Natural Ways to Keep Squirrels Out of the Garden

Gardening is perhaps one of the most therapeutic pursuits one can engage in during the warmer months. From planting seeds and watering them, to watching them sprout and develop into full grown plants, the feeling one gets from watching this miraculous transformation unfold can be deeply satisfying and soothing.

But when a persistent garden pest enters the picture, the joy and tranquility of gardening can suddenly be replaced with frustration as you witness your hard work being dug up, eaten, or plundered. One of the more common garden pests is the squirrel. Because of its small size and natural agility, it can get past fencing that would normally keep larger animals out.

Commercial squirrel repellents are an option, but often contain chemicals that are harmful to the environment, pets, and other wildlife. So what are some more natural ways to keep squirrels out of the garden? Read on!

When Squirrels Get the Best of You – And Your Garden!

We had our first experience with squirrels the first year I grew carrots. I had just harvested some carrots, but had found them a little on the small side, so I decided to leave the remainder for another week or two.

I watched the base of the carrots peeking out of the soil as they increased in size, and excitedly looked forward to harvesting them. But as I passed by the carrots one day while leaving the house, I noticed a bunch of carrot greens lying on top of the soil. When I inspected them more closely, I noticed that they were neatly cut, almost as though someone had used a pair of scissors.

I resisted the urge to immediately harvest the rest of the carrots and later regretted it. That evening, I found that every one of my beautiful carrots had been uprooted, leaving only holes in the soil where they had once occupied, and more neatly “snipped” carrot greens for me to clean up.

After speaking with my aunt, I discovered that this was very likely the work of squirrels. I later watched these little rascals return to the scene of the crime, jumping down into my raised garden bed from an overhanging tree.

The next year, I began early in the gardening season to devise a plan to prevent a repeat of what had occurred the previous summer. What to do? These little acrobats were smart enough to strike when no one was around, and now knew there were likely to be delicious treats hidden in these beds.

I will admit, I enjoyed watching them playfully bounding through my backyard, checking each bed and pot with as much interest as I did. But one particular squirrel was ruthless, I mean look what he did to my son’s birdhouse:

One morning, I found my dill had been dug up, and I knew it was time to take action. Here is what I did:

Netting

I used 3 or 4 garden hoops per raised garden bed and then covered those with netting. I’ll be honest, I had some leftover tulle from my friend’s bridal shower, and I used that as the netting!

The hoops I purchased from the dollar store, but my husband also bought some hoops from Amazon thinking they would be better. They came with clips to keep the netting in place, so that was a bonus, but if you’re creative, I’m sure you could go the dollar store route and fashion some clips of your own.

The netting worked very well for keeping not only squirrels out of my garden, but also unwanted insects. If you’re having problems with smaller pests, this fine mesh netting is the way to go.

While the hoops and netting worked well, I soon realized that pollinators could not reach my flowering plants. So I headed back to the dollar store in search of some bird netting. This was also effective for keeping squirrels out, while letting pollinators in. You can also buy bird netting on Amazon.

One problem I ran into with this solution was that I had to remove the netting eventually because the plants outgrew the size of the hoops I had purchased. However, this is an easy fix — you just need to buy bigger hoops!

Now that the raised garden beds were taken care of, I had to figure out how to protect my potted plants. For these, I used either tomato cages or 3 stakes wrapped in netting, depending on the size the plant would grow to. I discovered that squirrels are pretty smart; if they see netting, they typically stay away as they don’t want to risk getting caught in it.

If buying the hoops, cages and netting seems like more work or money than you want to invest, then there are other methods you can try.

Fencing

Putting fencing up around your garden is another option; however, you will want to use a material such as metal mesh or hardware cloth with small holes. Fine mesh chicken wire is a good option here. The fencing should be at least 6 feet above ground and another 6-12 inches below ground (these little guys can dig!).

If there are any trees hanging over your garden, this might not be a viable option as squirrels in this case can access your garden from above.

In this case, you could use a cage design to keep out squirrels from all directions. Read about the solution this mother and daughter came up with to save their tomatoes from marauding squirrels here.

Chili Pepper Spray

I tried chili pepper spray a couple of summers ago in an attempt to alleviate a problem I was having with cabbage moths. They were all over my broccoli and Brussel sprouts, and nothing I did could allay the infestation.

While the chili spray was not all that effective for cabbage moths (maybe they don’t mind a little spice?), my husband decided to try it on our potted plants this year. So far? It seems to be working pretty well. I have not seen any of the characteristic holes dug into our pots since we’ve applied it, and I think there may be something to this. Prior to applying the chili spray, the only garden bed the squirrels hadn’t touched was the one where I’m growing all of my hot chilis – habaneros, cayenne, and jalapeños. It’s still early in the season, so I will continue to observe to see how this turns out.

To make the chili pepper spray, we blended 3 fresh red chilis with 2 litres (half a gallon) of water. My husband lightly poured this on the soil.

It has just finished raining so we will likely need to reapply it, but so far, there has been no evidence of squirrel activity in any of our pots.

Use Squirrel-Repellant Plants

There are certain species of plants that squirrels dislike the smell of such as alliums (onions, garlic, etc.), marigolds, and daffodils. Planting these in your garden can make your garden less appealing, and may be enough to keep them away.

Diversion Planting

Another option that I rather like the idea of is planting an area away from your garden with foods that squirrels love such as corn or sunflowers. However, these are rather large crops and require space to plant, so if you are working with a smaller area, you can try planting tomatoes, carrots, or beans.

Designated Feeding Area

This one is like diversion planting, but with less work. Have a feeder strategically placed away from your garden that is filled with their favourite treats such as black walnuts and pecans.

I know from personal experience that they go crazy for nuts. Remember the picture above? Well that birdhouse was filled with almonds. We assumed a squirrel chewed around the opening to gain access, but got confirmation the next morning when I saw a squirrel swinging from the birdhouse from his front paws, his hind legs dangling below kicking wildly as he desperately tried to get a foothold on the tiny perch with his hind paws. It was a hilariously impressive sight, nothing short of Mission Impossible, and one I remember fondly.

Decoys

Try placing rubber snakes or other fake predators such as owls, in your garden. If squirrels suspect danger, they’re likely to stay away.

From what I’ve learned, this method has limited effectiveness, as squirrels are clever little creatures and will catch on after a while. But if combined with having a cat or dog around your garden, the two together can act as a greater deterrent as the sense of danger can linger, along with your pet’s scent, long after it has vacated the area.

A Squirrel-Free Garden

There is hope if you’ve struggled with these little unwanted visitors, and you need not resort to violence! Like people, squirrels differ from each other, so if one method doesn’t work, try other methods, or combine them for maximum effectiveness. Even the most tenacious squirrels are likely to get in line. And if you try one of the diversion methods, you might actually make a little friend!