5 Tricks to Keep Squirrels Out of Your Plants
Squirrels giving you gardening woes? Try these tricks to keep squirrels out of your plants and garden.
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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 to keep squirrels out of your plants and garden that I have picked up in the last few years of gardening.
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.
1. Plant 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.
If you have flowers that you love to plant that the squirrels love, too, try one of these other tricks to keep them at bay.
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.
You can also bury plastic forks tine side up.
None of these will do any good if what they are after is the plants themselves though.
Chicken wire over flower pots containing bulbs or covering your flower beds containing bulbs can also prevent squirrels from digging them up.
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.
You can also sprinkle used coffee grinds to deter squirrels from your pots.
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.
image source
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 a great fertilizer for your plants so its really a double win.
Also try using blood meal.
You work hard on your garden!
Make sure you can enjoy it.
Do you have any tips or tricks to keep squirrels out of your plants?
I would love to hear them! I'm always looking for new ideas to try.
See the enclosed garden we finally built to keep our vegetables away from the squirrels!
The war with the flowers continues on...
>> See where I party! <<
More gardening tips...
Hi everyone I have a small garden that does not get any sun, maybe only a few hours each day. So I decided to plant, (or not) plant: artificial fake plants etc, bought online and gardening centres, B&Q etc. There really very colourful all year round, only I have just completed my 8X6ft garden to all its glory and it looks tranquil now to relax in the city life...Only yesterday 7th August the Squirrels around the area pulled up my hard work of a few pot plants that I had completely potted in their fake pots and buried them with different types of stone to make them look good, so no soil anywhere, only a few pots with mint, thyme, etc have real soil in for growth. But the buggers dug a few up, also I have 5 hanging baskets in full colour and they have tried their luck on these too, costing me £20 each made up for me, by someone on Shpock who is retired and makes to order, Squirrel has attacked one of them. I know there plastic and probably give off a smell at first, but what can I try to potentially spray on all the plant's pots and hanging baskets and planter boxes created? Something I can make and spray from a bottle would be ideal as would take a matter of 5 minutes to carry this job out.....Thank you in advance.
Cayenne pepper does NOT work for me. We have a tall patio fence with narrow slates I sprinkle cayenne pepper in between the slates and all around the fence and they boldly walk right on the cayenne pepper without a problem. I also sprinkle the pepper around the plants and they still come around.
I just came in from examining all of my spring plantings ( potted, not ground ) and they are all completely destroyed. from discovering the abuse they were taking in the beginning, I used irish spring soap, pepper flakes, cayenne, cinnamon, a spray made with tabasco, peppermint, garlic, netting and a particularly useless commercial spray. I have lost all of my usually lovely flowers plus a lot of time and money. I used to feed the squirrels until they took to my flowers. is there nothing that will allow me to have one of the things always brought pleasure ? I loved gardening and the flowers that resulted from it, but right now I feel hopeless that anything will work. anyone ?
To Ms Jo regarding animal cruelty…protecting our food sources & plant life becomes a struggle to survive for some folks! And for some of us the bushy tailed rats (squirrels) like to hang out after eating our plants & find other things to gnaw on such as house soffit & anything they can eat until they’ve eaten their way thru & moved into our attics! Oh the sounds of scampering playing sounds in the middle of the night! Or how about when thy eat the wiring in your vehicles that you don’t drive daily? Just saying that sometimes we have to do what we have to do! No cruelty intended! Hence this article of controlling destructiveness as effectively & humanly as possible!
Thank you, Sandie. I second all of that.
I stopped reading comments upon realization that people are cruel toward wildlife just trying to live their best life. Forks? Pepper? Traps that kill them? We need to coexist without causing harm and if you folks don't understand that you've got some bd karma coming your way. Shame on the author for enjoying cruelty.
This author certainly does not enjoy animal cruelty, but I do enjoy my flowers and vegetable garden and will do my best to prevent them from being destroyed. Obviously I am not alone in that endeavor. Please continue to feed the squirrels as you please, I will not cater to them.
@Jo,
You ppl that go overboard with this PROTECTION OF WILDLIFE is enough! I have a large issue with the RATS WITH BUSHY TAILS also! I spend hundreds of dollars to make my patio look beautiful and those critters just destroy it! They’ve chewed my pillows to my patio furniture and the grill cover! Enough is ENOUGH! Flowers and plants are NOT cheap!
Try the "Critter Gitter" trap. It's for ground squirrels but a tree squirrel stuck it's head in and it was a quick kill. Birds can't get in. Not too expensive and easy to set.
Good article & appreciate the helpful tips from you & the comments. You're a good writer: too - you made me break out into loud laughter at least 3 times. Thanks!
I purchased Sta-Green bone meal from Home Depot after reading about it on this website. It does have a kinda strong smell.
I am so happy the squirrel are out of garden. I use to see them everyday but now not even one. I am so happy. The first day I was excited but was holding my breath. Now it’s been a week and not even one of my pot are being dug up.
Our animals were starving last year and ate EVERYTHING in the garden. I tried everything mentioned online and nothing worked. Finally I made chicken wire cubes to cover plants with 12 inch steel anchors and that kept them all out. 6" did not work. Raccoons pulled them up. Not pretty but worked for veggies. Another trick that worked was netting used to make bridal veils. Throw it over plants and secure it. They get claws caught in netting and don't like it. Also keeps birds out of tomatoes etc. Forks helped some in pots. And sprayed peppermint essential oil in water around perimeter of garden and around pots. Worked very well.
Rats and mice hate the smell of peppermint, apparently. I had some in a corner of a storage room; I put drops of peppermint oil on 2" scraps of paper towels, shoved the paper through holds in plastic golf balls, tossed them to spots I could not otherwise reach. It seemed to help.
Not only do I have a problem with the squirrel's digging holes and burying crab apples from a neighbor's tree but they also chew the plastic pot's that i plant my flowers in. I guess to sharpen their teeth. But my pots are very big and are not cheap. So if anyone has any idea what helps with them not chewing my pot's I'd appreciate any suggestions.
I had an indoor rabbit that used to chew on everything. Vet told me to buy an ointment called "Bitter Apples", and rub it on the wood pieces he loved to chew. He didn't like it at all. I wonder if the same would hold true to rub it around the parts of the pots the squirrels like to chew? Worth a try.
Definitely worth a try! My parents used to use the same on their deck that their dog used to gnaw on. Good idea, Suzanne!
I use coffee grounds that have already been perked and sprinkle those liberally around my pots. They don't like coffee, so it seems to help but it does need to be reapplied. You could also ask your local restaurants or McDonald's or Starbucks for some of their used coffee grounds and they will be glad to share
I clipped branches from my rose bush and surrounded my pots with them, plus I wedged some inside the pots around the edges. haven’t had an issue in weeks.
My squirrels treat cayenne pepper like a seasoning. They love it! I will try Vic’s VapoRub and rubber snakes, but I have tried soap, I have tried almost everything they love marigolds geraniums especially petunias. They are little beasts! Ass- - - - -was a good description.
Same here. For years the would jot eat hot pepper suet or safflower or thistle seed. Now they love it sll. They dig in soil everywhere especially when there’s fresh mulch, dig up bulbs. Dig everywhere. Nothing deters. Tried all sprays on market. Hot pepper, cinnamon, moth balls, metal mesh (they dislodge or move aside even if staked. NOTHING works. Tried hav-a-heart traps relocating many. Others took their place.
I have found the cheapest basic soap powder has slowed down all digging on my patio plants alongside chicken wire . At first I scattered nowI use an average of 1 box a month during the winter and I only have a occasional pile of soil
It is especially annoying when squirrels dig holes in the soil of my potted plants. I've tried chicken wire, but it is expensive and difficult to install (hard on the hands.) I have found that covering the open soil in a pot with river stones will tend to discourage digging. It might not stop it all, but it does discourage them if there is another place to dig.
Discourage and distract tends to work best for me. One of my neighbors has fruit trees (fuyas and plums.) He placed a squirrel feeder on the opposite side of the yard, and keeps it filled all year round. The feeders on the other side of the yard distract them away from his fruit trees, and the foil wrapped trunks discourage them.
So I fill my pots with stone mulch, and leave a distant (unplanted) spot in the garden for the squirrels to dig in.
Pepper has never worked for me. I have watched squirrels eat cayenne pepper coated seed, stop and wipe their little faces in dirt, then go back and eat more cayenne pepper coated seed.
I wouldn't recommend using soap. As I recall (from scout camp) certain types of soap may actually attract mice and rats.
i load my bird feeders with cayenne pepper and they leave the seed alone. it's my flowers that they eat every day
@Carolyn Nentwick Hello , Mike here . In reviewing many reviews about squirrels , I thought , if possible reposition the geraniums or have them on a Portable Stand or Beautiful Lite weight ( if possible ) Table to wheel the flower pots and previous flowers to Safety Area . The City Dept. Here says that they can’t control them nor .gov. They are classified as wildlife . Fitting description , but I too join in the quest to stop the pests . They could be trapped by law but only relocated no more than ten miles away and a acclimatable local . Anyway , thanks for your time and consideration in your posts .Good Day . Horticulturists may be able to breed a Geranium that resists them . Hmmm .
Hi there,
I’m having all the same problems and will try all the new tricks from this site (thanks all!!). But my question with stuff like cayenne and garlic and the sprays - my biggest concern is my strawberries. My plant is on its third harvest and I have yet to eat ONE strawberry from it!!! I’ve fonally had enough.
BUT....will the cayenne garlic and sprays affect the fruit that’s being grown?? Will my strawberries taste like garlic?
Any input is appreciated:)
Hair clippings dont work for me, try pinecones.
I'm not sure if this has been said, (I tried to read lots of comments). Anyway this is what I have done for my potted plants on my deck which the squirrels love. I take pinecones and make a layer of them around the soil. So far this works wonders. I have an overabundance of pinecones so it's a good use for them. I also have heard that pinecones and a good deterrent for bugs.
I have read quite a few comments on Cayenne pepper, which seems like a good short term deterrent, at least for the squirrel population in Ky. I also decided to try putting clumps of used cat litter at strategic points around the edges of my deck and in the pots, since I do live with 2 house cats. The cat litter worked for about a month, not too bad actually. The smell wasn’t noticeable to me but the squirrels sure seems to notice it! I also recently added an ultrasonic rodent and insect repellent. Doesn’t seem to bother my cats, will see if bothers the squirrels. Of course you have to an outlet handy, or a long enough outdoor extension. I had read about using the cat litter to keep rodents from coming into your house, that tip was intended for mice, but Squirrels are rodents too, and it works.
Pine Tar defiitely works as a deterrent on surfaces around planters or flower boxes but it can be unsightly and messy so it's not ideal for all applications. It will also hold up after multiple rains. Some might find the smell off putting (I actually like it). I have tried (unsuccessfully) most of the solutions presented in these comments but I've also picked up so new ideas-- like hair clippings that I will try as well!
How did you apply the pine tar?
I use bricks and a tiling of big chunks of chinese pots.. I had a few crack in winter.almost no exposed soil and they are heavy with sharp edges ad lift them to put coffee grounds under themband some hair for nutrients looks pretty on my downtown rooftop patio
I love the fork and river rock idea. Thank you for sharing.
I cannot imagine causing a critter harm, especially when they live outside in their own environment.
I have a family of chipmunks that live in my backyard. the babies are tiny, I would never be able to cause pain and suffering. They have consciousness too, and are just trying to get their needs met like the rest of the world.
That cayenne idea ..Doesn't work.!! Its expensive to begin with!!! The squirrels in my bird feeders pay no attention it is heavily sprinkled over all black sunflower seeds.! I keep seeing this and its just not true. They don't care seeds are coated with cayenne pepper... It will not stop them in any situation.
I had a squirrel digging up my begonias.. I'd just returned from the store with a big bag of blood meal!! I used about 1/2 cup in a 5 foot square area and laid down a yellow rubber snake. 5 minutes after I came in the house, the squirrel came back down the tree.. Took one sniff of the blood meal and saw the fake snake.. He's long gone!!!
So we spread bone meal around all our potted flowers because squirrels kept digging them up. Next morning a racoon had knocked over a pot, dug up the flowers, and knocked over a bird feeder. Turns out bone meal attracts other animals such as raccoons. Wish we knew that before putting bone meal on all our plants.
BECKY PARK!!!!!! BLOOD MEAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOT BONE MEAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I referred to """BLOOD MEAL""" ....TWICE in my post!!!
In the original post ‘5 tricks to keep squirrels out... ‘ it clearly says bone meal and that you might try blood meal too..
Twice
I’ve tried it all. They love my hot pepper suet and pepper mixed with bird seed.and ignore all sprays. Hopeless! And twice this article said BONE MEAL, not blood meal!
While this article suggests to imagine a squirrel burning its mouth with cayenne pepper please imagine the inhumane side effects of cayenne pepper in a squirrels eyes. Please do not use cayenne its a sick and twisted death you don't want to imagine.
Isabelle, I agree with you. What the heck is the big deal about a flower. Squirrels, birds and even stray cats are just looking for a food source. I suppose these are the same people who pay hundreds/thousands of dollars for "pure bred" cats and dogs in lieu of a shelter pet. Try using chopped garlic around the plants. It even keeps away spiders, mites, etc. And while you are shopping for the garlic, stop by the peanut isle in the store and buy some unsalted peanuts for your squirrel!
Isabelle
NAW..those squirrels lick up that cayenne peeper and come back for more!! It doesn't kill anything. Its a natural herb....
Yep!
My squirrels ignored what I sprinkled on the bird seed and enjoy my hot pepper suet. Doesn’t bother mine or deter them, although for years they would not eat hot pepper suet.
OMGOODNESS!! I have planted mammoth sunflowers, lavender, Sage! My sunflowers barely break ground before the little demons chew the first leaves off or just dig them up completely! Tried the red pepper trick and nothing!! Tried leaving other things out for them to eat and they ignore it! I'm ready to invest in a pellet gun!! My youngest son even grew some seeds in school and brought them home to me and asked if he could plant them with mine in the front flower bed, we went out this morning to water them before school and they had chewed the leaves off the tops leaving just the stems!! He was heartbroken!! And I am more mad than ever!! It's war now!
Cayenne peppers works great. However, some have stated it blows away. Solution... Get some inexpensive petroleum jelly and mix the cayenne pepper into the petroleum jelly. Then, spread the mixture on the edge of all your flower pots. The mixture will not blow away and stays in place, even after a rain. Reapply as needed.
Has this been harmful to your plants? Someone else suggested clear plastic forks tine sides up in planters....going to try that too!
I tried the fork trick last year with a bed of impatiens - the squirrels just laughed and knocked them over (and I was using dozens of them) to get to the flowers. My friend asked if I was trying to grow “FORKSYTHIA”!!!!!!! ARGGGHHHH!!!
I was having the same problem; but think I left too big of an opening between forks. I started using a spray called "Repels-All" as well, and it seems to be working!!! It's not harmful to plants or animals; and you can probably find it at your local Home Depot store. Hope it works for you too! Sorry; unable to attach photo.
Thanks, Dodie, I will give it a try!
Every time I plant any kind of seeds the squirrels dig them up by the next day. Also I have a gnome garden through my flower bed and they steal my small figures. We also have a bird feeder that they destroy every time we put it back out. I will be trying a few of these tricks.
try milorganite! its used to keep voles away from josta, im the souil. its a balanced fertiliser a little high on nitrogen i think
HOSTA not josta
I just tried the plastic fork trick and it has worked like a charm. I was tired of cleaning up a huge mess from squirrels trying to bury their treasure in my potted plants.
What's the fork secret? My problem is chimpmuncks
You can put forks tines-side-up in your flowers pots just under the dirt so when squirrels, and in your case chipmunks, go to dig in them and bury things their paws scratch against the forks. They'll typically give up digging in that pot once that happens.
My problem with cayenne pepper is it blows off! And I feel like I have to use a lot of it just to get it spread around. I figured squirrels don't like any kind of spicy so I put some hot sauce and some water in a spray bottle, swirled it around so they're well mixed and used it to spray the leaves of my plants! Like cayenne, I have to spray them every time it rains but the squirrels definitely don't like it! The spray made it easier and quicker to apply and I'm can be sure I'm coating all the leaves (I'm in the city and these squirrels are persistent!). I will try some of the other tricks though for my herbs, can't say I enjoy fresh basil soaked in Texas Pete's.
Try Vicks vapour rub put it on the lip of all your planters and sparingly on the leaves of the plants the squirrels are eating I just tried it and it seems to be working I left one pot not done and the squirrels keep eating and digging that one
Good trick to know! Thank you, Tracy!
Vicks VapoRub is harmful to the animals. Please don't use it. I'm not sure if it's the Menthol or the vaseline component (or both), but I've been told by a naturalist that it is harmful to them
I to have squirrel problems and while watching a garden expert on a well known shopping channel who was asked how to deter them he said to grate a bar of soap onto the surface of the plants as they hate the smell and taste of it! I will be trying this soon.
I use clear plastic forks with the handle end in the soil around the edge with the tines up and facing out. Can use then year after year. I hate having to do battle with them every year.
Lots of bay leaves crushed on the soil , also for other bugs in the house, put some bay leaves around , no more spiders, I will also try the soap.Thanks.
That's the first I've heard of using bay leaves. Thanks for the tip!
The soap did not work for me. In fact, the squirrels actually played with it!
Here is my issue, we moved into a new house a month ago, while standing on the back porch a squirrel walked right up to us as to say welcome. I have been known to encourage them by throwing them a peanut once in a while so I'm not much help. But my thoughts on remedies are, can we throw some cheap peppermint candies into the soil? Candy canes are cheap December 26th. And if you want to you can sharpen them up like your bamboo sticks, I won't be doing that to my new buddie. I'm going to try strips of tin foil scattered in my pots and whiskey barrels and see if that works. I have a whiskey barrel full of soil nut no plants yet. I'm going to test a few ideas the next couple of days and see what works.
Please let us know if any of these tricks work for you, Don! I would never have thought about candy canes but I try that.
Du siehst: Du kannst eigentlich nix falsch schaffen.
I just moved into a new house that has 6 oak trees in the yard so the squirrels and acorns are ridiculous. You would think with all the acorns they would leave my flowers alone.... Nope. They did holes in my flower beds eat all the flowers. I am going to try the Cayenne. Hopefully that will help keep them from digging. Thanks for the ideas.
I have been told that using pepper is harmful to bees.
So I will definitely NOT using pepper.
What happens when you water the plants?
You can water around the pepper, and/or reapply if needed.
After I originally left a comment I seem to have clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and from
now on whenever a comment is added I recieve 4 emails with the exact same comment.
Is there a way you are able to remove me from that service?
Thanks!
Unfortunately there is nothing I can do on my end, but there should be something in the emails that will allow you to unsubscribe.
Hey, I know many of you won't like this solution but STOP feeding the birds!! If you don't have a bird feeder the squirrels are less likely to come into your yard. We got rid of ours and now they stay mostly in our neighbor's yard. Because of his bird feeder, the squirrels are also abundant in his yard and they get into his tomatoes and other vegetables as well. He hates the squirrels but he doesn't want to stop feeding the birds.
Also another trick...once I get my bulbs into the ground, I put chicken wire ON TOP of the soil and weigh it down with stones or bricks. This prevents them from digging the bulbs up. It's only unsightly for a while. Once the ground freezes I remove the chicken wire. They don't tend to touch or dig the new shoots that come up in the spring..again this is because they're too busy with my neighbor's bird feeder. They even chewed through the squirrel proof ones. Unfortunately we are not allowed shotguns in Canada.
shot gun. tried and true. stops them every time.add a pinch of cayenne for good fun.
USE LARGE STEEL NAILS, INSERT THE TOPS IN THE GROUND LEAVING THE POINTS FACING UP. OUCH WHEN THEY STEP ON THEM.. I SAW THIS IN A OLD ITALIAN PERSON GARDEN
WHO USES THIS TRICK. THE TROUBLE IS YOU HAVE TO USE LOTS OF NAILS IF YOU HAVE A LARGE GARDEN.
I used plastic picnic forks, loads of them, handle in the soil and tines pointing up. Kept the rodents from digging till the plants were established. Then the birds ate all the tomatoes and the deer ate all the flowers. Oh well.
Here's a trick to keep the birds away from your tomatoes that worked for us. Tie a couple of red christmas bulbs or ornaments to the cage while the plants are establishing themselves. The birds will come check it out - find that the "red balls" are not edible, and move on to find other sources of food. They won't come back to your real tomatoes.
Thank you for the suggestion. Aversion therapy, of a sort.
If I had red Christmas balls, I'd try that. I wonder how bits of red ribbon would work. For now, I have the tomatoes behind mesh. But the squirrels dug up the basil this morning, and I'd just planted it!
Very clever!
You could do the same thing with tooth picks.
This is the perfect site for anybody who hopes to find out about this topic.
You know so much its almost tough to argue with you (not that I really
would want to...HaHa). You definitely put a brand new spin on a
topic that's been discussed for decades. Excellent stuff, just great!
They keep digging up my succulents. I kept them away from my pots with moth balls. It doesn't keep them away from the ones planted in the ground.
I have lost almost 10 succulents this summer! Of course I keep replacing them but I have had enough. I'm going to try the Cayenne pepper
The Squirrels that come into my yard and dig into the flower pots and window boxes, pay no attention to the moth balls or cayenne pepper. A shot gun would work, I am wondering if a pellet gun would also work? I'll try the soap and chicken wire. Thanks for the suggestions. .
READ AN ARTICLE THAT STATED CAYENNE PEPPER MAY BE DANGEROUS IF THE SQUIRRELS GET IT ON THEIR PAWS AND RUB/CLEAN THEIR EYES. COULD POSSIBLY BLIND THEM. I DON'T WANT TO HURT THEM. JUST WANT THEM TO QUIT DIGGING IN MY POTTED PLANTS.
I HAVE READ ARTICLES SUGGESTING BLOOD MEAL. THINK I WILL TRY THAT.
I have been told that using pepper is harmful to bees.
So I will definitely NOT usepepper.
I used blood meal several years ago, and it did work. However, the smell was horrible, and have not used it since. It's possible that I may have used to much, but just an FYI about using blood meal.
They ignore hot pepper I mixed with bird seed and enjoy my hot pepper suet.Does not harm mine.
I am having such a problem with these pests. they eat my bagonia bulbs, but not when and if I can get them started. I got this hair brained idea to put moth balls around the perimeter of my planters. so far it seems to be working. no new holes for a couple of weeks, I will refresh the moth balls here soon. does not seem to affect the soil or the plants as they are doing well. Just a thought, can't hurt
I went out today and found my window boxes with begonias had broken and almost dug up with big holes dug in the soil,, soil all over the window ledge and on the patio. I had placed moth balls in all of them but the squirrles completely ignored them.
Squirrels have done that grew every pot pulled every bulb that was growing in the garden and eaten an entire trampoline net. The next thing they've done is poly stock to lawn mower gasoline caps and while we've tried chicken wire they've been able to get through that too. The backyard behind us feeds and Waters these Critters but that's not helping at all. the only thing I know they haven't touched are the weeds
Has anyone tried garlic? The squirrels have been eating and tearing up my raspberry plant. It even has thorns but that doesn't stop them from eating the fruit. My raspberries are planted along our fence line so I've been looking for ways to keep them off the fence which is also where my garden is located. Come next month the focus will be keeping them out my garden.
I placed so much garlic in my flower pots that my front porch smelled like an Italian restaurant and it did nothing to keep the squirrels from eating my petunias and lobelia. I am so frustrated and now have tried the cayenne pepper again as well as placing somewhat attractive wire fencing around my pots. My growing season is so short that I may never see flowers again on these plants before they are eaten again.
We have a family of squirrels that come to feed at our bird feeding area. They are very annoying because they eat everything in sight, but they do tend to leave the geraniums alone. I was watching one today eat a couple of geranium leaves and then start violently scratching himself. I wonder if they are allergic?
We tolerate these little "Hoovers" because they will alert to and fight off rattlesnakes. I know it seems counter intuitive but check out some of the YouTube videos under squirrel vs snake.
The squirrels are DESTROYING my marigolds! I just went outside and saw two or three broken from the stems. Sometimes they shred them. I even caught a squirrel running across a telephone wire with one of my marigold heads. I'm about to give up...
Without squirrels we would not have as diverse of forests that we do! They are the planters of a lot of trees even the seeds. They frantically bury in the fall and forget most that they planted!
I so wish mine would go plant a lot of trees in some diverse forest somewhere, but alas, they seem to want to live in my patio.
We have a family of squirrels that come to feed at our bird feeding area. They are very annoying because they eat everything in sight, but they do tend to leave the geraniums alone. Today I was watching one today eat a couple of geranium leaves and then start violently scratching himself. I wonder if they are allergic?
We tolerate these little "Hoovers" because they will alert to and fight off rattlesnakes. I know it seems counter intuitive but check out some of the YouTube videos under squirrel vs snake.
They pulled up all my Mom's marigolds several years in a row. They don't eat them, instead they just left them by the planter. They love my begonias. They are eating my vinca and my persimmon. My Mom has had great success with just buying them their own feeder and providing them food. Now they leave everything else alone.
I'm trying this and will buy bird feeders for the squirrels. Any suggestions on the seeds or nuts I should use?
Mine love everything, even seeds that are supposed to repel them like Niger and safflower seed
Our squirrels love to bury the sunflower seeds in all my potted plants. They kick up all the dirt and flowers in the process. Kills or wrecks the original flowers, but we’re getting a great crop of sunflowers!
They also destroy bird feeders to get at the seed, hateful little assholes!
Animals dont hate...only humans
You’re absolutely right!
Word
wow, "hateful" ...I'd say you might need to get out more! pretty sure it's not personal, but rather hunger and instinct
I would like to add that when using hair human or pet it is a GREAT fertilizer as well has nitrogen. Plants do awesome inside and out.