How to Really Keep Squirrels, Chipmunks and Rabbits Out of Your Garden
There’s nothing more disheartening than tending to your garden all summer long, only to have your beautiful veggies munched up by squirrels, rabbits, and other critters.
A vegetable garden is just too tempting of a food source for them to stay away, so you have to be proactive and protect it.
In this article, I’ll share several of the best ways to keep the rabbits, squirrels, and other garden pests out of your prized garden beds. These are all natural ways of dealing with the problem and also don’t involve any toxic chemicals or poisons.
Let’s dive in!
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Natural Repellents
One way to keep the little stinkers out of your garden plants is with a natural repellent.
These are things that squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks, etc. just don’t like for one reason or another and tend to stay away from.
Some of the ingredients are things you probably have in your refrigerator right now!
Hot Peppers
Hot pepper spray works pretty well to keep squirrels and chipmunks away.
You’ll want to use a hot sauce made with spicy red peppers, plus some dish soap and water and a spray bottle. You can find the full recipe here.
You’ll need to reapply this spray regularly, especially if it rains.
Predator Urine
If you spray predator urine around your garden, the squirrels, chipmunks and rabbits will think there’s a scary animal nearby and stay away. Well, that depends on how appealing your garden is.
A lot of gardeners have said this is a hit or miss method of keeping the critters out, but it’s worth a try.
Fox urine works really well for smaller critters like squirrels, rabbits and chipmunks. If you’re dealing with larger animals like deer, you’ll be better off with coyote, wolf, or mountain lion urine.
Just like the pepper spray, you’ll want to reapply this squirrel and rabbit repellent regularly. And be forewarned, this one has an unpleasant odor.
Owl Statue
Owls are natural predators for squirrels, rabbits and chipmunks, so those owl statues you see at the farm supply store are supposed to scare them off.
Again, this one has a lot of mixed results. If you’re a fan of owl statues though, it’s a fun decor item! And maybe it’ll work, but I’m not betting my garden on it.
Aromatic Plants
There are certain plants that help repel critters due to their strong aroma. Here are a few that should do the trick:
- Marigolds
- Nasturtiums
- Mustard
- Daffodills
- Alliums
- Hyacinth
- Geraniums
- Lily of the Valley
A few of those, like Nasturtiums and Marigolds are also edible for humans. Bonus points!
Human Hair
Squirrels and other small animals hate the smell of human hair, so if you’re giving any of your family members a trim, save some of the clippings and mix them into your garden soil! With their keen sense of smell they’ll spot it from a mile away.
Dog hair works too, and I’ve had some luck sprinkling our dogs hair into a planter to keep the squirrels from digging.
Coffee Grounds
This is one we have plenty off! If you drink coffee in the morning, take some of your spent coffee grounds and sprinkle them around your garden. The strong smell is offensive to hungry rabbits and squirrels.
Blood Meal and Bone Meal
Blood meal and bone meal both smell pretty terrible, and the squirrels and rabbits agree. If you have a rabbit problem or a squirrel problem, this is a great way to keep them out.
Keep in mind that blood meal provides nitrogen as a fertilizer, and bone meal is a source of nitrogen and phosphorus, so make sure it’s appropriate for any plants you spread it around.
Besides those options, here are a few other repellents you can try:
- peppermint oil
- moth balls
- sprinkle cayenne pepper around
- black pepper
- apple cider vinegar
- white vinegar
- castor oil
- cinnamon
Physical Barriers
If you have crazy squirrels like we do, a physical barrier may be a more effective method.
We have a patio garden and the squirrels are insane. The most effective way we’ve found to keep them out is by building a squirrel proof cage with wood and chicken wire around our container garden.
After we built it, we realized it would have been better if we would of used hardware cloth instead of chicken wire so it would keep the chipmunks out as well.
Hardware cloth is more expensive, but the holes are a lot smaller and will keep pretty much any critters out of your garden.
If you’re wanting to keep animals out of large areas, building a free standing cage might not be one of your best options.
Instead, you could fence off the area, and attach chicken wire or hardware cloth to the fence posts, being sure to bury it down in the dirt 6 inches or so around the bottom of the fence.
For individual plants, you can buy wire cloche covers, or cover a row of plants with row covers, but you’ll need to secure them down under the dirt to keep the little creatures out.
Other Ways To Get Rid of the Critters
We like to keep things natural and stick to more humane ways of dealing with wild rabbits and squirrels.
But if you’re depending on your garden for food to feed your family, sometimes you have to take more drastic measures.
A few other less friendly tactics involve electric fencing or BB’s. One option that’s not recommended is using a live trap.
Catching squirrels in squirrel traps is pretty much an exercise in futility, because there are so many squirrels that will just move in and take their place. Also, in some places it’s illegal.
In Conclusion
I hope this article has given you some helpful ideas to deal with your squirrel and rabbit problem. Happy gardening!