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. In this squirrel repellent article, you’ve discovered how to create a DIY squirrel deterrent using ingredients from around the house like a gallon of water, cayenne pepper, hot sauce, and dish soap. Squirrels can be a complete disaster for property owners and cause thousands of pounds of damage, by nibbling through wires and woodwork or tearing into insulation and plasterboard. Registration no: 10735156, Evergreen Garden Care (UK) Ltd,  Keeping the garden clean can also discourage squirrels from gathering. This is the recognised distance that squirrels are able to jump, so if they can’t jump to the roof, they can’t get access to the roof. The Spruce / Micah Issitt and Adrienne Legault. Netting can be placed over areas where bulbs and corms have been planted, to deter squirrels from digging them up. From physical barriers meant to keep critters at bay to handy ingredient swaps that will deter attention from your garden, the following methods can help keep squirrels … So for those of us taunted by boisterous squirrels in the loft or scaring off our feathered friends, below is some useful advice to deal with them. There are lots of bird feeders on the market and very few are squirrel resistant. Whilst some of us like to see squirrels bounding around the parks, most of us are not so happy to see them in our own garden, or even worse the house. As urban animals, squirrels have adapted to live alongside all kinds of noises and other stimuli. 1 Archipelago, Lyon Way,  Squirrels can come in through your fireplace. Pet food, in general, has a heavy aroma and attracts squirrels, raccoons, gophers and many other animals that live by gathering food. 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'll keep the squirrels and other animals out, but you can still use your chimney. Repellants also have the disadvantage of repelling the gardener. READ MORE: This is the easiest way to keep squirrels out of your yard Live trapping is another method of removing squirrels from the property, but this can be highly ineffective unless you know exactly how many squirrels have taken up residence. "And adding some cayenne pepper to those bird feeders will help keep the squirrels out but won't adversely affect the birds," she says. If you are looking for a little inspiration this year as you plan your garden and your planting, what better place to... © 2020 Evergreen Garden Care (UK) Ltd. For instance, if you have nut trees, rake up any nuts that fall from the tree and keep the area clean. Purchase a ‘Guardian’ which is a squirrel resistant cage that fits over the top of a regular bird feeder. Protect your garden — after planting bulbs or seeds, or when plants begin blooming — with netting or chicken wire. If you prefer to use aluminum foils, lay them across the top of your plants and make some holes for water. Buy a squirrel resistant bird feeder - a caged feeder restricting access to the food by squirrels but which still allows smalls birds from feeding. Here's our guide. Leaving a light on (a cool LED one) in the attic or a radio tuned to a ‘talking station’ can disturb squirrels and drive them out of your loft. Mar 21, 2019 - Learn my best strategies for how to keep squirrels out of flower pots and the garden. Do you want your rose garden to smell like coyote urine and onions? Learn tips for creating your most beautiful (and bountiful) garden ever. For some, cats are doted-on furry friends, but almost half of the survey respondents had experienced problems with neighbourhood felines in your gardens and would much prefer that they didn’t visit at all. Remove it when shoots appear. A good practice to keep the squirrels out of your garden is to remove all temptation that is easy-to-eat food in your yard. How to Keep a Squirrel Out of Fruit Trees. Invest in a more technological feeder which has a weight-activated shut off to the feeding port, so as soon as the squirrel lands on the feeder the access is closed. United Kingdom. If you have a garden, you can encase it in a wire fence, or, if it's a small garden in a box, move it inside a screened area that still gets adequate sunlight. Hardware cloth, plastic bird netting, chicken wire, and summer weight row covers all provide effective protection. Sink additional chicken wire over freshly planted bulbs to prevent digging. Wind, water, and sunlight will cause repellants to break down quickly. The odour is repellent to squirrels but does them no harm. Same with fruit trees: rake up any fallen fruit that will have your squirrels’ names on them. There are many squirrel repellants on the market, but most of them are based on predator urine or hot pepper. Ensure there are no access holes into your property. Make your own Hot Pepper Spray. Some plants have developed a defense mechanism of bitter or toxic sap to stop animals from eating them, so include these in your beds, borders, and hanging baskets. The Spruce uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Cover particularly susceptible fruit and vegetable plants with a wire mesh cage. Place mothballs around your garden or flower pots if you want the squirrels to stay out. Though it sounds so DIY, it’s still an effective way to keep the squirrels out of your garden since they hate shiny reflection. Products are available that contain the scent of squirrel predators such as foxes and these can be sprayed all over the area in which the squirrels have taken up residence to scare them off. If you decide to fence off your garden or another area to keep squirrels out, you’ll have to put a tall fence around any plant that you want to protect. Use a heavyweight mulch around plants and on the top of pots to prevent squirrels from attacking the roots. Mischievous, maddening, and always poised for action, squirrels seem to always be one step ahead of gardeners when it comes to the damage they inflict on our flower and vegetable beds. After the harvest is over, remove any dropped fruits or vegetables from the ground. Alternatively put plenty of pots filled with mint around the garden; squirrels find peppermint too strong for their sensitive noses. When did you last see a red squirrel and where were you? Make sure the feeder is far from your bird feeders, too, to give squirrels a place of their own. Grey squirrels are now very common in the wild. In particular, for killing garden birds. Mix in fresh, strong smelling coffee grounds with the top layer of soil. In general, Squirrels will tend to eat these plants first: Any young plant (1 year or less) Any soft or tender plant (think smooth leaves that are easy to tear) Well, there are many alternatives to using dangerous chemicals to send squirrels away from your garden, like essential oils (thyme, rosemary etc..), making sounds etc. There have been many scientific studies which have shown that the major contributing factor for the decline of the red squirrel is the introduction of its grey cousin. However, this isn’t really practical in a domestic garden! Cats are also disliked for scaring away and attacking wildlife. Put a squirrel guard around your birdfeeder as in the video, or buy a squirrel-proof birdfeeder. Don't forget to clear away other foodstuffs that attract squirrels, like leftover pet food and dropped acorns or black walnuts in the landscape. Additionally, cats and dogs can create their own nibbling and digging damage in the garden. Like all wild animals, squirrels are opportunistic, and will take advantage of the proverbial low-lying fruit in your landscape. This will stop squirrels from flaying the bark from the tree for use in dray building. Sprinklers activated by movement could help to deter squirrels from the garden, as well as other unwanted domestic visitors like next doors cat. Fencing has a lot going for it as a pest exclusion device for any animal, but fencing can also be expensive and unsightly for larger areas. 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. They will also have to be humanely destroyed if they're grey squirrels as they are classified as a pest. This is inadvisable unless you know your species. Rather than erecting barriers, or peering out the window hoping to catch the blighters at it, simply add a dash of chilli powder to the mix. 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. Like most wild animals if there is a source of food they are likely to remain. Metal mesh cloches are ideal for young vegetable plants, especially leafy greens. Plant peppermint, onions, and garlic between your other plants to help deter the squirrels. Squirrels relish many of the same plants that we do, including fruits and vegetables, seeds, nuts, and berries. A strategically placed large feeder, one close to a squirrel’s home area, might be enough of a deterrent to keep your garden intact. If you’re willing to risk a little squirrel discomfort for the sake of your garden, there are a number of ways to apply hot chilies as a natural squirrel repellent. Be sure to keep these away from pets and children, as they can be very harmful if ingested. You will need to use a wire mesh so the squirrels can't nibble through them. Here is our advice on deterring squirrels from setting up home in your garden. What worked for you? Ultimately, you may have to turn your squirrel prevention methods into entertainment, Wareham suggests. You can remove this after the bulbs start producing shoots. She has years of experience in caring for flowers and plants. Squirrels don't like the taste of daffodils, hyacinth, allium and snowdrops. Why they’re not welcome The main problem caused by cats is digging in beds and borders, and fouling in them. 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