Gardening Question of the Week - How Do You Keep Squirrels from Digging in Pots?
Thursday November 13, 2008
Dan needs suggestions. “I'm trying container gardening. Whenever I plant something a squirrel comes by and digs it up, even a tiny seed. I've tried moth balls and WD-40 but no luck. Do you know of any thing or any way to discourage the tree rats from messing with my little garden?”
I’ve had the same problem. They also like to bury their nuts in my containers, in the fall. I told Dan that the only thing I know of that truly works is to put screening or hardware cloth across the exposed soil. You really have to do that at planting time or it's impossible to get it in there. I seem to remember someone suggesting a layer of pebbles or gravel too, but I haven't tried this out. So We’re hoping to hear what’s worked for you. You can use the “comments’ link, below. Thanks.
Photo: © Marie Iannotti (2008) licensed to About.com, Inc.
Comments
bone meal in + on the soil helps a lot, but the bone meal does need to be re-applied every 2 to 6 weeks.
i am always fight these lil pests for my tomatoes – what i did that helped greatly was put those bobble head owls and a motion senser owl out by my containers – kept them away pretty darn well.
The method that works best for me is to put pieces of chicken wire (1 inch mesh) down on the surface of the soil between plants. If the squirrels are really persistent, I anchor the chicken wire pieces with earth staples I make from sections of wire hanger. I cover the soil surface with mulch so the chicken wire doesn’t show. The squirrels might dig a little into the mulch but that’s as far as they get.
feed the squirrels and they will leave your plants alone. Corn Cobs keep them busy!
Well, all suggestions seem to work to one extent or another, blood meal(needs to be refreshed after rain), chicken wire and the like. What works for me is a combination of these and cleaning up after yourself, leave no remants of plant material ie garlic coverings, tulip etc in the area you plant…and one more tip…plant when you know the squirrels are less active, first thing in the early morning or mid to late evening…if all else fails, remember, when they dig, they are actualy assisting in aerating the soil…good luck
I like the idea of diverting them with corn cobs. My neighbor feeds them peanuts, but then they bury them all over our yards and in our pots. I’ve never seen them bury a corn cob – yet.
BTW, I’d be careful with the bone meal if you have a problem with other rodents, raccoons or dogs. They can do a lot of digging damage.
I’ve had luck in containers using the larger river stones to cover the surface around the plant – it seems to discourage them since they are harder to dig around. Home Depot has river stones in bags.
I’ve never had any luck with feeding or rocks to discourage the squirrels, here in Arizona we have Rock Squirrels and they will simply burrow under the rocks, large or small. About the only cure is to cage them – either the plants or the squirrels!
Sprinkle cayenne pepper on the soil!
Use and animal repellent to change the behaviour of the squirrel. Animals do things like dig in pots as part of their foraging instinct. To stop it you need to change their behaviour. Apply an animal repellent in the pots where you don’t want the digging. Repellents work 3 ways to change animal behaviour – Smell, Taste and Irritation. If the animal gets a dose of the repellent it will change it’s behaviour and move on to somewhere else to forage. It’s like trainig a dog to stay off the couch. Behaviour modification. Repellents do not harm animals, but make them change their squirrley ways.
Always read, follow and understand the directions on any repellent or plant care product.
Bug Doc
Between my labrador & 2 cats, the squirrels seldom come down from the fence to bother shopping in my yard.
I have used a combination of things like the river rocks, heavy mulch, and bobbin owl. I even tried the cayenne once and the squirrels ate the cayenne plant. So that didn’t work so I tried the chicken wire and that does take care of the little things.
But, and this is going to gross you out, I urinated in a jar, kept it for a week then used it in a spray bottle with a little water. It took care of the squirrel, dogs, cats, and possums but the raccoons seemed to like it. So try it at your own risk. Good luck…
We have lots of broken tile pieces from previous projects. I smashed them up to make them smaller, and spread them out across the tops of our [already planted] containers. For some, I liked the look. For those where I didn’t, I covered with a natural mulch such as pine needles or mushroom soil. This prevented further intrusion…
You could always shoot them. They tast great in gravy.
Dried cayenne pepper seeds sprinkled on the soil works for me.
I really would have shot them if I had had a gun, but instead I sprinkled a VERY thick layer of hot chili powder over the area. They did not come back.
We trap them in a havahart trap a take them for a ride down the road. It does help, although they probably follow me back to the house.
We have trouble with the squirrels “native planting” in pots.One thing I’ve tried that works pretty well is sticking stems of rosemary in the soil-smells nice too-at least to us-not the squirrels. It helps that we have a huge rosemary bush to cut from.
Try a fake snake
It worked when we hung one in our hickory tree.
I got myself a Doberman pinscher. She pretty much takes care of keeping deer, raccoons, squirrels and possums out of the yard. Of course, she does a fair amount of trampling as she runs around the perimeter of the garden chasing off unwanted intruders. Raised beds have helped out in that area. Dobies are great at deterring unwanted human intruders, as well. Plus, they guarantee that you’ll have the sidewalk to yourself when you go for a walk. A sweet deal.
Re “feed the squirrels & they will leave your plants alone” — ha, ha. My next door neighbour has 1 squirrel and 3 bird feeders at the front of the house, 3 on the back patio, and 4 at the back of the yard. She puts out bird seed, corn, peanuts and sunflower seeds. The squirrels CONTSTANTLY bury nuts in my plant pots and garden, esp where the ground is soft where new plants have been set in. I’ve tried all kinds of repellents, but they have to be replaced constantly after each rain or watering. Even my neighbours 6 cats don’t keep them at bay. They actually tease the cats! I have tried all sizes of stones and the only ones that work are the ones to heavy for squirrels to lift — decorative gravel does not deter them! Since squirrels also eat caterpillars and bird eggs, I doubt bloodmeal would work either. Mixing egg yolk with milk and spraying on your plants will deter deer from eating your garden though. We just have to live with the squirrels.
Back to post #14…. Put ‘em in the pot… Put ‘em in the pot~!!!!