How to Keep Squirrels Out of Your Garden

Mischievous, maddening, and always poised for action, squirrels seem always to be one step ahead of gardeners when it comes to the damage they inflict on our flower and vegetable beds. Rarely does any one single method achieve complete squirrel control, but with some persistence and a multi-pronged approach you can put a damper on the havoc these rodents wreak in the landscape. Here are a few ways to keep squirrels out of your garden safely and naturally.

Before You Begin

Squirrels are attracted to gardens for food, including vegetables, flowers, and flower bulbs. They can leave a garden in tatters as they dig up plants, shred flowers, and bite into fruits and vegetables so they are inedible to humans. A squirrel's sharp teeth can gnaw through wood, plastic, wiring, and metal, allowing them access to your home as they seek protection from predators and nesting spots for their young. Inside, their nesting materials could become potential fire hazards. Don't delay in trying to coax squirrels away from your house and garden.

How to Keep Squirrels Out of Your Garden

1. Grow Unappealing Food

   Squirrels relish many of the same plants that we do, including fruits and vegetables, seeds, nuts, and berries. They will also make quick work of tulip bulbs, and even tulip blossoms.

   However, there are many plants that squirrels find distasteful. These plants have strong odors or flavors that squirrels do not enjoy.

   Consider adding alliums (onion, garlic), daffodils, galanthus, lily-of-the-valley, geraniums, fritillary flowers, goldenrod, and bleeding hearts in your beds, borders, and hanging baskets. Growing hot peppers also seems to be a squirrel-deterrent.

2. Use Squirrel-Proof Bird Feeders and Unsavory Seed

   Like all wild animals, squirrels are opportunistic and will take advantage of the proverbial low-lying fruit in your landscape. Bird feeders are one of the biggest squirrel attractants, and it doesn't matter if your feeder is the Fort Knox of squirrel-proof feeders, as seed will always spill onto the ground.

   You don't have to give up on feeding the birds, but switching to less palatable feed like safflower seed or seed treated with cayenne pepper can deter hungry squirrels. but won't bother the birds.

3. Keep Your Yard and Garden Tidy

   Keeping the garden clean can also discourage squirrels from gathering. After the harvest is over, remove any dropped fruits or vegetables from the ground.

   Don't forget to clear away other foodstuffs that attract squirrels, like leftover pet food and dropped acorns or black walnuts in the landscape.
   

4. Employ a Watch Dog—Or Cat

   The more your cats or dogs frequent the yard and garden areas of your property, the less squirrels will feel comfortable hanging around. Both cats and dogs are natural predators of squirrels, so the clever rodents will do their best to avoid coming too close.

5. Try Repellents

   There are many squirrel repellents on the market, but most of them are based on predator urine or hot pepper. Homemade recipes may also include garlic or onion, cider vinegar, or peppermint oil.

   Repellents may have some success used in conjunction with other deterrents, but gardeners must be vigilant about reapplication. Wind, water, and sunlight will cause repellants to break down quickly.

6. Fence Squirrels Out

   Fencing a small area with cage material like chicken wire can be an effective pest exclusion tactic for squirrels, but this type of squirrel-proof fencing can also be expensive and unsightly for larger areas.

   A floating row cover is surprisingly effective as a barrier in the vegetable garden. Squirrels do not like the feeling of enclosure, which prevents their ability to escape to safety, so they will avoid entering a covered row.

7. Protect Your Plants

   In wooded areas or those adjacent to parks, it becomes impossible to exclude squirrels, and in these places, it makes more sense to protect individual plants from squirrel damage. It may seem like a lot of work, but as a bonus, you will also be preventing damage from mice, voles, groundhogs, birds, rabbits, and deer.

   Metal mesh cloches are ideal for young vegetable plants, especially leafy greens. You can buy handsome antique replicas, or create simple DIY cloches with chicken wire. Sink additional chicken wire over freshly planted bulbs to prevent digging.

   Aluminum flashing or metal bands work well for wrapping tree trunks and also prevent squirrels from running up trees. Paper bags will enable sunflowers to fully ripen without molestation.

   Old stockings or cheesecloth can prevent squirrels from one of their most infuriating practices: taking a single bite from a ripening tomato and then abandoning the spoiled fruit.

8. Add Motion-Detecting Deterrents

   Ultrasonic motion sensor sprinklers may give squirrels a start, but rapidly decrease in effectiveness over time. As urban animals, squirrels have adapted to live alongside all kinds of noises and other stimuli.

9. Scare Them Away

   Fierce resin owls and creepy black rubber snakes seem to populate the garden aisle every spring, giving gardeners the promise of scaring the squirrel out of his wits. Faux predators may have some limited effectiveness, but you must provide the animation they lack by moving them around every day, and even with that effort, the squirrels generally catch on.

10. Annoy Squirrels With Sound

    Another option worth a try is to annoy squirrels with noise-makers like wind chimes, clanging disposable pie plates, or ultrasonic devices and sonic repellers that emit high-frequency sounds to repel squirrels from the immediate area.
    

When to Call a Professional

Squirrels can do considerable damage if they find their way from your garden into your home's crawlspace, attic, or even inside your eaves. If you see squirrel tracks around your home and spot the following signs of a possible squirrel infestation, call an exterminator:

• Sounds of scurrying, scratching, and chewing through the walls, floors, ceiling, chimney, or from the attic
• Interior damage to your home, such as chewed insulation, wood, wiring, duct work, or air vents
• Nests made from insulation
• Piles of acorns and excrement in your attic or garage
• Small, foul-smelling pellets with rounded ends around your yard (rat poop has pointed ends)
• Water stains on walls and ceilings that could be seeping squirrel urine
• Foul or decaying odors from urine, feces, or a deceased squirrel
• Holes ( 1½ to 3 inches) in shingles, eaves, soffits, or rooflines where squirrels can enter