How to Keep Squirrels Out of a Vegatable Garden & Plants
- 1). Build a physical barrier around the garden. Use a mallet to drive wooden stakes into the ground and staple chicken wire to them to make a fence 4 feel tall. If burrowing critters are also an issue, dig a 1-foot deep trench and extend the fence below ground as well. Chicken wire is ideal, as it has small enough openings to prevent squirrels from getting through and is tough enough that they cannot gnaw through.
- 2). Convince squirrels your garden isn't worth the fence-climbing effort by planting a couple of rows of plants they dislike closest to the fence. Chives and other members of the allium family (onions and garlic) are generally distasteful to critters, which makes them a good perimeter defense that still plays a food production role. Marigolds interspersed through the entire garden will make it less attractive to squirrels and insects.
- 3). Ensure that squirrels give your garden a wide berth by using fox urine pellets around the perimeter or by applying liquid spray to the wooden stakes of the fence. Predator urine was found to be the most reliably effective repellent in a study done by the University of Georgia Extension Service; it is the only repellent that invokes the survival instinct as powerfully as hunger does. Using urine can have the unwanted effect of inviting foxes to the yard. If this is problematic, purchased or homemade sprays based on pepper, garlic and putrefied egg, are reasonably effective.
- 4). Trap squirrels as a last resort. Most states regulate wildlife relocation, requiring screening for communicable diseases, and most areas limit where animals can legally be released. Hiring a licensed nuisance wildlife operator well-versed in these regulations is worth the expense. Despite the expense, trapping squirrels is usually only a short term answer. Squirrels are territorial animals, so if one or two are removed from an area, it is probably just a matter of time before new ones learn of the vacancy.
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