The sight of upturned soil and scattered petals is a common frustration for anyone who tends a flower garden. Squirrels, despite their playful appearance, can cause significant damage by digging up bulbs, disturbing seedlings, and disrupting carefully planned displays. Protecting your flowers requires understanding the squirrels’ behavior and employing a non-lethal, multi-layered approach to make your garden less appealing. This guide provides practical strategies using physical barriers, sensory repellents, and thoughtful plant selection to safeguard your horticultural efforts.
Understanding Squirrel Motivation
Squirrels are primarily motivated by two instincts: caching food and seeking immediate food sources. They frequently bury nuts and seeds in loose soil, making flower beds or containers an easily workable medium for this caching activity. This digging is often the cause of scattered soil and dislodged plants.
The other driver is the direct consumption of plant material, particularly protein-rich flower bulbs. Species like tulips and crocuses are highly palatable food sources, while others, such as daffodils, are left alone. Squirrels are especially attracted to the disturbed soil of a freshly planted bed because the scent of newly buried bulbs is more noticeable. Addressing both the digging behavior and the search for food is necessary for effective deterrence.
Physical Exclusion Barriers
Creating a barrier is often the most reliable, long-term solution for preventing squirrels from accessing the soil and bulbs. This method works by denying the squirrel the space to dig or by making the soil surface uncomfortable to traverse. Chicken wire or hardware cloth are excellent for protecting newly planted bulbs, especially in the fall.
When planting vulnerable bulbs, you can create underground cages by lining the planting hole with wire mesh, such as hardware cloth with a small grid pattern. Fold the mesh over the bulbs before covering them with soil. This allows the roots and shoots to grow through the openings but prevents squirrels from digging down to the bulb. For protecting the soil surface in pots or garden beds, a layer of chicken wire or fine plastic netting can be laid over the area and secured firmly with landscape staples. The wire mesh should be covered lightly with mulch or soil to obscure it while preventing the animals from reaching the dirt below.
Using heavy rocks, pebbles, or crushed stone as a top layer of mulch serves as an effective deterrent. Squirrels dislike the feeling of sharp or uneven textures on their sensitive paws and will avoid digging through these materials. For container gardens, a layer of rough-surfaced lava rock or similar material can be placed on exposed soil to discourage the animals from attempting to bury their stores.
Sensory and Taste Deterrents
Deterrents that rely on taste and smell exploit the squirrel’s senses to make the garden area unpleasant. Capsaicin, the compound that gives chili peppers their heat, is a highly effective taste repellent that squirrels avoid. Commercial sprays containing capsaicin can be applied directly to the foliage and soil, or a homemade mixture of hot sauce, water, and dish soap can be used.
These liquid repellents must be reapplied frequently, especially after rainfall or overhead watering, as their efficacy diminishes over time. Another strong scent that repels squirrels is blood meal, an organic fertilizer that has an unpleasant odor. Sprinkling this around vulnerable plants acts as a dual-purpose product, deterring pests and providing a slow-release nitrogen source for the flowers.
Strong, aromatic essential oils are useful, with peppermint oil being a common choice. Cotton balls soaked in peppermint oil can be placed strategically around planters or garden edges to create an olfactory barrier. Materials with a gritty texture or strong odor can be spread across the soil surface, such as used coffee grounds, which squirrels dislike. Crushed oyster shells or coarse gravel provide an unappealing texture that prevents digging while adding a beneficial calcium source to the soil.
Planting Strategies and Selection
A long-term, preventative strategy involves selecting plants that squirrels find unappealing due to their taste or toxicity. Many ornamental bulbs contain distasteful or toxic compounds, making them a safe choice for areas with high squirrel activity. Daffodils, for example, contain the alkaloid lycorine, which is toxic to small animals and makes the bulbs unpalatable.
Other resistant bulbs include Alliums (ornamental onions), which emit a pungent, sulfurous odor. Hyacinths and Fritillaria bulbs contain compounds that give them an unpleasant odor and taste, leading squirrels to bypass desirable options like tulips and crocuses.
Interplanting these resistant flowers among more vulnerable species can help protect the entire bed. Planting daffodils around the perimeter of a tulip bed, for instance, creates a protective barrier that discourages foraging. Strong-scented perennial plants like geraniums, mint, and rosemary can be integrated into the garden design; their natural oils act as a localized repellent when planted near susceptible areas.