How do I Keep Groundhogs Out of Home Gardens?

Groundhogs will eat and destroy your garden if you do not take the proper measures of prevention.

The groundhog has been made famous thanks to Phil the Groundhog, the groundhog that is used to predict if there is six more weeks of winter according to whether or not he sees his shadow. Groundhog Day is celebrated in classrooms across the states with books, stories written by first graders and groundhogs made out of paper plates. While that is adorable, seeing a real one munching on your vegetables or flowers in your garden is not. There are ways to prevent groundhogs from destroying your gardens.

Things You'll Need

• Chicken wire
• Fence posts
• Landscape staples
• Marigolds
• Snapdragon
• Sweet Alyssum
• Annual Poppies
• Gallon of water
• Hot sauce
• Cayenne Pepper
• Spray bottle
• Scarecrow
• Motions-activated lights or alarms
• Windchimes

Instructions

1. Install a chicken wire or mesh fence around the garden area that is 3 to 4 feet tall pinning it to fence posts with landscape staples. Make sure to bury the fence about 1 foot deep. This will also keep out other pests such as rabbits and raccoons.

2. Plant flowers such as marigolds, snapdragon, sweet alyssum and annual poppies around the garden. Not only do the groundhogs not like the smell of these pretty flowers, they add a beauty to your garden and ward off pests such as aphids that like to eat certain vegetables such as squash and cucumbers.

3. Mix one gallon of water with one tablespoon of hot sauce or cayenne pepper and spray the plants, according to Stern Environmental Group. It is safe for the plants but will leave a hot taste on the groundhog's tongue preventing him from wanting to sample the plants again.

4. Scare the groundhog with noises and objects that move such as a scarecrow, wind chimes, motion-activated lights and alarms placed near the garden, thus scaring him away.

5. Evict the groundhog from its burrow in your yard by waiting until after February when the groundhog emerges to breed, reccommends The Humane Society of the United States. After the young have weaned themselves, set out clumps of used kitty litter inside of the burrow entrances. Pack the burrow with loose vegetation and check back in three to five days to see if the groundhogs have returned. If the barrier you placed there has been left untouched, it is safe to assume the groundhogs have left.

References

• Stern Environmental Group: How to Keep Groundhogs Out of Your Garden
• The Gardener's Rake: How to Keep Groundhogs Out of Your Garden
• The Humane Society of the United States: Getting Groundhogs Out of Gardens