests admiring your flowers.
4. Spice them out with cayenne pepper!
Sprinkle cayenne pepper on your soil and even on your plants to keep the squirrels away. One lick of their paws and your flowers are safe. At least until it rains. Then you will need to reapply.
This is my current favorite method of deterring squirrels from my flowers. I think of them getting cayenne pepper on their little paws and it burning their poor greedy little mouths. I’m mean like that.
I have also read that you can make a spray mixture of cayenne pepper + dishwashing liquid + water to safely spray on your plants to keep the squirrels away. I have not tried this myself. Simply sprinkling the pepper around is good with me.
Also use caution with this method if you have pets that can access the cayenne pepper. My dogs stay out of my potted plants, but I’m less likely to use this method in my flower beds where they sometimes wander into.
5. Add bone meal to your soil.
Again with the scent thing. Squirrels don’t like the smell of bone meal and will stay out of your containers and garden beds if it is sprinkled on the soil. You will have to reapply periodically, especially after a hard rain, but it is suppose to be a great fertilizer for your plants so its really a double win.
You work hard on your garden! Make sure you can enjoy it.
Do you have any tips or tricks to keep squirrels away?
I would love to hear them! I’m always looking for new ideas to try.
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More gardening tips…
I agree that squirrels are sometimes annoying but they’re also cute aren’t they?
Blood meal works extremely well. I live in the city (DC) in an area loaded with squirrels. They dig in every pot and destroy my garden. Blood meal keeps them at bay but has to be reapplied after heavy watering or rain. It is high in nitrogen however, just like coffee grounds so not all plants will be happy with too much. I tried Cayenne but blood meal is cheaper and works better IMO. Cayenne killed my cucumbers.
Years ago a friend told us to try getting plastic toy snakes and putting them around our flower beds (not sure how it would work for potted plants). From what I can remember it really did keep the squirrels away… just looks a little odd when people look really closely at your beds! Since then we moved a few times to different rental locations where we did not have beds to plant in and now have moved and purchased a house. So I am actually online now to purchase some toy snakes to stop the squirrels from digging up all the fresh mulch we had put down this year! Good luck!
My hibiscus plant is being devoured by squirrels. I have tried spraying with hot pepper sauce, and have netted its pot to keep them from digging into the soil. But they continue to eat its flowers.
So I have a rose bush nearby, with several dead branches and stems onto it. I have clipped those thorny dead branches and layed them at the base of the hibiscus. Eventually I plan to tie them to the hibiscus branches, hoping that the thornyeness will finally deter those little rascals.
Your squirrels sounds hard core, Steve! Please let us know if your plan works!
Steve – am surprised about squirrels and the hibiscus. Here in New Delhi, India, on the small terrace we have, it is the potted hibiscus and periwinkle the squirrels ignore. Also in the parks we have hibiscus bushes which are full of flowers.
We have, however, what is called the ‘palm squirrel’, which could have some different dietary habits.
Am looking for more flowers which my friends avoid.
Best wishes
Sunil
Thank you for sharing your info. I really appreciate your efforts and I am waiting for your next post thanks
once again.
Have you thought to stick forks upside down in your garden?
http://1organizedmomma.blogspot.com/2016/07/flowerpots.html
I put cayenne pepper ion all the potted plants that I have on my porch and the squirrel still got in them. Ugh!! I don’t know what to do!!
I had squirrels digging out all of my patio pots daily. I added a layer river rocks to the top of the soil and they have not done it once since. Most of mine are in the shade so the heat front he rocks does not harm the plants.. that is probably not recommended if they are in the sun, but it worked perfectly for my shade pots.
I want squirrels off of my moss gardens. Heading out to cayenne pepper now.
The trouble with cayenne is that it sticks to their little feet (bunnies too. When they groom themselves, it gets in their eyes and burns. They have been known to scratch their eyes out.
Excellent! More pain to the squirrels the better!
Good! the little stinkers!!!
After reading a few blogs and reader comments about deterring squirrels from digging in flower pots, I tried a few suggestions, without success. Buying the sprays really didn’t work well (or for long) and neither did the red pepper sprinkle. It seemed impossible to keep these critters from digging in my flower pots. Last year, I took 3 rather large river rock (each the size of a lemon) and wrapped them together – inside chicken wire and placed them around the flowers. This seemed to work fairly well. Except, sometimes they would move them to one side and dig away. This year, not wanting to be defeated – I am trying a new approach. I am using cut pieces of chicken wire, anchored to the soil around the flowers, with landscape pins. If you only have a few flower pots, then this process may not be for you. I have about 40 flower pots, hanging baskets and assorted wood fence half-moon pots. So buying a roll of chicken wire and a lot of landscape pins – is what I needed.
I am cutting small pieces of chicken wire (smallest gauge 1-1/2” openings) in about a 4” x 6” piece). I’m laying those flat or bent in half – onto the top of the soil – around the flowers – up next to them at the base. Then, I am anchoring the wire pieces down – using 4” and 6” long landscape pins. This fall or next spring, I can remove and save the chicken wire pieces and pins and reuse them on next year’s flower pots.
The rain won’t hurt these – the squirrels so far, aren’t figuring it out – how to pull the pins and move the wire pieces. I am using 6” long pins to gain more strength when they are pushed into the dirt. If the pot is fairly shallow – I just angle the 6” pins or use the 4” pins. The chicken wire pieces can easily be bent in half – for narrow places. And I also join the wire pieces together when possible so that one pin can hold 2 wire pieces (where they overlap together). So, instead of using 4 pins to anchor 2 wire pieces – I only need to use 3 pins.
The landscape pins can be found locally – although I did order 2 boxes of them online to start off with. A pair of wire cutters work great for cutting the chicken wire – although I do recommend wearing a pair of garden gloves that have the Teflon on the palm portion of the gloves. That Teflon will protect your hands from the wire – and is also great for pruning or handing rose cuttings. The gloves are readily available in most big box stores or at your local hardware store.
I have had these chicken wire pieces in place since early May – and this is now June 11th, 2016. These are working great. I have had 2 violations – where there was a 2” section of dirt only – they tried to dig, but didn’t go far. When I ran out of landscape pins (and you may need hundreds of them), I cut thin wire clothes hangers into sections and made my own. The landscape pins are squared on the top – not a u-shape. Although a u-shape would probably work too. Any of the old rock and chicken wire pieces I had, I still use, I just anchor them with the landscape pins and that keeps them in place. GOOD LUCK!!!!
Please be careful with cayenne pepper (or any other spicy pepper) – I have read that the capcasian (I know I spelled that wrong, but the stuff that makes peppers hot) is toxic to bees!
I always used to make a mixture of hot pepper and water and spray my plants to keep the rabbits away. It worked great. I was going to make it this year for the annoying squirrels – they just dig, they don’t eat – but when reading about it, read that it is toxic to bees.
It’s hard to find well-informed people in this particular subject, but you seem like you know what you’re talking about!
Thanks
I too have a problem with squirrels, One trick that seems to help me is that I go down to the lake/beach and pick out different shaped flat rocks of different sizes and weigh off the beach ., . I fill the pot with earth and flowers and then push the rocks flat side down into the earth around the plants right up to the stem and fill in the rest of the top with rock and earth as needed. This trick has worked for me about 70%of I will try anything!!!!! i have tried the cayeene pepper but after the rain washed the pepper into the plants they all died on me. Hope this trick will help some of you.
We have landscaped around our house with decorative rock and I have found that just a few of the same rock in the potted plants seem to deter the squirrels. I also use chicken wire. Both seem to be the only solutions that work for me. I have hanging plants above my deck rail and the squirrels jump from the rail to the plants and also dig. Placing objects in their “jumping” way (I have a stone chicken figurine on my deck rail) deters them from getting to them and is also visually appealing. The objects need to be somewhat heavy or weighted so they stay on the rail, so the little tree rats can’t knock them over.
Thank you thank you. My grandson and I planted all our herbs, vegetables and flowers in containers this year as we have such a short growing season here and would still like to enjoy our harvest in the fall. We have a terrible squirrel problem here as our next door neighbor walk everyday with containers of peanuts and HANDFEEDS them all and has names for them all! (Nothing good happens when you try to domesticate wild animals) So the cute squirrels have now become the bane of the neighborhood. So these pests are not looking for food….they just dig to bury their abundant, never-ending stores of peanuts. Now they will be fat and happy and my grandson and I will be without fresh vegetables this fall. Tomorrow morning I will go out and REplant some things with peppermint sprays, cayenne spray, dog hair (i just groomed my long-haired dog), and plant some alliums. Thank you thank you.
I made a mistake in my comment use talc free powder scented not with talc. So sorry.
I will have to try that, Dianne! Thank you for sharing that tip!
I have read and tried planting my bulbs not only using bone meal in the hole but sprinkling the bulbs with a perfumed talcum powder. keeps squirrels from digging and moles.Try it for yourself.
I wonder if you could line the top edge of you pots with slices of jalapenos, they wouldn’t get washed away like the cayenne pepper, or put the bamboo skewers in the pot up about an inch and hang the slices of jalapeno from the points of the skewers, just trying to brainstorm as I planted 3 calla lilies in a pot last year and I only have one growing now, I dug through the pot to check on the other bulbs and Found a Peanut in its place.
Ugh!! Our yard is full of hickory nuts so that is what those little boogers put in my pots. Anything is worth a try! Let us know if you do try it and how it goes!
I have found that peppermint extract mixed with water sprayed on and around flowers keep the squirrels away. I check my flowers early every morning and in the afternoons when I get home from work … I keep my spray bottle by the screen door and as I stroll enjoying my flowers I just spray a mist around the ones they seem to be most fond of … no squirrel digging! I definitely make sure I spray after a rain. And I buy the least expensive peppermint extract. I understand that peppermint oil is stronger so may last longer.
Thank you for sharing that, Judy! I had not heard about peppermint extract working as a deterrent before. I’ll be adding it to my list of things to do!
WERE CAN I BUY PEPERMINT
Thanks for the tips! Do you know if cayenne pepper will affect (i.e. burn) the bulbs I have planted where the squirrels are digging? I want to keep the bulbs safe and the squirrels out! (I like the coffee grounds idea and I know that won’t harm the plants… just need to get my hands on some coffee grounds since I don’t drink it myself)
Good question, Berry! I have never had any adverse effects on my plants when using the cayenne, whether directly on plants or into the soil. Theoretically the cayenne will prevent the squirrels from reaching the bulbs. I have also planted bulbs and then placed chicken wire over the soil to prevent those little boogers from digging, too. 🙂
Go to Starbucks or other coffee house. Some places will let you have the used grounds.
I had no idea! Thanks for sharing, Mary!!
Berry,
Go to Starbucks, they have”Grounds for your Ground”. They usually have a bag or two ready for anyone to take home,(free) they are glad too get rid of the old grounds.
They love to dig in my inpstients.
Hello Michelle! I finally remembered to google “how to keep squirrels out of your plants” and your blog came up. OMG! I am LMAO!!! Seriously. I could have written this post…almost word for word! We have a large quantity of squirrels in our neighborhood running from yard to yard having a grand old time. I think they are as cute as can be UNTIL they dig in my beds or make a huge mess with my flowers in pots on the patio. 🙁 Thank you for sharing. I’ll be following your blog from today on.
Thank you, Debbie! I think you have to either love or loathe those little critters. lol!!!
I great trick I have found is to save the coffee grinds after you make your coffee. Then put those grinds in with your plants. Not only will the grinds fertilize but the smell keeps them away. THe Cayenne didnt work for me since after every rain there needed to be a new applicaiton. The coffee lasted way longer, and since we are coffee drinkers there is a endless supply. lol
I tried and they loved it, digging into the flowerpot to eat the coffee. Now I think they will expect morning coffee at our house every day!
Thank you for these tips!!!
Last year I tried the red pepper thing (that’s what they had at the Family Dollar for only $1!!! “Red Pepper” powder)- it worked! I had squirrels and raccoons digging all in my 103 containers of japanese morning glories. Didn’t realize the red pepper would harm the new tender japanese morning glory sprouts when it rained on the red pepper. Burned some of them right up, but others survived. The squirrels didn’t dig again that whole year, but I had to reapply the pepper until the plant took over the container space. This year I decided to try 10″ bamboo sticks – about 1/16th to 1/8th inch diameter sticking out with the pointed tip out in various directions. After practicing on a few, I found a good pattern by which to setup all the others. It has kept every digging creature out, no chemicals. I found the 10″ bamboo sticks in a pack of 100 for $1.00 at my local grocery store, Winn Dixie. I had to buy 15 packs since it took about 12 – 16 sticks in each pot depending on its location, to create a sufficient deterrent and to keep the BIRDS from snatching up my seedlings that still had the seed caps on them. When you need to clean out the pot, just put on cloth garden gloves and use a couple of bamboo sticks to stab the debris or chopstick it out of there.. .and when you feel something gently poke your glove, just carefully adjust your hand’s location to avoid the sticks. Don’t stick your naked hand in that gauntlet or you could get seriously poked and hurt from those little vicious splinter wielding sticks!
Hope this helps!
Jerry B
I have mixed cayenne in with bird seed to keep away unwanted pests and it works. Birds don’t taste.
Great tip, Jamie! Thanks for sharing! I did not know that.
The only way to get rid of these little bast arts is a pellet gun.
I’m glad YOU said it. As I read these comments, I was wondering how much a BB gun cost!!! LOL
I could never hurt a squirrel. I’m willing to try these plant-safe ideas.
Ed, they were there before you were, keep in mind. I’d never hurt my red squirrels but they did dig out 17 new plants I had just planted last weekend! I’m going to try every one of these remedies (except the pepper, because I don’t want to hurt the bees) until something works. Someone told me that pieces of dryer sheets buried just under the soil should work, too. I know mice don’t like them so maybe squirrels won’t like them either.
Crazy damm rabbits
Don’t use Bone Meal if you have dogs! They love the smell and will do more damage to your plantings than squirrels ever thought of. Believe me! We’ve learned our lesson.
Oh my goodness! I have not heard that before! I’ll keep an eye on my dog when I use it, but I’ve never seen her express an interest before. Thanks for the tip!
Even if you don’t have dogs, bone meal attracts raccoons. If you thought that squirrels did damage, wait until you wake up one morning to find everything torn to shred by those masked gremlins.
Great post! They’re such adorable little things but the last place I want them is in my flowerbed!
We have been in our house for 16 years, and this last summer I had a brown squirrel who has made it his mission to dig holes 6+ inches deep in every pot he can find. I have put chicken wire over the bigger plants, however, he still puts sunflower seeds in every pot. I feel like a redneck gardener with all the chicken wire, commercial repellants don’t seem to work, cayenne pepper powder may work for a day or two, but then he come back with a vengeance. we were gone for a week and my deck was covered with dirt when we got back. So disappointing. I left some pots with just dirt, but they prefer the pots with plants. They also like the marigolds and geraniums, I have covered the exposed dirt with blocks of wood, pieces of pottery, and they just dig under them. I feel like just putting out artificial plants and forget all the time and $$ involved in filling all the pots with spring flowers
Try using hanging baskets turned upside down,drill two holes through the side of the pot stand the upturned basket onto the rim of the pot and fix using cable ties through the holes you have drilled, plants will grow through the mesh but the vermin will not be able to get to bulbs or small plants.
Great idea, David!!
We have pet rats that are digging in the potted plants we brought in for the winter. Will cayenne pepper +/ or bone meal work and be safe to use for rats? I also found that moth balls worked for my outdoor potted plants.
I wouldn’t use the Cayenne pepper if these are your pets. It could potentially burn their eyes if they were to rub them. But the bone meal could work. It’s not toxic, just something they don’t like.
Thanks, I’ll let you know how it works
TFS all your tips and hints I have a squirrel visitor who has taken a shine to my climbing roses, he hops from the school playing field trees (yep trees in a playing field!! Grrr) and onto our arbour where the roses climb up and runs to the furthest limb and nibbles off the roses I was wondering why we dont seem to have any these days until my hubby caught the culprit the other morning at 5am tucking in!! I had wondered about mustard as I have a super large container full of it……. I wondered about making a paste and painting some of the buds to see if that would deter our unwelcome visitor………. now if it was a red squirrel Id let them have platefulls of the buds but of course its those big butch grey ones!! Thanks again
not really great tips – cayenne pepper is expensive and squirrels LOVE MY LILLIES – don’t know where this person gets there info ??? try “used” coffe grounds and u don’t have to reapply after it rains and you are “reusing” environmentally good all around!
Actually cayenne pepper is fairly inexpensive, especially if you purchase the larger container. I’m sorry you did not find the other tips useful. They have worked great for me and for others as well. To each their own. Used coffee grounds is a great tip – I have used it myself. Thanks for sharing!
Cayenne pepper, crushed pepper I use those spices, as if I was making a pot of coffee, let is cool, put in spray bottle,and douse my plants, 0 SQUIRRELS messing my deck digging in my flower pots, got that from pinterest! !!!! Using just spices, sprinkling them gets expensive after it rains etc!!
Good to know, Lori! I will try that this summer!
Cayenne pepper is sooo cheap. Where are you doing your shopping? It’s like a buck for a big container that lasts for weeks and weeks. You don’t need much, so a sprinkle will do.
Cayenne pepper powder works great it’s cheap from you’re locally grocery and dollar store
These are all really great tips. Thank you for sharing.
I never knew that squirrels didn’t like bone meal. I routinely use it to encourage flowering. It’s great for that. If you have a plant that is giving you nothing but greenery, add some bone meal and viola! flowers. :)At least now I know how my peas survived the constant influence of B-squirrel in our yard.
Great tips. One year the squirrels ate every marigold I had … I could have used your tips then!
Great tips. I’m watching a few squirrels bound around in my yard as I’m reading this. Thank you! Krista @ A Handful of Everything
Oh fab tips I so need these!
Thanks for the helpful hints! I am going to have to try them out.
I dont have a problem with squirrels, but a huge problem with rabbits. They ate all my beautiful roses last year. GRRRR! Would this same thing work with rabbits?
Sprinkling your roses (or making the wash spray) would work against the rabbits. I have been deterring them also from some of the flowers in my garden beds. I am not positive about the bone meal, but rabbits have a pretty good sense of smell, too, so it should work to keep them out also.
This is so cool! We don’t have a squirrel problem at this house but I’m definitely pinning for the future! I love that your ideas are all natural too.
I have heard of rubber snakes but never tried it. I would do the pepper.
Bello! he’s a squirrel hunter expert! ok, not really. they taunt him – running from tree to tree, waiting until he notices them and barks, then running up the tree, jumping to another one, and coming back down to repeat the process. I can’t prove it, but I suspect they also throw acorns at him. I’m not sure if it’s a good thing that he’s never caught one…good for the squirrel perhaps!