How to Keep Squirrels Out of a Garden

Tree squirrels are adorable. They also rip bark off trees, dig up plants and bulbs, and ransack outdoor bird feeders. To a gardener, they are merely rats with blow-dried tails.

Things You'll Need

• Pruning Shears
• Aluminum Flashing
• nails or screws
• chili peppers: the hotter, the better
• motion detection sprinkler
• bricks, stones or lumber
• fine plastic mesh
• squirrel-proof bird feeder

Instructions

1. Wrap 24-inch wide aluminum flashing around the base of tree trunks to prevent squirrels from shredding the bark. Use copper or stainless steel nails or screws to attach the metal to the trunk. (These metal collars will only protect stand-alone trees.)

2. Keep trees trimmed above fence lines and roofs. Squirrels prefer to travel via overhead highways in the tree canopy. By creating a break in their path, you eliminate the squirrels route into your garden.

3. Place loose plastic mesh over flower beds at planting time. The plants will grow through the mesh, but squirrels will be prevented from digging.

4. Use motion detection sprinklers in the garden where squirrels are a problem. A sudden burst of water will frighten them, at least temporarily. Motion detecting lighting is of no use because tree squirrels are not nocturnal.

5. Cover spring bulb beds with fine plastic mesh. Secure it along the sides of the beds with bricks, stones or lumber. By the time the bulbs are up in the spring, you can gently remove the mesh.

6. Place ground chili peppers in flower pots and garden beds. Use the hottest chilies you can find, the little Thai chilies are excellent, so are habaneras and cascabellas. The capsicum in the peppers makes for unpleasant digging. The term 'hot foot' applies here.

7. Rake up under bird feeders, or hang them over paved areas so that you can keep the ground beneath them clean. Squirrels love bird seed!

8. Use a squirrel-proof bird feeder. These feeders have cone shaped covers so squirrels can't slide down the wire to reach the seed.

Tips & Warnings

• Tree squirrels live anywhere there are trees.

• Squirrels also travel via telephone wires so reducing the tree canopy may not necessarily deter these determined creatures.

• Squirrels will munch on just about anything, including fruits, vegetables, sunflowers and rose hips.

• As squirrels run up and down a trunk, their sharp nails rip into and damage bark, eventually killing the tree.

• Do not handle wild squirrels. Their bites are painful and their claws are sharp.