How To Keep Pesky Squirrels Out Of Your Garden

Squirrels can be fun to watch, especially when they show their gymnastic skills by frolicking in the tree branches.

However, if the squirrel population around your garden gets out of hand, it can quickly become a nuisance. 

You may find that your garden is at the mercy of rogue critters when they gain an acquired taste for fruits, veggies and seeds in your garden.

If you're wondering how you can tell you have a squirrel problem and what you can do to keep them at bay, you're in the right place.

First, let's discuss a few signs that will alert you of an ongoing squirrel problem.

Related Post: Natural Solutions for Keeping Critters Out of Your Garden

How Can You Tell You Have a Squirrel Problem?

1. Unexplained noise in and around your garden

You may not realize you have a squirrel problem until your precious garden produce gets gnawed away.

People often think nothing of squirrels running around the neighborhood because they seem harmless. However, if you hear strange noises around your garden, you may be facing a squirrel problem.

Pay attention to strange noises at all hours of the day and night.

Because of the wide array of critters your garden may attract, keep in mind that these sounds could very well point to other common garden visitors like rabbits, opossums and birds.  

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With squirrels in particular though, you may hear rustling, scurrying, scampering and scratching noises all over your garden. 

If you have neighboring trees, listen for any shaking or trembling branches as squirrels may be running up and down the trunk and branches as they travel from their home base back to your garden beds.

2. Squirrel Droppings

Droppings can be one of the most apparent signs of a squirrel infestation in your garden.

If rodents spend enough time in your garden to accumulate droppings, they have definitely set up shop.

In fact, you may find squirrel droppings all over your garden accompanied by squirrel paw prints and shallow homes dug around your plants. 

Related Post: 5 Harmful Garden Insects and How to Eliminate Them 

3. Footprints in Your Garden

If you look carefully enough, you may be treated to tiny squirrel footprints all over your garden—this can be a dead giveaway for you that squirrels are the culprits behind your destroyed fruit and veggie plants.

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How to Deter Squirrels from Your Garden

Once you're sure you have a squirrel problem, you need to find a way to end the infestation or your garden crops will continue to suffer and your yields will be low.

Fortunately, you'll quickly discover that deterring squirrels doesn't have to call for lethal methods.

There are ways to repel squirrels from your gardens that are entirely humane. They include:

1. Remove what the squirrels love most

If you notice a particular seed or plant the squirrels love nibbling at, you could try removing it altogether.

If there is anything you can clean up, like trash cans or bird feeders, keep them as tidy as possible moving forward.

2. Distract them with sunflower seeds

Squirrels are suckers for sunflower seeds. Just like you can remove seeds from your garden to discourage their visits, you can also use seeds to keep the squirrels off track.

For example, consider using sunflower seeds to create a decoy for them, leading them away from your garden.

Ensure you place the seeds far away enough from your garden so they don't get incentivized to keep returning to your garden for the seeds.

3. Use repelling materials; Greenway Biotech Products

Many gardeners will advise you to use black pepper, cayenne paper and peppermint oil or cinnamon oil in your garden to repel squirrels.

Simply, add drops of peppermint oil or cinnamon oil on cotton balls and place them around the areas of your garden where squirrels hang around the most.

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Our essential oils in particular are organic and hand bottled in the U.S. for quality control.

You may find that our Blood Meal fertilizer can help keep critters like red squirrels and the like out of your garden because of the smell.

To use Blood Meal to repel squirrels, sprinkle Blood Meal around the areas of your garden where squirrels frequent. 

You will have to reapply after any rainfall or regular garden watering. 

To see our collection of natural pesticides or fertilizers for your garden, head over to our Pesticides Collection here or our Fertilizers Collection here.