If you’ve ever watched a squirrel clean out a bird feeder, you’ll know where I’m coming from when I say how frustrating and one-sided it can feel. Squirrels are persistent, agile, and motivated by the same high-energy seeds our feathered friends prefer. Baffles might sometimes seem to work, until they don’t. Relocating the bird feeder might buy you a week,but these acrobatic pests eventually seem to figure out an effective jumping trajectory. It’s an exhausting game of backyard chess.

Spicy bird food is different, because it works with biology rather than against determination – and squirrel determination, as most gardeners have discovered, is basically inexhaustible. By introducing a little heat to the menu by putting cayenne pepper in bird food, we are changing the reward system. It turns a free buffet into a five-alarm surprise for the squirrels, while the birds remain blissfully unaware.

The whole point of attracting birds to your yard is that they show up, stick around, and actually eat, and that can’t happen if squirrels get there first. Capsaicin (the compound that makes chili peppers hot) actively turns squirrels away, while keeping birds well-fed and happy. But how do you add it, and are there any special considerations? Here’s why your birdseed needs a pinch of cayenne this spring.

Why Cayenne Pepper?

The reason capsaicin is safe for common songbirds comes down to a difference in how their nervous systems are built. A bit of science for you (just a bit!) – capsaicin produces its heat by binding to a pain receptor called TRPV1. Mammals (including us and our bushy-tailed neighbors) have these receptors in abundance. When a squirrel bites into a pepper-treated sunflower seed, their brain receives a clear danger signal that translates to a burning sensation.

Birds have a differently structured version of this receptor that doesn't respond to capsaicin. So to a northern cardinal or a tufted titmouse, a spicy seed tastes like a regular one. According to the National Audubon Society, birds have far fewer taste buds than mammals (fewer than 50 compared to a human's 9,000). Because birds have evolved to help plants disperse seeds (often by eating the spicy fruits of wild peppers), they have no problems with this bird seed. This allows them to enjoy bird food with cayenne pepper, while squirrels beat a hasty retreat to find a milder snack.

The practical implication is that you can treat seed aggressively enough to send squirrels elsewhere, without affecting birds at all. Nuthatches, finches, chickadees, and cardinals will continue their feeding rituals with your squirrel proof bird food, with no change in feeding behavior or frequency. The squirrels, after a couple of unpleasant experiences, tend to move on to easier targets. It doesn’t harm them long-term, it simply teaches them that your feeder is off-limits.

How to Treat Your Seed

The simplest method for preparing bird food squirrels won’t eat is to mix dry cayenne pepper into the seed. A tablespoon of cayenne per cup of seed is a good ratio. Toss it together in a container, then fill the tube feeder, platform feeder, or birdie charcuterie board. While the coating won't be uniform, squirrels are very sensitive. They’ll figure it out within a single bite. If you find your local squirrels are being particularly brave, you can safely double the ratio to two tablespoons per cup. You can buy ground cayenne like Spicy World Hot Cayenne Pepper from Amazon in bulk for simple bird food with a definite kick.

You can also try an oil-based version for your squirrel proof yard, which does a better job of keeping the pepper where it belongs. Take a tablespoon of cayenne and work it into a small amount of vegetable or coconut oil to create a thin slurry or loose paste. Toss the seed in this mixture before the oil sets, and you get an even coat that sticks to the husk rather than settling at the bottom of the feeder. This is helpful for small seeds like nyjer or millet. Just be sure to spread the treated seed out on a tray for a few minutes to let the oil set, so it doesn’t gum up your feeder.

If you aren't a fan of the DIY approach, you can purchase pre-treated options. Many premium blends use liquid habanero or chili oils that are infused into the heart of the seed. Whether you mix your own or buy a spicy blend, just aim to keep the heat high, and the squirrels will strike your yard off their daily route, while birds will flock to eat uninterrupted and fill their birdie boots.

Shop Spice Essentials for Your Feeder

Creating a spicy “trail mix” that won’t get nabbed by pesky squirrels, make sure you stock up on a few extra-hot bird essentials. This trio of spicy nibbles and condiments will keep squirrels at bay and ensure that your bird food station remains exclusive to feathered guests.

Spice Up Your Bird Life Safely

Handling cayenne in quantity requires a bit of respect. The same compound that sends squirrels running will irritate your eyes and nose if you aren't careful. Mix your seeds outdoors or in a well-ventilated garage. Avoid doing this near an air vent or on a windy day, as cayenne dust is not something you want to inhale.

Wear gloves and try to avoid the urge to rub your eyes during the process. Once it’s in the feeder it’s not a problem, but the mixing step is where people catch themselves off guard. A dedicated container and a long-handled spoon can also help. You can buy Finitex Nitrile Orange Gloves from Amazon for finger-hugging protection.

Bear in mind that rain and heavy dew can dilute the capsaicin. If your anti-squirrel bird feeder is exposed to the elements, the dry-powder method will likely need a refresh. A feeder with a wide roof overhang holds the treatment longer. A squirrel-resistant feeder with a good cover, like Droll Yankees Squirrel Proof Bird Feeders from Amazon, pairs well with the cayenne approach. Between the two, a persistent squirrel runs out of angles fairly quickly.

While you’re adding spice, take a moment to check for clumping at the bottom of the feeder. Moisture can turn cayenne-dusted seed into a sticky mess that blocks the ports. A quick scrub with a 10% bleach solution every two weeks will keep your feeding station safe and hygienic for visitors.

Best Bird Care Before Spring

As well as preparing bird food squirrels don’t like, there are a few key areas to watch as we head towards spring. Our backyard birds are starting to prepare for the grueling work of nesting season. While spicy seed solves the food theft problem, there are a few other ways you can turn your yard into a five-star avian resort.

First, think about nesting materials. Offer natural fibers like wool scraps and dried grass. You can place these in a clean suet cage to give birds easy access to construction supplies. Other great natural options include fur from pets’ brushes, as well as twigs and dried mud. As a treat, add alpaca wool. You can buy AlmaPark Alpaca Nesting Material for Birds from Etsy for chickadees and tufted titmice.

Water is a spring essential. After a long winter, birds need fresh, clean water for both drinking and bathing to keep their feathers in top flight condition. If you’re setting up a birdbath, ensure it’s no more than 2 inches (5cm) full of water, and has a textured bottom so birds don't slip. It’s also a good idea to add a wiggler or a small fountain to keep the water moving. This helps keep things lively and fresh. You can buy a Solar Powered Bird Bath Wiggler from Amazon.

Remember to give birdhouses a spring clean. If you have boxes mounted, clear out last year’s nests to prevent parasite buildup. A diluted solution of Iberia All Natural Distilled White Vinegar from Amazon works wonders. It’s biodegradable, breaks down grease, and dries odorless. By combining spicy food, fresh water, and cozy nesting spots, you’re creating a true bird-friendly sanctuary.

Shop Other Squirrel Deterrents

Adding a little spice to proceedings is just one aspect of bird-friendly yard care. A truly squirrel-proof station will often require a multi-layered defense. From physical barriers to clever engineering, here are some of the best mechanical deterrents to pair with your spicy birdseed.

Reclaiming your feeder from the squirrel frenzy helps keep birdies nourished and ensures your bird tables are frequented by invited guests only. By using a little bit of science and a dash of cayenne, you’re ensuring that your investment in high-quality seed actually reaches the birds you love. It’s a safe, effective, and fascinating way to harmonize with nature. Get out there, get spicy, and enjoy the show!

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Have you ever been super excited after planting your beautiful bulbs, only to watch squirrels excavate them the next day? Or watched your carefully nurtured seedlings turn into a squirrel salad bar? Well, then you know the frustration. Some people may find squirrels cute, but once they’re systematically destroying your garden with their relentless digging and burying, they start to feel less like charming wildlife and more like, as Carrie Bradshaw once put it, “a rat with a cuter outfit.”

So, curious to know what actually works for real gardeners, I dove deep into the gardening communities of Reddit to find out what’s effective and what’s just an old wives’ tale. If you’ve ever wondered how to get rid of squirrels or tried everything to stop squirrels digging up bulbs, I wanted to hear real solutions from gardeners who’ve successfully battled them in their own backyards, season after season. Some advice is practical, some is bizarre (but might just work), and some is so genius that I caught myself thinking, “Why didn’t I think of that?”

1. Give Them Water (Seriously)

While it may sound counterintuitive, Reddit user heartlessgamer explains, “One of the main reasons squirrels end up in your garden is actually water content. Make sure you have plenty of water sources available in your yard/garden area; it has been surprisingly effective in my experience in cutting down on the squirrel incidents!"

Before brushing this off, think about it. Squirrels aren’t necessarily after your plants because they’re especially delicious or nutritious; quite often, they’re simply looking for moisture. Freshly watered soil can be a squirrel magnet when they’re thirsty.

To implement this tip, add a bird bath, or simply place a shallow dish of water, in a corner of your yard as far from your garden beds as possible. This gives squirrels an easier, more appealing option than digging around in your newly planted tomato bed. Refresh the water daily so it stays appealing and doesn’t attract mosquitoes.

Product Pick: The Sunnydaze bird bath from Target is a practical option that’s still aesthetically pleasing, making it an easy way to add a water source without compromising your garden’s style.

2. Make a Barrier with Chicken Wire

Reddit user SimpleMetricTon kept it simple, writing, “Chicken wire.”

Chicken wire or hardware cloth laid over your newly planted beds can help stop squirrels digging around without harming your plants. Once seedlings have established, you can remove it, or leave it in place if you’re protecting bulbs.

Tips for using barriers effectively:

• Lay chicken wire, like this from Amazon, flat over the soil after planting, and secure it with garden staples or pegs.
• If you’re protecting a single plant, create a simple wire cage around it.
• For larger areas, stretch bird netting over the bed to discourage digging.

If you have superhuman squirrels that are as determined as someone stranded in the desert without water for three days, hardware cloth works better because its smaller holes make it harder for them to dig through.

The only real downside is that it isn’t particularly attractive. But if squirrels are decimating your beds one plant at a time, aesthetics might quickly become the least of your concerns.

3. Use Predator Decoys

User Baby_Billy_69 suggested, "Rubber snakes! Move them 2x per day when possible…"

It might sound a little silly, but toy predator decoys can be surprisingly effective at keeping squirrels on edge. Rubber snakes are a classic option because they mimic one of the animals squirrels instinctively avoid.

That last part of the tip is highly important for this to work. Squirrels are a lot smarter than we give them credit for, and if a “snake” stays in the exact same position day after day, they’ll quickly realize it isn’t a real threat. However, moving it around your garden regularly helps maintain the illusion of danger, which can make squirrels think twice before digging in your beds.

The same principle applies to other predator decoys, like this Solar Owl Guard with motion detector, from Amazon, which many gardeners use to discourage squirrels and other small pests. The key is to reposition them every few days so animals don’t get used to them.

If you want to try the snake approach, these rubber snakes from Amazon come in a pack of eight and look impressively realistic (as in, they made me a little nervous when I first clicked on the listing).

4. Apply Coffee Grounds

User nature4uandme shares: "...The only natural thing I have found is coffee, they don't like it, neither do rabbits. It doesn't last long, but it seems after a while, they stop. I emphasize seems, who knows why they bury them where they do. They are nuts! I guess they are what they eat!"

Sprinkling used coffee grounds around plants and over the soil can create a scent barrier that squirrels and rabbits apparently find unpleasant. The effectiveness of this trick is a little debatable, but if you’re a coffee drinker, it’s essentially free to try.

As a bonus, when coffee grounds break down, they add small amounts of nitrogen and organic matter to the soil, so you’re feeding your garden while trying to fend off those annoying little munchkins.

5. Try the Surface Cover Trick

This tip from Reddit user neutral_good is based on a bit of squirrel psychology: "Squirrels like to dig in areas that look like they were disturbed by other squirrels. Why? Well they think their friend buried a nut or something there and want to dig it up themselves! I simply put a layer of straw or leaves over the area and it really does a good job convincing the squirrels that there is nothing there to mess with. A big open patch of dirt is their dream to dig in, so you need to trick them with something on the surface! Works for me like a charm."

It’s actually a pretty clever idea. Fresh, bare soil signals to squirrels that digging may have recently taken place, which means there could be all kinds of tasty snacks hidden underneath.

To try this yourself, cover exposed soil with mulch, straw, or fallen leaves so the area looks undisturbed. This makes the space far less inviting for curious squirrels. It may be one of the best effort-to-effectiveness ratios among the Reddit tips: it’s simple, it improves your soil, and it outsmarts squirrels at their own game.

6. Apply Chicken Manure

Reddit user CuteFreakshow reports: "Hen manure! Tried and true. Plus bonus fertilizer."

Chicken manure has a strong smell, and as we saw with coffee grounds, there are certain scents squirrels just don’t like. It’s also a high-nitrogen fertilizer, so it can benefit your plants at the same time.

Don’t use fresh manure, as it can be too “hot” and may burn your plants. Instead, opt for aged or composted chicken manure, which is safer to use in garden beds.

7. Combine Strong Scents and Spicy Deterrents

For the truly desperate, Reddit user Dearzita suggests: "Coyote pee and hot pepper. You can find both on Amazon."

While I’d rather not think too hard about the logistics of collecting coyote urine, predator urine products are actually sold as wildlife deterrents. Gardeners and homeowners use them to mimic the scent of a nearby predator, which can make squirrels and other small mammals think twice about hanging around.

As it turns out, Dearzita was right – you can find coyote urine on Amazon from several brands, including Lakota Naturals.

Hot pepper works on a similar principle of irritation. Capsaicin – the compound that makes peppers spicy – is highly unpleasant to mammals like squirrels and rabbits, but birds can’t taste it, which is why it’s often used in wildlife deterrents. Sprinkle a small amount around plants or garden beds to make the area less appealing for nibbling and digging.

The Multi-Method Approach

The consensus in the Reddit gardening community is that no single method works perfectly forever – squirrels are highly adaptable and persistent. The best strategy is to combine several different approaches and rotate them regularly.

While Reddit’s collective wisdom suggests that completely squirrel-proofing a garden is nearly impossible, reducing their visits is a far more achievable goal. And don’t worry – we’re all in this together, even if it sometimes feels like the squirrels are slowly taking over the world.

Squirrel-Proofing Picks

Pests in the garden present significant challenges. It can sometimes seem like all of nature is out to get your plants. They eat, infect, and sometimes completely destroy the plants you worked so hard to grow.

Many gardeners focus on insects and the damage they can do to plants, but pest animals are some of the most common garden pests. For a healthy, thriving garden, you need to know about all the critters you’re up against and how to manage them.

Here are some common animal pests and what to do about them.

1. Deer

Let’s start with a big one. Many gardeners throughout North America deal with deer and wonder how to keep deer out of the garden. These large herbivores can get over and around a lot of barriers and will eat almost any plant material. Signs of deer on your plants include stripped bark on trees, missing buds on flowering shrubs, and ragged leaves. Damage is higher up on plants than that caused by other animals.

Physical barriers are most effective in keeping deer away from plants. However, deer-proof fences need to be seven to eight feet (2.1 to 2.4 m) tall because deer can jump. Deer Busters has plastic and metal deer fence kits that come with everything you need to keep greedy grazers out of your garden. Scare tactics, like shiny objects or motion-activated sprinklers, can be effective, but deer may lose their fear over time. Perhaps the best strategy is to grow plants that deer won’t eat. Do your research before choosing landscaping plants.

2. Rabbits

Much smaller but often very destructive is the rabbit. Rabbits are hard to keep out of the garden and are hungry herbivores. They particularly like vegetables and flowers but will sometimes eat bark, especially on dogwoods. Signs of rabbit damage include neat, 45-degree cuts on stems, ground-level damage, and missing buds.

Protect your vulnerable plants, like vegetables, from rabbits with a two-foot (0.6-m) barrier. Rabbits dig, too, so bury it at least six inches (15 cm) into the ground. Use deterrent plants around your vegetable patch. Rabbits are deterred by the smell of onions, garlic, marigolds, lavender, and catnip. You can also purchase a ready-made repellent like Liquid Fence which can be purchased from Amazon. Surprisingly, some people also have success using cat hair to deter rabbits!

3. Groundhogs

Groundhogs make burrows that create large holes in the garden, which can be both unsightly and dangerous, especially in a lawn. Groundhogs like to eat leafy greens, vegetables and roots. Look for large holes with mounds of soil next to them to identify a groundhog. The damage they cause to plants is similar to that caused by rabbits.

To keep groundhogs out of your garden, use a barrier as you would to keep rabbits out, but make the height at least 3 feet (0.9 m) tall and more than six inches deep. You can also try scare deterrents, as you would with deer, or use strong smells like predator urine or ammonia.

4. Squirrels and Chipmunks

Squirrels and chipmunks dig a lot in the garden. They especially like to dig into fresh soil, so watch anything you’ve just planted for signs of digging. They also eat seeds and bulbs. They may eat vegetables, but they are not as hungry for green plants as other animals in garden settings.

Squirrels are easily deterred from eating plants that taste spicy, so spray them with a liquid mix of cayenne pepper or other spices. You can also add cayenne powder to bird seed. It doesn’t bother birds, but squirrels hate it. When putting in new plants, pat the soil down well to prevent squirrels from identifying it as freshly turned.

5. Skunks

Skunks have a varied diet, which includes insects. If you see a lot of holes in the lawn in midsummer, it could be skunks digging for grubs. They also eat newly planted bulbs, berries, and garbage. Skunks damage plants and lawns, but they also carry rabies, so managing them is important for safety.

Keep your garden clean and garbage well contained. Garbage is a big draw for skunks. Seal off any cozy areas they might be drawn to nest, such as under decks. You can use fencing, as you would with rabbits, to keep skunks away from sensitive plants.

6. Raccoons

Raccoons leave a trail of damage similar to that of skunks. One important distinction is how they dig in the lawn. Skunks leave holes, while raccoons will dig up and roll over whole sections of turf. They also get into garbage and eat many plants.

Raccoons carry rabies, too, but not to the same extent as skunks. Still, you probably want to manage them. Use similar strategies as you would with skunks. Also, try scare tactics, but keep in mind raccoons are pretty clever and will quickly learn not to be afraid. Cleanliness and keeping garbage contained are most important. If raccoons are getting into your compost pile, try using a compost tumbler with locking doors like this dual chamber compost tumbler from Miracle-Gro on Amazon.

7. Rats

Rats can be an issue in the garden in many areas. Signs of rats include marks on plastic bins or wood where they have gnawed, small cylindrical droppings, greasy runs along walls and fences, and balls of shed fur. On plants, look for parallel marks made by their two big front teeth.

Rats can become a real infestation if you’re not careful, and they can pose health risks. If you have rats, stop feeding other wildlife. Your bird feeder could be attracting rats, too. Use a spicy birdseed like this Wild Delight Sizzle 'N' Heat bird food from Amazon. If the problem continues, stop feeding birds entirely.

Keep your entire garden tidy. Extra growth and wood piles attract rats for cover and nesting. Seal off any areas where rats could get in and nest, such as small cracks or holes in sheds.

If you have animals eating garden plants, you’ll know. They can consume a lot more than insect pests, which makes them potentially very destructive. Know your pests, how to identify the damage, and do your best to keep them out for the healthiest garden.

Holes in your turf grass, or even in your beds, can be a problem. In the yard, holes damage grass, are safety hazards, and make your lawn look less aesthetically pleasing. In beds, they damage plants or even kill plants by disturbing the roots. For the healthiest garden, you’ll want to prevent holes, or if they start showing up, determine the cause and put a stop to it.

Although we tend to think of pests as insects that attack plants, animals that dig holes are also common garden pests. Animals create holes for a variety of reasons, from searching for food to creating shelter. Those that make big holes or numerous holes can become a real problem.

Many homeowners want to know how to keep animals out of the garden, but you need to start with identification first. Once you identify the culprit, you can manage the issue effectively.

Common Animals That Dig Holes

There are many garden pests that dig holes. It helps to understand which animals exhibit this behavior and why they do it.

• Squirrels. Squirrels are among the most common animals gardeners encounter. They dig holes for two reasons: to access food and to bury food. They might dig a hole, for example, to get at a tasty tulip bulb. In the fall, especially, they dig holes to hide nuts for later.
• Raccoons. Raccoons are common, too, but less often spotted in the act of digging as they are mostly nocturnal. They dig shallowly in yards seeking tasty grubs and other insects. They often roll back sod, especially freshly-laid sod, to get to food.
• Skunks. Also nocturnal, skunks have similar motives to raccoons. They tend to do more damage, as they are very adept diggers. They can tear up a lot of lawn in a short amount of time with their sharp claws and long noses. They also roll back sod.
• Moles. Moles can be very damaging to lawns because they spend most of their lives underground. They dig burrows connected by tunnels for shelter, to raise young, and to hunt worms and insects for food.
• Voles. Voles behave similarly to moles, but they do not create the same extensive tunnel systems. They make burrows with short paths into them. Also, unlike moles, they eat vegetation, not insects or worms.
• Armadillos. For some southern gardeners, armadillos are the hole-digging culprits. They dig in the ground to look for food—their diet is primarily insects—and to create shelter. Armadillos can create a big mess in a short amount of time, digging burrows many feet long. They’ve even been known to make walkways collapse.
• Groundhogs. Groundhogs, also known as woodchucks, eat vegetation above ground but create large burrows and extensive tunnel systems for shelter. Because they are large animals, these systems can cause a lot of yard damage.
• Dogs. Finally, our furry best friends often love to dig in the yard. Why do dogs do it? It’s a natural behavior used for hunting small prey, burying food for later, and finding a cool spot in hot weather. A dog may also dig due to anxiety and boredom.

What Animal Is Digging Holes in My Yard?

Details about how and why animals dig can help you identify those damaging your garden. There are several things you can observe to make a determination. The size and depth of the holes, for instance, can distinguish several diggers. Burrowers, like moles, voles, armadillos, and groundhogs, dig deep. Skunks and raccoons only dig deep enough to find insects. Larger burrowers make larger holes.

Between voles and moles, which are very similar, you can look at the extent of the tunneling and other clues. Moles make much longer and more connected tunnels. Also, moles leave mounds of dirt next to their holes, while voles do not.

You can also look for aboveground clues, like scat and prints. If you can identify the tracks left by a raccoon, for instance, you can identify the digger.

How to Stop Animals Digging Holes in Yard

An identification of the digger makes it easier to develop an effective plan for preventing holes. Anything you can do to make your lawn less desirable for that particular animal will cause them to look elsewhere for food or shelter.

Food is a major motivation. Insects, worms, and grubs in the lawn are very attractive to many diggers, like skunks, raccoons, and armadillos. It's especially important to manage grubs, which can be damaging in their own right, to deter larger pests. Use a product like Scotts GrubEx, which is available from Amazon, to control grub worm populations in your yard. It controls grubs for up to 4 months which will also help keep your roses protected from Japanese beetles when the grubs mature.

Deterrents can also make your lawn less desirable to diggers. Use motion-activated lights or water to deter pests. This solar ultrasonic animal repellent from Amazon has different settings based on which animal you want to repel so it is targeted and effective.

Certain smelly sprays can also deter animals. Predator scents may keep many of these diggers away, as they are prey animals. Mighty Mint rodent repellent spray from Amazon uses a plant-based formula to keep mice and other rodents away.

Another strategy for preventing holes is to create barriers. If you have diggers going into beds or getting at your bulbs, fencing or underground screens can help keep them out. Steel hex web fencing from Deer Busters is a great option for excluding digging pests from your garden. It is easy to bury underground to prevent burrowing in to your beds or lawn.

Some diggers are very hard to manage, like moles. You may need to call in a professional to help manage these pests.

These annoying creatures will, absolutely, make your house a mess, and chew through wires to ruin your home’s wiring. Learning how to keep mice out of your house starts with blocking their sneaky paths. They like to nest in garden junk or slip through gaps, anywhere, aiming for warmth. An easy fall cleanup trashes their hideouts fast.

It is important to understand mouse control methods to stop rodents before they invade. Pick mouse deterrent tricks that match your setup, guarding garden beds or compost piles. Blocking their hideouts will stop rodents from causing chaos. If you want a rodent-free home, it is time to act.

How to keep mice out of your house depends on your property. Sealed gaps and clean yards block mice and deter rats from crashing indoors. Combine barriers with traps, and your home stays protected.

Seal Up All Entry Points

Mice and rats can easily squeeze through holes as small as a dime to invade your home. They chew wood, wires, or food bags, leaving a giant trail of damage. Sealing your home from rodents in fall will stop them before they even settle in. Check every nook, and use tough products to block their paths.

Where to Look

• Door and window gaps let mice slip through, especially in older homes.
• Foundation or siding holes, even tiny ones, are rodent highways to your house.
• Pipes, vents, and cables often have gaps where rats sneak inside.
• Garden sheds, compost bins, and greenhouses can harbor mice if cracks go unchecked.

Helpful Products

These products from Amazon can be delivered straight to you!

• Chew-resistant caulk: Suits sealing small gaps, stopping mice from chewing through. Try Loctite Tite Foam for durable fills.
• Steel wool fillers: Stuff steel wool in tight spaces to block rats with chew-proof strands. Xcluder Rodent Barrier Kit works well and comes with protective gloves, a fit tool, and shears to cut the steel wool.
• Metal mesh: Mesh will easily cover vents and keep rodents out of larger holes or gaps that can't be filled. This roll of Hardware Cloth is tough and is 100 feet long (30.5 m) so you can keep mice out of all spaces.
• Weather stripping: Perfect for sealing around door gaps to stop mouse entry and also prevent cold drafts blowing in. Frost King Rubber Strip fits most doors.

Keep Outdoor Areas Clean and Uninviting

Rodents love messy yards with food and shelter waiting. Fallen fruit or pet food draws mice, while dense plants hide them. A good fall garden clean-up makes it a no-go zone for rats. Clear debris and secure bins to keep mice out of your house in fall.

What to Do

• Harvest fruits and veggies fast, so mice don’t snack on them.
• Pick up fallen apples or spilled birdseed which attracts rats and other pests.
• Trim dense ground cover near your foundation to expose rodent hideouts.
• Seal compost bins tight to stop mice from snacking and nesting in scraps.

Helpful Products

Here are some more helpful items on Amazon.

• Rodent-proof compost bin: This Back Porch ComposTumbler is sturdy and has a secure latch that will prevent rodents from raiding your scraps.
• Metal storage container: Locks tight, securing pet food or birdseed. The Simplehuman Pet Food Can is reliable and looks great too.
• Quick pick up: The Garden Weasel large nut gatherer rolls over walnuts, apples, and other fallen fruits and nuts in your yard to pick them up without having to bend over or break a sweat.

Use Natural and Electronic Deterrents

Mouse deterrents mess with rodents’ senses or scare them off your property. Sprays, sounds, or vibrations make your garden less inviting. These tools work in fall to stop mice before they head indoors. Combine them for a solid defense without harsh chemicals.

Types of Deterrents

These products from Amazon offer useful and humane ways to repel mice and rats.

• Ultrasonic animal repellent: Deter mice and rats with this solar ultrasonic animal repellent that uses specific frequencies and light to send pests running.
• Peppermint oil spray: Spray around garden beds, doorways, or other entry points to shoo rats and mice. Mighty Mint Rodent Repellent is effective and natural.
• Predator urine granules: Sprinkle around the edges of your yard. This product mimics the scent of foxes to scare mice. Shake-Away Fox Urine Granules does the job.

Set Traps Strategically – Especially in Fall

Despite your best efforts to seal your home from rodents, there might still be a few pest intrusions. If mice make it inside your house, there are traps that will suit your needs. No matter which type you choose, you should check them daily. These tools that can be found on Amazon will do the trick.

• Snap trap: Use along walls where mice run to quickly kill them. Victor Metal Pedal Trap is cheap and reliable.
• Live trap: Not interested in hurting the mice? the Victor 'Tin Cat' live mouse trap is humane and allows you to easily release the mice outside of your home.
• Bait station: Mice will eat the poison and wander outside before expiring. The Tomcat Bait Station is secure, but I still would not recommend using this method of mouse control if you have children or pets.

Now is the time to start thinking about how to keep mice out of your house. Hopefully, these tips and products will help keep your home rodent free all year.

Deer are majestic creatures that are an important part of our ecosystem, but they can destroy all your hard work in the garden overnight. Gardeners who live in rural and suburban areas understand the frustration of coming out in the morning to water your beautiful hydrangeas only to find them decimated by a hungry herd of deer.

Even one deer can do a ton of damage in a short period of time. They especially love tender new growth on plants, but I have known deer to chow down on plants that were supposedly “deer proof.” Every avid gardener I know searches for the latest and greatest deer repellent to keep deer from eating plants year after year. Little has worked.

However, this top-rated solar ultrasonic animal repellent from Amazon caught my eye after seeing hundreds of positive customer reviews. It is affordable and a humane method of deer control and deters other animal pests, as well. As a former park ranger, I am all about keeping wildlife safe, as well as keeping my garden uneaten. I will be adding this product to my deer repelling regimen immediately.

Top-Rated Deer Deterrent

This solar ultrasonic animal repellent is safe, humane, and clever in how it deters deer and other animals from munching through your garden. It features five modes that you can select depending on the type of animal that is raiding your flower beds. There are three ultrasonic settings that emit different frequencies of sound to repel rabbits, raccoons, weasels, foxes, and other small animals. The other two modes utilize flashing lights to deter deer, squirrels, wolves, and other larger animals.

The device is solar powered and waterproof so there is virtually no maintenance required. The ‘set it and forget it’ nature of this repeller is really appealing. I have no desire to continually replace batteries—there are too many other garden tasks I need to attend! The only maintenance is a quick wipe of the solar panels every so often to allow the solar cells to do their job. Creating a deer resistant garden has never been easier.

This animal repeller is also quick and easy to set up, according to customer reviews. Just attach the device to the mounting post and place it near the plants you are trying to protect from hungry deer. Its infrared sensors pick up animals of all sizes and begin to deter them using lights or high-pitched sounds. Trying to keep animals out of your fenced garden? The repeller device also features a mounting bracket on the back so you can simply hang it from a nail on your fence line. It will deter animals from over 30 feet (9.1 m) away so you can protect a lot of garden space with one device or add another to extend your coverage.

More Deer Repelling Tips

Not every deer repelling method is 100% effective in stopping deer from eating plants, so it is best to try and combine multiple methods for the best protection. During spring, applying a deer repelling spray to particularly vulnerable plants helped Content Editor Laura Walters get control over her deer problem. You can find Laura’s favorite Liquid Fence spray on Amazon, too.

If you have aggressively voracious deer that frequent your yard, you might want to pair the solar powered deer repeller with a deer-proof fence. You can also grow shrubs into a dense hedge as a deer barrier. Deer are less likely to jump over a fence or hedge if they can’t see what is on the other side of it. A thick privacy hedge combined with the deer repelling device will help to keep them from setting a hoof in your yard.

I will be adding this deer repeller to my shopping cart immediately, so I can protect my native plant garden and raised vegetable garden next spring. Deer problems, no more!

Raccoons are little thieves with paws everywhere. They wander through woods or your yard, sticking their noses in whatever smells good. So what do raccoons eat? If you don’t know what they like to eat, you might be unwittingly inviting them in. They’re clever, stubborn, and messy and will turn your backyard into their snack bar before you know it.

These critters will eat just about anything. They seek out wild berries, garden crops, even your leftover takeout. That adaptability makes it easy to lure them in without meaning to. Learning a few simple tricks on how to get rid of raccoons can save your yard from becoming their personal buffet.

Now, it’s time to go over what raccoons eat in the wild, what they scrounge in cities, why you shouldn’t feed them, and how to avoid rolling out the welcome mat. Plus, tricks to shoo them away if they’re already crashing your yard.

What Raccoons Eat in the Wild

So, what do raccoons eat in the wild? Honestly, they’ll eat just about anything they stumble across. They devour berries, acorns, crickets, frogs, little mice—they’re not picky. They’ll climb trees to nab bird eggs or wade into streams after fish. And if wild cherries, persimmons, or hickory nuts happen to be around? They’re in heaven.

In spring, they munch tender greens and grubs. Summer means ripe fruit and small creatures. Fall is all about bulking up on nuts and seeds for winter. Their menu shifts with the seasons, making them survival pros in forests or fields.

That adaptability is why they slide so easily into your yard when food’s nearby, seeming like they’ve got a radar for anything tasty.

What Raccoons Eat in Cities and Suburbs

In cities and suburbs, raccoons become trash can robbers. They prefer to dig through garbage for scraps like burger buns, chicken wings, or rotting apples. Pet food left on porches is a jackpot—cat kibble disappears fast. Compost piles with veggie peels or meat scraps? They’re like a raccoon diner.

Gardens get hit hard too. They’ll strip sweet corn stalks, raid strawberry patches, dig up lawns for worms, and go to town on your vegetable garden. Bird feeders are easy targets—they’ll tip over suet cages or crack open seed trays. Those nimble paws can pry into coolers, unsecured sheds, or even doggy doors with complete ease.

Urban raccoons thrive on human leftovers because it’s less work than foraging for food like they would in the wild. Your yard’s an all-you-can-eat buffet if you’re not careful.

Should You Feed Raccoons?

Should you feed raccoons? Absolutely not. Feeding them, even on purpose, turns them into bold, pesky regulars. They’ll bring their buddies, get pushy if food stops, and might carry diseases like rabies that can spread to pets or people.

Make the mistake of leaving dog food out once—next thing you know, raccoons will throw a nightly party on your deck. It’s tempting to toss those scraps, but it just creates trouble. Keep them wild by cutting off their food supply. It’s better for them and keeps your yard peaceful.

Why Accidental Feeding Is a Problem

Accidental feeding happens when you leave out easy snacks—open trash, pet bowls, or compost heaps. Raccoons see this as a warm invitation and move in quickly. They’ll tear up gardens, scatter garbage, and even chew through screens to reach food inside.

This attracts more raccoons, turning your yard into their hangout. It also attracts rats to your garden among other pests. Worse, raccoons carry parasites like roundworms, which aren’t fun for kids or pets playing outside.

Once raccoons know that your yard is a good place to find dinner, they also begin to seek new shelter nearby. Unfortunately, this could mean your house. They can easily scale your downspouts and begin to force their way indoors. Raccoons have been known to peel open vinyl siding, rip into soffits, and one of our editors actually had a raccoon climb down her chimney and bust a hole into her attic from the inside. She had professionals take care of the chimney and kept raccoons off the house by zip-tying these bird spikes from Amazon to the downspout the raccoons were using as a ladder.

Stopping accidental feeding breaks their habit. You might also need to speak with your neighbors about pet food left outside, fallen fruit from trees, or trashcans that aren't secured. It’s the key to keeping your space raccoon-free.

How to Avoid Accidentally Feeding Raccoons

If you don’t want raccoons treating your yard like a free-for-all buffet, start with the trash. Heavy lids, bungee cords, or something they can’t pry open will help. You can use a raccoon-proof can lock like this one from Amazon—they stare at it, then give up. Keep pet food inside, and if you feed dogs or cats, do it indoors too. Unfortunately, feeding neighborhood stray cats can quickly create a raccoon problem.

Compost? Only sealed compost tumblers like this one, also from Amazon, will keep them at bay. And skip anything meaty or dairy-based.

Bird feeders also draw in raccoons. Either take them down at night or switch to squirrel-proof designs. Using a baffle like this one from Amazon can keep raccoons and squirrels from climbing your bird feeder poles.

Sheds and garages should be locked up tight. Raccoons are little magicians when it comes to weak latches. Clean up fallen fruit or nuts from trees fast. These small fixes make your yard a lot less inviting.

How to Deter Raccoons If You Already Have Them

Got raccoons already? Make your yard a hassle. Sprinkle some cayenne pepper around all of your trash cans or beds—their noses hate the burn. A motion-activated sprinkler startles them with a quick spray. This is a reliable one from Amazon, and my personal go-to.

Seal gaps to attics or sheds—raccoons can squeeze through tiny holes. Set up bright lights or a loud radio at night. They’ll scamper away from the noise and glare. If they won’t quit, call a pro for humane trapping and relocation.

Stay consistent for a couple weeks, and they’ll move on to easier targets. It’s about making your place more trouble than it’s worth.

Homemade deer repellent can be a your best defense against beautiful, but greedy garden visitors. Deer can wipe out a bed of tulips or roses overnight, leaving you with nothing but some chewed stubs. But mixing up your own spray is simple and works wonders if you get the recipe right.

I'll share my three favorite homemade sprays that use everyday ingredients you can find in the kitchen to make deer think twice about eating your plants. All three recipes are cheap, safe for plants and pets, and easy to whip up. The key is knowing how they work and when to spritz.

Let's take a look at my top homemade deer repellent recipes, how and when to use them, plus some other products to combine with sprays for the best defense against hungry wildlife.

How Homemade Deer Repellent Works

Homemade deer repellent sprays work by coating plants in smells or tastes that deer can't stand. Many commercial sprays, like Liquid Fence from Amazon, work in the same way. Content Editor Laura Walters swears by Liquid Fence and says, "Deer used to destroy my garden until I discovered this spray."

Deer use their noses to hunt for dinner, so a blast of a smell they don't like can make them bolt. The spray sticks to leaves with an odor animals hate, but that won't hurt plants. There are few common ingredients in most homemade and commercial deer repellents: eggs, garlic, and chili.

Egg sprays stink like rotten eggs to keep deer away, garlic and chili mixes make their noses tingle, and soap sprays leave a soapy film that tastes terrible. Reapply homemade deer repellent after rain or every week or so to stop deer from eating plants.

The homemade sprays I'll share are safe for pets and kids, if you follow some basic guidelines, which I'll cover below. They're also a natural swap for store-bought products, which can help you cut costs and keep your organic garden free of chemicals.

Homemade Deer Repellent Recipes

Now that you understand how homemade deer repellents work, let's take a look at some of my favorite and most effective recipes that will keep your plants safe from greedy grazers.

1. Egg Spray

Egg spray is a classic homemade deer repellent. The rotten egg smell drives deer away and it’s super cheap to make.

Crack two eggs into a gallon of water, add a tablespoon of dish soap, and shake it up. Let it sit overnight to get nasty, then strain out the bits.

Spritz it on leaves and stems, covering both sides. The soap helps it stick to plant leaves. Reapply after rain. Another tip is to mix in a teaspoon of cayenne pepper, which is a universal pest repellent, for an extra dose of deterrent.

Egg spray works best on young plants and vegetables. It’s harmless to the garden, but stinks. So use it away far from patios and outdoor seating areas.

2. Garlic and Chili Spray

Garlic and chili pepper spray packs a punch as a spicy, stinky combo. Deer hate the burn and smell of these piquant ingredients.

Blend together two garlic cloves, a hot pepper, and a cup of water. Strain it, then add to a gallon of water with a dash of dish soap.

Spray it on plants, focusing on leaf tips and edges. The garlic sticks to the leaves and the chili irritates pests' noses to keep them away from plants. Refresh every week or after rain. For more heat, use habanero peppers because they’re spicier.

This spray shines on flowers and herbs. It’s safe to use, but can tingle skin. So wear gloves when mixing.

3. Soap Spray

Soap spray is a gentle homemade deer deterrent. The soapy taste makes leaves unappetizing to grazing deer.

Mix 2 tablespoons of gentle liquid dish soap or Castile soap, like this one I get from Amazon, with one gallon of water. Castile soap is recommended because it's gentler on plants. You can also add a teaspoon of hot sauce to the mix for an extra bite.

Spray the mixture lightly on foliage, but avoid heavy drenching. The soap coats the leaves and deer spit it out. Reapply after rain or every 10 days.

Soap spray works on both veggies and ornamental plants. It's also the safest repellent option, but washes off easier in wet weather.

How to Use Homemade Deer Repellent

Don't apply sprays in the midday sun as it can scorch the foliage. Instead, hit your plants with deer repellent spray in the evening, when critters come out looking for dinner.

Be sure to spray when plants are dry so it clings better. Never spray when it's windy or else the mixture may blow back on you. Gloves and old clothes are also a must. You don't want the stinky mixtures getting on you and your clothes.

Make sure to spray both the leaves and stems, covering the undersides as well. Patch test a small spot first to see if anything goes wrong. Once you see the test area looks good, apply to the rest of the plant.

Reapply repellent after rain or about once a week. Switch up the recipes so deer don't get used to the same scent.

Other Strategies to Try With Homemade Spray

Sprays work best when combined with other deer deterrents. Grow deer-resistant perennials to help repel them. That includes foxgloves and lupines, which are bitter and tough. You can also surround beds with thorny plants to block access.

Motion-activated sprinklers, like this one from Amazon, and light and sound can also scare off deer. Try an ultrasonic deer repellent device from Amazon for extra protection. Or hang old CDs or pie tins that flash in the sunlight and disorient wildlife just enough to keep them away from plants. For veggie gardens, use row covers or netting to block pests completely.

A deer-proof fence is the gold standard for protection. Use one that's 6-8 feet (1.8-2.4 m) tall or that slants outwards to make it impossible for deer to jump into your yard. Don't install a fence with any sharp points on the top because deer can gravely injure themselves if they try to jump over them and fail.

The best defense against browsing deer is a multi-faceted approach. Combine sprays with one of these other methods to deer at bay and your plants untouched.

Curiosity about their tastes led to some digging around, uncovering helpful information that answered my question. What do groundhogs hate? Well, I found some things that shed light on their preferences. These plants act like a natural deterrent, making gardens less appealing, and with some trial and error, progress is showing. The approach blends practicality with a bit of grit, offering a way to reclaim outdoor spaces without constant worry.

What do groundhogs eat? We know the answer to that question. But the more important thing to consider is how to keep groundhogs out of the garden without harming them. Shifting pots, trimming back, and observing what groundhogs avoid has paid off, even if it’s not flawless. Occasional holes still pop up. Chats with neighbors have sparked more ideas, too.

Let’s explore turning that garden into a groundhog-free zone!

Why Groundhogs Love Your Yard

Groundhogs, or woodchucks, are those burrowing nuisances that zero in on yards with soft soil perfect for their tunnels. These tunnels can even sometimes stretch 25 to 30 feet with multiple entries. You’ll often catch them hanging out near compost piles, and munching away at peas and beans, which leaves behind a mess of chewed-up stems. They’ve got a real hunger for fresh greens, fruits, and even bark, turning a nice garden into their own personal all-you-can-eat buffet.

Come spring, female groundhogs wake from hibernation, scouting new spots after mating season. Overgrown patches with tall grass or brush piles draw them in. They like that neglected corner of your yard. They chomp on roots, nibble at young shoots. Not only that, but their digging tears up the soil, leaving gardeners frustrated and stuck replanting everything.

Groundhog burrows can catch you off guard, too. Groundhogs make little dirt mounds under sheds or decks that you don’t even notice until the damage is already done. Spotting these signs early helps you to disrupt their plans, making the yard less inviting and preserving what’s been planted with care.

Plants That Groundhogs Hate

These are plants that turn these critters away and have been a game-changer. After a rough season of chewed-up lettuce, the hunt for solutions began. Check out some of the plants I have turned to for a groundhog-proof garden.

1. Lavender

Lavender throws off this sharp smell that groundhogs can’t stand. This is from something called linalool. It loves soaking up sun in a raised bed with sandy soil, and only needs a drink when it’s looking a bit droopy. Those purple flowers start showing up from summer and keep going, while pots on the patio make a nice wall to keep the pests out.

Lavender has a soothing scent and is perfect for cottage gardens. Give it a trim following the 8-8-8 rule to keep it producing. This sturdy perennial can hit 2-3 feet tall, with silvery-green leaves that give it some character, and it draws in bees and butterflies, which is a bonus for any yard. (USDA Zones: 5-9). Find organic English lavender seeds at the Home Depot.

2. Marigolds

Marigolds give off a scent that groundhogs can’t handle thanks to thiophenes. They settle into full sun with decent soil, needing water only when the top layer dries out, and a quick pinch of dead bits keeps them lively. Pots along the fence splash some color around.

These annuals explode with orange, yellow, or red blooms, stretching 6-18 inches tall, and their roots churn out a natural pesticide, giving a boost to nearby plants too. (USDA Zones: Annual, grown in all zones). Find a beautiful marigold seed mix at the Home Depot.

3. Mint

Varieties of mint and their menthol whiff sends groundhogs packing. It sits in shaded pots to keep it from taking over, soaking up plenty of water, and leaves get plucked for a nice tea. Planted near veggies, it wards them off with a pleasant scent, though its wild growth can be a bit of a handful. Growing mint in pots is a great way to contain its aggressive growth.

This fast-spreading perennial stretches 1-2 feet, sporting bright green leaves that differ by type (spearmint, peppermint), and it shines for cooking or whipping up a refreshing brew. Find peppermint seeds at Lowe's.

4. Sage

Sage gives off a chemical called camphor that has a zing that groundhogs just can’t handle. It roots down in a sunny patch with dry soil, only taking water when it’s parched, and gets a snip after the flowers fade. Sage works a treat in an herb patch or pots by the entrance, spicing up cooking, though a careless trim might leave a sting.

This tough perennial climbs to 1-2 feet, sporting soft, gray-green leaves ideal for drying into seasoning, and it loves a scorching, dry spot. (USDA Zones: 5-9). Find sage seeds at Lowe's.

5. Rosemary

Rosemary dishes out a woody scent called cineole that keeps groundhogs at bay. It roots in sun with drained soil, watered sparingly, and gets snipped for kitchen use. Pots on the deck work well, though a windy day might toppled one, requiring a stake for support.

This evergreen shrub can reach 2-6 feet, boasting needle-like leaves that stay green year-round, a go-to for roasts and herbal teas. (USDA Zones: 7-10). Find easy-growing rosemary seeds at the Home Depot.

6. Oregano

Oregano’s carvacrol aroma pushes groundhogs away. It grows in sun with light soil, watered as needed, and trimmed to stay bushy. Pots near the patio offer seasoning and a barrier, though moving them can spill some dirt.

This perennial herb climbs 6-24 inches tall, with small, aromatic leaves that love warm weather, ideal for pizzas or drying for later. (USDA Zones: 4-9). Shop oregano seeds at the Home Depot.

7. Allium

Allium plants' sulfur punch from onions and garlic sends groundhogs retreating. Bulbs plant in sun with rich soil, watered during dry spells, and the flowers add a nice touch. Borders or pots look sharp, though peeling bulbs leaves hands stinking for days.

These bulbous perennials span 1-4 feet, with globe-shaped blooms in purple or white, warding off more than just groundhogs. (USDA Zones: 3-9). Find allium bulbs that grow into brilliant purple globes at the Home Depot.

8. Daffodils

All varieties of daffodils pack alkaloids that groundhogs pass up. Bulbs go in the ground in fall for spring blooms, thriving in sun or shade with drained soil and little water. Edges or pots turn out pretty, though planting them can strain the back.

These spring bulbs reach 6-18 inches tall, with trumpet-shaped yellow or white flowers, and they spread nicely over the years. (USDA Zones: 3-9). Find King Alfred daffodil bulbs at the Home Depot.

9. Yarrow

Yarrow’s bitter bite from achilleine keeps groundhogs at a distance. It grows in sun with average soil, watered occasionally, and gets split every few years. Wildflower beds or pots draw in bees.

This perennial hits 1-3 feet, with feathery leaves and flat clusters of tiny flowers in white, yellow, or pink, a hit with pollinators. (USDA Zones: 3-9). Find a beautiful peachy yarrow at Lowe's.

10. Catmint

The catmint plant’s nepetalactone scent throws off groundhogs. It takes root in sun with drained soil, watered when dry, and trimmed to keep its shape. Containers or borders look great, and cats can’t resist it. It might require a shoo or two for feline friends, but groundhogs will stay back.

This perennial grows 1-2 feet tall, with soft, gray-green foliage and lavender-blue flowers, pulling in cats and helpful insects alike. (USDA Zones: 3-8). Find a beautiful catmint plant at the Home Depot.

Extra Tricks to Keep Groundhogs Away

Besides planting plants that groundhogs hate, keeping the yard clean is crucial to repelling groundhogs. Raking up fallen fruit and trimming overgrown shrubs cuts down their food supply and hiding spots. It takes an hour or so per week and works.

A motion sprinkler sprays them, which is kind of entertaining, and burying chicken wire a foot deep around the garden stops them cold. Personally, I have a preference for this motion sprinkler from Amazon.

These 10 plants have made the yard a groundhog no-go zone, and it’s a relief to see it bounce back. Playing with pots, sharing with neighbors, and watching it grow again feels good. Try a few of these groundhog-resistant plants, mix them in, and tell those woodchucks to hit the road. Your garden deserves a break!

I know many of you are done watching squirrels treat your backyard like their personal snack bar, so when I stumbled upon a squirrel deterrent as crazy sounding as a fake predator, I had to try it. Can a cheap rubber snake really scare off those fuzzy rascals? It sounds like a prank, but it actually works. This trick saved my sanity and my bulbs. Best of all, it is humane, cheap, and kind of hilarious.

Squirrels don't fall for many tricks, but they’re paranoid about predators like hawks or snakes. A well-placed decoy can make them think twice about raiding your tomatoes. If they’re driving you up the wall, you might want to explore a new way of getting rid of squirrels for a full-on defense plan.

It’s a perfect piece of squirrel control, blending brains and budget. You’re not just shooing squirrels away. You're outsmarting them, and it feels pretty great when it works and they scatter.

Squirrel Behavior

Squirrels are one of the most persistent garden pests. They are really bold, greedy, and way too good at climbing. They’ll rip into your carrots. It's almost impossible to keep squirrels out of birdfeeders. They’ll dig up your bulbs like they’re on a mission. But in reality, they’re always looking over their shoulder for something that might eat them, like an owl or a snake. That’s where a fake predator comes in. This is a bit like sticking a “keep out” sign in their brains.

They’ve got sharp eyes and twitchy nerves, so a rubber snake by your peppers or an owl decoy on a fence post can send them running. They’re extra annoying in spring, digging up your new plants, and fall, when they’re digging up bulbs and hoarding like crazy for winter. Timing matters, but you’ve got to keep those fakes convincing.

Squirrels, though? They’re sneaky. If that “snake” doesn’t move for a few days, they’ll consider it as a fake and go right back to robbing you blind.

Will a Toy 'Predator' Really Keep Squirrels Away?

I know, toy snake as a squirrel deterrent sounds like something your weird uncle would try, but this silly trick works. Fake predators can cut squirrel visits by half for a while. Many gardeners swear by it, moving their decoys around to keep the scare factor real. I toss a rubber snake in my garden every year, and it makes a big difference. You can find the rubber snake I have used for years at Amazon.

It works best in tight spots, like in a vegetable garden or by your bird feeder, where they can’t just dodge the decoy. Another option? You can use a fake owl that spins its head in the wind. You can also find a decoy owl at Amazon. But it’s not a complete cure-all. You’ve got to pair it with other squirrel control tricks to really lock it down. If you let that fake hawk or fake owl sit there forever, those little creatures will figure it out and throw a party in your lettuce.

The key is keeping it fresh. Squirrels are like tiny con artists, and they’ll sniff out a scam if you don’t stay sharp.

How to Use Toy 'Predator' to Deter Squirrels

Setting up this squirrel deterrent is a breeze. Grab a realistic rubber snake. Get one that looks like it could actually bite, not some bright green toy. Or try an owl decoy with those spooky glowing eyes. Stick it where squirrels are making your life a disaster. Put it by your squash, near the apple tree, or right by that bird feeder they keep looting. Coil the snake around a plant or along a fence like it’s ready to strike. Owls go on a post or branch, glaring down like they mean business.

Move your toy predators every couple of days. Seriously, don’t skip this. Squirrels will laugh at a snake that’s been parked in the same spot for a week. Change its shape or spot. Make it curled up one day, and stretched out the next. Those wind-up owls that turn their heads are useful and dirt-cheap at garden stores. Cartoonish decoys? Forget it. Squirrels aren’t that gullible.

Sprinkle some hot cayenne pepper around your plants or grab a squirrel-proof bird feeder for extra coverage. Check your decoy every few days to wipe off mud, and stash it inside during big rains to keep it looking fierce. It’s like playing a mind game with squirrels, and winning feels so good.

More Ways to Win the Squirrel War

Plant things they hate, like marigolds or garlic, since the smell drives them nuts in a bad way. Homemade hot pepper sprays can cut squirrel damage by nearly half if you keep spraying. You can also purchase Bonide Repels-All animal repellent spray from Amazon.

Protect bulbs from the rodents with wire mesh or use the stick trick to stop their digging. Clear out leaf piles or twigs where they hide their stash.

Squirrels can make you want to chuck your trowel and scream. But this fake predator trick? It’s a cheap, sneaky way to get even. I love the look on their little faces when they spot that rubber snake and bolt. It’s like I’ve finally won.

Stay on top of moving your toy predator around, and your garden will be yours again. Those furry punks will have to find another yard to trash.

Does cat hair deter rabbits in the garden? Life offers few guarantees, but this hack has many fans and fills a real need. Although rabbits take a toll on veggie gardens, most of us hesitate to put out anything toxic – like poison, or deadly – like snap-traps. After all, they are bunnies just trying to get a meal. But how to exclude them…kindly?

I have done some research on how to keep rabbits out of the garden. The idea behind using cat hair goes like this: Since a cat would like to make a meal of the rabbit, the rabbit smells the cat hair in your garden and will head quickly toward someone else’s lettuce patch.

And the crazy thing is – it seems to work! Follow along to learn more about this gardening trick.

Rabbits in the Garden

I used to think that rabbits in the garden were a blessing. They are cute and happy. They chow down young weeds in my yard and fertilize the soil with their poop. This positive impression lasted until the day the bunnies decimated my garden, taking out the usual suspects like lettuce and spinach, but also my young broccoli plants, pansies and marigolds. Rabbits like to eat tender young plants and many of the veggies we also enjoy. (A health and safety reminder to not eat veggies that have been nibbled on by animals).

Deterring Hungry Rabbits

The solutions proposed on the Internet range from fencing to traps to poisons, but each one has issues for me. It’s not hard for a rabbit to dig under fencing, and where to release a trapped bunny? Poisons are completely out of the question for me, so I turned to deterrents.

The first suggestion was to sprinkle dried blood or coyote, fox, or wolf urine around the edges of the garden. These materials aren't ethically produced and somewhat icky to apply, so I won't use them.

Our gardening editors have had success deterring rabbits with Liquid Fence deer and rabbit repellent which can be found on Amazon. But if you have access to cat hair, you might try a multi-pronged approach using this natural deterrent alongside a heavier duty one.

How to Use Cat Hair to Deter Rabbits

Many gardeners swear that putting cat hair around the garden could stop rabbits and other small, pesky animals from hanging around in the garden. I like this simple idea. If you have a cat, getting cat hair isn’t difficult. It’s free, natural, easy and safe. If, like me, you don’t have a cat, cat hair isn’t hard to obtain from a feline-loving friend.

Cat hair is light enough to get blown into the next county with even a slight breeze. So you’ll need to take steps to keep it in place. For example, tuck the hair inside the rim of container plants or place it into nylon stockings and line the garden with them.

You can also try utilizing plants that rabbits don't like for an extra layer of natural bunny defense in your yard.

Is Cat Hair an Effective Deterrent?

Will cat hair deter squirrels? Will it deter rabbits? This is one of those claims that have not been tested in scientific studies, so all we have is anecdotal experiences. But the theory makes sense – both rabbits and squirrels would leave the yard in a hurry if cats appeared, so wouldn’t cat hair have the same effect?

In my experience, cat hair seems to keep most rabbits out of my garden in France, but it has no effect at all on squirrels. Other people have had different experiences, some reporting that cat hair scares off rabbits, squirrels, and even moles, others saying that the hair had no effect at all.

Your best bet is to try it yourself. This is especially easy if you have a cat. We’d love to hear about your own experiences so drop us a line.

Bird feeders bring all kinds of wild birds to your yard to provide a lovely wildlife experience. But you may be wondering, do bird feeders attract rats?

In addition to the fun you can have bird watching from your kitchen window, birdsong is good for our wellbeing. Recent studies in psychiatry and neuroscience have shown that birdsong is associated with reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety, as well as boosted cognitive performance. Bringing more birds to your yard is a worthy goal, but sometimes bird feeder problems pop up.

Unsuspecting bird watchers might accidentally attract rats with their bird feeders. No one wants rats in their yard or home, so it is important to mitigate these issues as soon as possible. Keep reading to learn more about rats and bird feeders and what you can do to keep rodents at bay.

Why Are Rats Attracted to My Bird Feeder?

Rats are omnivorous rodents who live with and near humans, and they can infest any place where they have easy access to food and shelter. Rat control in city gardens is a common battle, but rats can become an problem in suburban gardens too. A nice meal of scattered bird seed that has fallen from your backyard feeder is enough to draw them into your yard.

Although their responsibility for the bubonic plague was somewhat overblown, rats do spread diseases to humans and it is important to manage your bird feeding to keep rats away.

Birdseed and suet can attract all kinds of rodents to your yard, but there are two common types of rats you might encounter around your bird feeders.

Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) are also called brown rats or common rats. This widespread species was introduced to North American from Europe and is found in all 50 states. They are brown and their bodies are up to 11 inches (28 cm) long. Their tails are shorter than their bodies.

Black rats (Rattus rattus) are also called roof rats or ship rats. This species originated in the Indian subcontinent, but is now found all over the world. They have black fur and their bodies are 5 to 7 inches ( 12.7 cm to 17.8 cm) long. Their tail is longer than their body.

How to Keep Rats Away from Bird Feeders

Luckily, there are a few simple ways to deter rats that might be snacking on your bird seed. A lot of methods to keep squirrels out of bird feeders work for rats, too. Combine methods to provide extra protection.

1. Hot Bird Seed

Bird seed that has been treated with hot chili pepper oil will keep rats and other rodents from staking a claim on your bird feeder. Birds are not affected by the capsaicin so they will continue to flock to your feeders.

In addition to being spicy, this bird seed from Wild Delight is also zero-waste and can be found on Amazon.

Be sure to thoroughly wash your hands after filling the bird feeder and avoid contact with your eyes and nose.

2. Pick the Right Feeder

Rats are attracted to bird seed that has fallen on the ground and also tray style bird feeders. Choose a style of bird feeder that will attract birds while also reducing the amount of seeds that fall to the ground. You can find this clever no-spill bird feeder from Amazon.

Keep bird feeders 8-10 feet (2.4-3.04m) away from trees, shrubs, and structures to prevent rats and other rodents from jumping on to the bird feeder.

3. Proper Sanitation

If you already have a bird feeder you like but seeds are falling on the ground, make a weekly chore of seed cleanup. Use a shop vacuum to suck up seeds easily. I know it is odd to vacuum your lawn, but sometimes it’s necessary!

An even simpler method that will make seed cleanup less intensive is to install a seed catcher below your existing bird feeder. This mesh seed catcher from Amazon is lightweight so it won’t drag down your bird feeder. Empty the seed catcher regularly so it does not become enticing to rats and other rodents. Seed catchers are also a great way to stop bird seed weeds growing under your feeder.

4. Extra Protection

To really make sure your bird feeder is rat proof, you may also want to add a baffle. Squirrel baffles keep rodents from being able to climb up the pole or shepherd's crook from which your bird feeder hangs. They will work to keep rats down too. You can find a sleek bird feeder baffle from Songbird Essentials on Amazon.

Combining good sanitation practices with rat deterrents will greatly reduce the likelihood of your bird feeder attracting rats. Hopefully these tips will keep your bird feeders rat free, so you can enjoy your backyard birds in peace.

Hey there, garden guardians! Groundhogs, which can also be called woodchucks and whistle pigs, are those burrowing burglars with a taste for greens. They’re drawn to yards with tasty plants or nice cozy spots to dig. They can pop up in anyone’s backyard, lured by the clover and soft soil. They’re not evil, though. They’re just looking for food and a home.

Unfortunately, their tunneling can topple fences, and their appetite for beans or peas can leave you empty-handed come harvest time. It’s a battle worth fighting and humane methods of control can be used to keep groundhogs out of the garden.

When summer in full swing and groundhogs more active, now’s the time to act. If you’re scratching your head on how to handle them, there are quite a few ways to get rid of groundhogs without harming them. Let’s dive into spotting and shooing them away the kind way!

What Attracts Groundhogs to Your Yard?

Groundhogs are those stout, brownish critters you might spot waddling through your yard. They are considered part of the marmot family with a knack for digging deep burrows. They’re about 18-24 inches (46-61cm) long, including that bushy tail. Groundhogs love to eat many things that you grow in your garden. They can be found munching on fresh greens like lettuce or carrots. (I’ve had to replant these veggies frequently after their visits.)

What draws them in is easy access to food, especially if you’ve got a vegetable garden patch or fruit trees. Soft soil makes for easy digging when they tunnel to set up a home in your yard. I noticed mine showed up when I let the grass grow long near my garden, giving them cover and a snack bar. They’re also fans of shaded spots under decks, which I learned the hard way after finding a hole there last spring.

How to Tell If You Have a Groundhog in Your Garden

Spotting a groundhog isn’t always obvious, but there are telltale signs if you know where to look. I first noticed chewed stems on my pea plants, left ragged like a bad haircut, which clued me in. Those burrows are a dead giveaway. You’ll look for 10-12 (25-61) inch wide holes with piled dirt nearby, often near fences or sheds, where I found one last month.

You might also see their tracks, with five toes and claw marks, or catch a whiff of their musky smell if they’re close. They also have a loud warning whistle which startles you a little if you aren’t ready for it. Keep an eye out, especially at dawn or dusk when they’re busiest.

Humane Ways to Deter Groundhogs

If groundhogs have been tearing through your garden, you know how maddening it is. Those little troublemakers can demolish your veggies like they’re at an endless feast. I’ve had it happen a few times myself, more times than I’d like to admit.

But there is no need to stress. I’ve found that there are some simple, kind ways to encourage them to move along, and I’m happy to share what’s worked for me. Let’s learn how to protect that plot!

1. Build a Fence They Can't Climb

One trick I would recommend is putting up a fence to keep them out. This is humane and effective if done right. Use chicken wire, like I purchased from Amazon, or hardware cloth, and bury it 12 inches (about 30cm) deep and bend the top outward at a 90-degree angle to stop their climbing.

Set up a fence around your veggie patch, or wherever else you have an issue with them. It’s a bit of work, but it’s a solid barrier that lets you garden in peace.

2. Sprinkle Spicy Deterrents

Groundhogs hate spicy stuff, so you should have some luck scattering cayenne pepper as a pest repellent. You can also spray a DIY garlic pest repellent around the plants to keep groundhogs away. I mix a handful of garlic powder with water, spray it on, and reapply after rain. It works like a charm to make my garden less tasty. It’s cheap and easy, though you’ll need to refresh it pretty often. You can also try a repellent like Bonide Repels-All from Amazon or your local garden center.

3. Use Motion-Activated Sprinklers

A motion-activated sprinkler is another level of humane groundhog defense. I love the sprinkler that I purchased from Amazon. It spooks them with a sudden burst of water, and it catches groundhogs off guard, sending them running. It’s humane, keeps the soil moist, and you’ll notice it making a difference. Just adjust the sensitivity so it doesn’t soak you too!

4. Plant Repellent Companions

Planting things groundhogs dislike can also help to deter them. Planting marigolds or oregano around your garden edges can push them away. Just tuck some marigolds along the fence line, and their strong scent will repel groundhogs. It doubles as a pretty border, but it’s not a full shield, so pair it with other tricks.

5. Create a Distraction Garden

You can set up a little 'decoy' patch to draw groundhogs away from your main garden. Groundhogs love to eat clover, alfalfa, and dandelions. This distraction garden will entice groundhogs to go munch there instead or your veggie garden or flower beds.

It’s a simple move. Plant your decoy garden 20-30 feet (6-9m) away from the garden your are protecting and it will help to keep them busy while your tomatoes thrive. It needs regular weeding, but it’s a gentle way to redirect them.

6. Play Natural Sounds

Last summer, I tried playing a radio with nature sounds near my garden, and it threw off the groundhogs' routine. Groundhogs prefer quiet, so the chatter of birds or rustling leaves from a speaker kept them at bay. I set it on low at dusk, and it’s been a quirky but effective deterrent. Just swap stations if it gets old!

Final Thoughts

Keeping groundhogs out doesn’t have to mean harsh traps. You can do this without harming them. These humane hacks have saved my garden and let those critters live their lives elsewhere. You might even enjoy tweaking fences and sprinklers, and your plants will be happier for it.

Why not try a couple of these groundhog repelling tricks and share your favorites with a gardening buddy? It’s all about finding what clicks for your yard!

Squirrels in the garden can be fun to watch. Personally, I love to see them scampering around, burying nuts, and building nests. For many gardeners, especially those with vegetable beds, squirrels are pests.

For most of us, there is a balance to strike between enjoying this native wildlife and protecting your veggies. Squirrels are vegetarians. They mostly eat seeds and nuts, but they’ll also enjoy your leafy greens, root vegetables, squash, and other edible plants.

If you don’t want to hurt them or keep squirrels out of your garden completely, use this simple, harmless, and natural trick.

The Stick Trick to Keep Squirrels Out of Your Vegetable Patch

A simple, natural way to prevent squirrels from getting to tasty veggies requires only sticks. Use sticks and twigs you find in the yard, gardening stakes, or stalks of bamboo. If they’re sharp and pointy at the tip, all the better. You can even use wooden kabob skewers, available on Amazon.

The idea is that if you have sticks poking out of the ground around your vegetables, the squirrels will find the area uncomfortable to dig and forage in. You can use this strategy with vegetables, but also with planted bulbs that they would otherwise dig up.

The downside to this method is that it requires quite a bit of labor on your part. It’s not enough to create a perimeter or sticks around a vegetable bed, like a fence. They’ll just jump over it. You need to create barriers around each plant they find desirable.

There are two ways to use this strategy. The first is to insert sticks so that they barely stick out of the soil. The squirrels will find it unpleasant, even painful, to step on these sharp stick ends. The other strategy is to have the sticks emerge a little further from the soil, so that the stick ends are in the faces of the squirrels as they try to reach or dig for veggies.

Does the Stick Trick Work?

I no longer grow vegetables in my garden, but when I did, I tried the stick trick after squirrels ate some of my seedlings. Once the veggies grew bigger, squirrels were less of an issue. I found that the sticks worked very well, for a time.

Squirrels are clever at getting around obstacles. If you’ve ever seen a squirrel figure out a bird feeder baffle, you know what I mean. After a few days, they understood the pattern of the sticks. I was able to prolong the effectiveness of the stick barrier by changing it every few days. This isn’t tenable for everyone, of course, but for the short seedling period, it worked well enough for me.

Other Natural Tricks to Keep Squirrels Out

The most effective and harmless way to prevent squirrels from eating your flower bulbs or veggies is to use multiple strategies. Here are some other ideas you can try, along with sticks, to protect your tastiest plants:

• Scary Sites. Over time, they’ll become less scary, but several things can deter squirrels for a period of time: shiny streamers that move in the wind, pinwheels, and plastic owls (like this one from Amazon).
• Covers. Squirrels are clever and persistent, but they can’t chew through wire. Cover vulnerable plants with wire mesh. Use a cage made of chicken wire, for example, placed firmly over plants, and squirrels won’t be able to reach them. They don’t look nice, but you should only need them for a few weeks until the plants get bigger and the soil settles. Squirrels are particularly drawn to freshly dug soil. You can make a cheap garden cloche from a colander in a pinch or purchase chicken wire garden cloches from Amazon or garden supply stores.
• Provide Water. Sometimes, when a squirrel eats mature, juicy vegetables, like tomatoes or cucumbers, it’s doing so because it’s thirsty. Place a dish of water near your mature veggies for an alternative.
• Apply Hot Pepper. Squirrels don’t like spicy foods. Sprinkle cayenne pepper on and around vegetable plants, or use a spray to completely cover plants. One bite will prevent a squirrel from coming back for a while. They will be back, though, and rain and water will wash off the pepper spray, so keep reapplying. You can quickly and easily order cayenne pepper in bulk from Amazon.
• Release the Hounds. Dogs love to chase squirrels, and squirrels don’t like being chased. If you have a dog or can borrow one from a friend, let them chase and scare the squirrels regularly. This will make your yard feel like an unsafe, unfriendly place to hang out.
• Avoid Feeding Birds. This is a tough one. Most gardeners love to see birds in the garden. Bird feeders are great squirrel attractors, though. You can try squirrel-proofing feeders to help them lose interest, or try feeding birds far from your veggie patch. Most effective is not using feeders at all.

Squirrel-proofing your veggie patch is not easy. It usually takes multiple strategies and tricks. Give the stick trick a try. It does help, and you may only need it for a few weeks as your seedlings grow.

I live on the edge of the woods in the heart of the Midwest, so deer are a given. I see them tromping through my garden all year long, but especially in spring and summer when plants are fresh and green and irresistible to my furry neighbors.

I’ve struggled to keep deer out of the garden for years to little avail, until a former coworker recommended one particular spray. I was skeptical since I had tried making several different homemade deer repellent sprays that an internet full of bloggers said were foolproof. I ended up playing the fool, though, after mixing up the stinky concoctions and spraying them all over my plants just to have deer come through and chow my flowers down to stubs.

What I’ve learned about deer is that they don’t always act the way you’d think. That’s why trying to keep deer from eating your plants is such a challenge. I’ve tried almost every possible method to keep these pesky, though admittedly adorable, pests out of my garden and only one solution has worked. If you’re fighting against four-legged intruders in your garden, here’s the one spray you need to keep deer away.

What Didn't Work

The voracious deer in my neighborhood happily eat deer-resistant perennials and annuals all the time, including the two pots of herbs I planted this summer. I tried the old trick of planting fragrant herbs in my flower pots in an attempt to keep the deer from eating my flowers. It sort of worked because the deer haven’t eaten my flowers—they’ve just eaten all the herbs instead. I guess it’s time to cross dill and cilantro off the deer-resistant plant list.

Deer also aren’t as skittish as you’d expect, or at least the deer in my neighborhood aren’t. There are plenty of times I’ve run out into my garden flapping my arms and clapping and shouting at them to “shoo!” They’re always unfazed by this silly display.

That’s why I don’t put much credence in noisemakers that are meant to keep deer away. I once ran straight into a pack of deer and they just stood there, then slowly sauntered away. However, noisemakers are a completely organic way to repel deer. So if you’re interested in trying out this method for yourself, this solar-powered ultrasonic deer repellent device from Amazon has 4.9 out of 5 stars and tons of rave reviews.

The Only Deer Repellent Spray You Need

If you’re tired of deer eating all your precious plants, it’s time to invest in a bottle of Liquid Fence deer repellent spray, which you can get on Amazon. This is the only thing that’s ever stopped deer from obliterating my garden.

Liquid Fence is easy to use, harmless to plants and animals, and after the first two applications you only have to reapply it once a month. This spray also repels rabbits, so if unwanted bunnies and deer abound in your yard then this will protect your ornamental plants.

Liquid Fence doesn’t harm the animals it keeps away, it repels using scents they don’t like. Unfortunately, that means it does have a scent that’s also unpleasant to humans. But the odor fades once the spray dries.

However, be careful if you apply the spray when it’s windy because it can blow back on you and leave a scent on your clothes. It’s also a good idea to wear gloves, like one of these colorful pairs from Amazon, when spraying Liquid Fence because the repellent smell can transfer to your hands.

Although Liquid Fence does hold up to rain and watering much better than any of the homemade pest repellents I’ve tried, it does help to reapply after a heavy shower. If you have an especially dense deer population where you live or particularly ravenous deer, it’s safe to apply the spray more often than the directions say. During bad deer years, I have used my Liquid Fence weekly to keep them away.

One word of caution, Liquid Fence is only intended for use on ornamental plants, trees, and shrubs. For protection in the vegetable garden, a deer-proof fence is the best option. One of the best vegetable garden fence ideas I’ve tried is a barrier made of T-posts and wire fencing. I used these 72-inch T-posts from Home Depot and 48-inch high wire fencing like this, which you can also get at Home Depot, to build a simple fence around my veggie plot that keeps the deer out all season so my plants can thrive.

I love to garden, and I also love wildlife. The two go hand-in-hand. In fact, one of my favorite summer activities is sitting outside to enjoy my yard and garden while also watching wildlife, like birds and squirrels.

Unfortunately, the garden-wildlife dynamic isn’t always positive. My city has a very high deer population, and they can quickly eat their way through a garden.

I’ve learned a few things while trying to live in harmony with my native wildlife and keep deer from eating plants. Maybe these lessons can help you.

My First Encounter With Bambi The Plant Eater

I’ve been in the same house for about 20 years, but I haven’t always been an avid gardener. When we first moved in, I mostly left the beds as they were, did a little bit of weeding, and let my husband mow the lawn and put down a little fertilizer here and there.

My first foray into proper gardening was getting annuals to put in pots. Impatiens flowers and petunias are pretty easy to grow and among the best plants for container gardening, so my confidence was immediately bolstered at this early attempt. They thrived and bloomed for a month or so. I even learned how to pinch the impatiens and deadhead the petunias.

Then, one morning, most of the growth on my impatiens was gone. It looked like a weed whacker had taken off the tops. Checking the outside cameras, I saw the culprit: a young deer was munching on my container plants.

What Else Is On The Menu?

That first encounter was followed by many more. I learned quickly that deer have an extensive list of plants they’ll eat, even some claimed by internet sources to be “deer proof.” Part of the problem is that my city has a very high deer population. I don’t blame them. There’s only so much wild food left in the suburbs for them to eat.

So, this is a short list of what they have eaten in my yard so far:

• Tree bark
• Hostas
• Day lilies
• Sunflowers
• Coneflower
• Sweet potato vine
• Petunias
• Roses

Thank goodness, they’ve left my peonies alone because peonies aren't favored by deer. They also don’t seem to have a taste for the shrubs in my yard. They mostly eat annuals and perennials.

Mistakes I Made Trying to Outsmart My Hungry Foe

The biggest mistake I’ve made in trying to combat the plant-eating hordes of deer in my neighborhood is ignoring the problem. There were a few years where I got complacent. Everything seemed fine, and then in one night, the herd came through and mowed down several plants. They’re particularly into fresh perennial shoots in spring.

Another mistake I wouldn’t recommend making is insisting on growing plants you know the deer will find and eat. I love pots of impatiens. And, they’re usually fine for a month or two, but eventually the deer get to them. In spite of knowing better, I kept trying to grow them. It was more like putting out food for deer.

How I Manage To Live With Deer And A Nice Garden

Years of lessons and trial and error, and I still haven’t perfected the deer-proof garden. What I’ve learned through reading is that deer will eat just about anything green as long as it isn’t deeply poisonous. Needs must, as they say.

Three strategies have helped me to garden peacefully while living in a deer-rich neighborhood:

• Choose Plants Wisely. While deer will eat many plants, they like some better than others. I’ve finally admitted that some plants just don’t work in my garden. Fortunately, there are plenty of options for plants that deer are not likely to eat unless desperate. One of the things I’ve done to spruce up the garden in recent years is to find shade-loving plants for those shady corners of the yard. I have found that bleeding heart flowers and ferns are both great options for shade and plants that deer leave alone.
• Pair Plants Thoughtfully. Many of the plants deer avoid unless desperate are those with strong smells. I place my container-grown herbs around coleus and impatiens. I plant marigolds as companions for the hostas and daylilies. These pairings mostly keep the deer out of the plants they would otherwise eat.
• Use Deterrent Sprays. Plant pairings are not perfect for deterring deer, but with the addition of special sprays, it’s pretty foolproof. Deer deterrent sprays contain strong-smelling essential oils or garlic. The Liquid Fence Deer & Rabbit Repellent from Ace Hardware is easy to use and effective. I spray the repellent on my most desirable plants and reapply frequently (especially after rain). It really helps keep the deer from eating them.

Deer will always be a part of this ecosystem in which I garden, and that’s ok. I don’t begrudge them their place in it. With trial and plenty of error, we have found peace together.

Peonies are popular and classic garden flowers, beloved for their large, showy flowers that arrive in late spring or early summer. Peonies can be picky, but if you give them the right conditions, they are easy to grow and maintain. One thing to consider when growing peonies in many areas is deer. Do deer like peonies or is this a deer proof perennial?

Deer and peonies are usually safe together, as deer often leave these flowering plants alone. Peonies don’t have any significantly unpleasant characteristics for deer, such as thorns or a strong aroma. However, deer simply don’t seem to find them as tasty as other plants. If they do come after your peonies, they are most likely to eat the tender, new shoots and leaves of peonies in spring as they begin to emerge.

Are Peonies Deer Resistant Or Deer Proof?

Deer typically shun peonies, especially if there is something tastier on the menu, but this doesn’t make them deer proof. Deer resistant plants are great, but deer proof is different. Deer will eat your peonies during drought conditions or if there are limited other options for food.

How To Keep Deer From Eating Peonies

Because peonies are not totally deer proof, you might need to take measures to protect your plants. This is especially important in spring when they might eat the new growth. You can take general measures to keep deer out of your garden, which will benefit all plants, or protect specific plants, like peonies, that the deer seem to like.

One strategy is to grow your peonies near other plants that are more reliably deer proof. Try pairing peonies with allium, an onion relative. Onion-related plants have a pungent smell and high levels of sulfur that deer don’t like. Sedum is another good option for planting near peonies.

A fragrant deterrent is another strategy many gardeners use to keep deer out of the garden or away from certain plants. Look for products in your garden center designed to deter deer. They are typically made with predator urine, like coyotes. You’ll need to spray your peonies and other plants with these regularly, as it wears off and is washed away by rain and watering.

Movement and sounds can also be deer deterrents and make your garden less attractive to them. Wind chimes, windsocks, whirligigs, and similar devices can be scary to deer. If you don’t like decorating your garden with these, try motion-activated devices that make sound or send out jets of water when an animal moves through your yard.

The best defense against deer is a combination of effects. Use deer-proof or deer-resistant plants and make the garden an unfriendly place for deer with a mix of sounds, smells, and movements that signal danger.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Garden Ideas

• Peonies not blooming? Learn about 6 commons reasons why they aren't succeeding and what you can do.
• Explore our picks for deer-resistant perennials that will survive even the greediest grazers!
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Gardeners may find the celebration of a furry garden pest taboo, but the festivities for Groundhog Day get bigger every year spanning the U.S. and Canada. Punxsutawney Phil may be the most famous weather-predicting groundhog who got his start in Pennsylvania. Learn more about Phil and start your own celebration.

Gardeners who have trouble with groundhogs feasting in their gardens may want to get rid of groundhogs rather than celebrate Groundhog Day. Nevertheless, the furry garden pest has its own holiday and makes a yearly weather prediction that most people are eager to hear.

What Is Groundhog Day?

Groundhog Day is celebrated every winter on Feb. 2, when kids and adults anxiously await the news of whether there will be six more weeks of winter, or spring is just around the corner. The prediction is based on whether a groundhog, most notably Punxsutawney Phil, sees his shadow or not after climbing out of his overwintering burrow. If he does, we must endure more cold winter days ahead. If he doesn’t, we can make preparations for an early spring.

History of Groundhog Day

The origins of Groundhog Day can be traced back to ancient Celtic winter celebrations called Imbolc, observing the halfway mark between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. It was an agricultural festival, foretelling weather, and good fortune for the coming year. In the Christian calendar, it became a festival of Candlemas, which marked the Purification of the Virgin Mary and the Presentation of Christ in the Temple. Candles were blessed for winter and it eventually became a foretelling of how many candles would be needed for the rest of the winter.

Germany brought badgers into the forecast, and if they saw their shadow, it meant four to six more weeks of winter. That was one of the traditions that German settlers in Pennsylvania brought with them. However, they changed the token animal from badgers to groundhogs, which were abundant in Pennsylvania.

How Accurate is the Groundhog?

The groundhog’s predictions have run about 40 percent accurate over the last 10 years, according to statistics. Even so, the celebrations continue all across the U.S. and Canada each year.

When Did Groundhog Day Start?

The biggest celebration is likely in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania., at Gobbler’s Knob, where Punxsutawney Phil resides. For more than 130 years on February 2nd, the famous woodchuck has emerged from his tree stump, surrounded by his handlers and the Inner Circle, as well as thousands of adoring fans, to make his weather prediction. The first Gobbler’s Knob celebration, complete with groundhog, was organized by the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club in 1887.

How to Celebrate Groundhog Day

Here is a chance to embrace a new holiday celebration with family and friends. You can bring on the groundhog-decorated cookies and cupcakes, indulge in Groundhog Day party punch, eat what groundhogs like to eat, play groundhog-inspired games, and hone your groundhog trivia knowledge.

Impress your friends with themed party decor and even serve up some of the groundhog’s favorite nibbles: carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, apples, blueberries, raspberries, pears, sweet peppers, tomatoes, and squash.

More Fun Groundhog Day Facts

• Groundhogs are herbivores, eating up to 1.5 pounds (1 kg.) of plant material a day. They like dandelions, grass, alfalfa, asters, beans, broccoli, lettuce, coneflowers, and many more garden plants. They also will indulge in the occasional grubworm or insect.
• Pregnancy for groundhogs lasts only one month. They deliver two to six blind and hairless kits or pups, which reach adulthood in two years.
• Groundhogs create elaborate burrows with runs that can be 50 to 100 feet (15 to 30 m.) long and 6 feet (2 m.) deep.
• Another name for a groundhog is a whistle-pig. They earned this moniker due to the high-pitched whistling sound they make when feeling threatened.
• The Library of Congress inducted the movie, Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray, into the National Film Registry in 2015.

If you've had a bad experience with deer in your garden, you're not alone. Many gardeners have fallen foul of these inquisitive garden visitors, and lost a few of their favorite plants along the way! And while several plants are listed as deer-proof perennials, you'll often find that if a deer is hungry enough, nothing is off limits.

That said, there are some deer-resistant perennial plants that are less likely to attract Bambi. So if you are looking to create a more deer-resistant garden, this is definitely a checklist you should be considering for your future perennials.

To build the most comprehensive list, I also consulted the work of fellow gardening expert, author, and professional landscape designer, Lee Miller. With over two decades of experience designing client gardens, Miller has a fantastic, field-tested list of plants that deer consistently avoid. I've integrated her top recommendations with my own favorites below.

Choosing the Most Deer-Resistant Plants

Before diving into my recommendations, let's be clear. No plant is completely safe from a hungry deer. Heck, when I’m starving I’ve been known to gobble up some pretty questionable food items – so why wouldn’t a deer?

The other thing is that even if a deer doesn’t eat a particular plant in one person's yard, there's no guarantee the deer will eschew the same plant in someone else's yard.

Still, there are ways to tip the odds in your favor, at least. What you are looking for are more deer-resistant plants. These plants tend to have unpleasant textures like spiny or tough or ones that are highly aromatic.

A couple in this roundup are also deer-resistant flowering shrubs, where height or bulk can restrict access to critical areas. These are pretty good bets if you are looking for the most deer-resistant perennial plants.

1. Ligularia

Ligularia, also called leopard plant, is one of my favorite perennials for dappled shade. I have two varieties growing on my covered patio which give the area an exotic (almost tropical) feel, with large, green leaves followed by yellow spires (the Rocket) or even bigger maroon foliage accented by yellow/orange flowers (Britt Marie Crawford).

Deer generally ignore this blooming perennial. However, slugs and snails find it enticing, so you might be swapping one nibbler for another.

Ligularia can be grown in USDA zones 4-8 with moist, well-draining soil. Plant in dappled sun or shade with morning exposure.

2. Pigsqueak

This blooming perennial gets bonus points just for the adorable name. It gets this name from the sound the foliage makes when rubbed between the fingers.

Pigsqueak (bergenia) grows equally well in sun or shade, provided it has rich, moist yet well-draining soil. It can be grown happily in USDA zones 4-9, where its spring blossoms set off by the leathery, glossy green leaves delight the grower almost as much as its name.

3. Hakone

Love the look of grasses, but don’t have the sun exposure for most varieties? Try growing deer-resistant hakone (Hakonechloa macra) grass, which thrives in USDA zone 5 and up.

Also known as Japanese forest grass, this clumping grass thrives in partial shade in low-growing individual mounds. In the genus of bunchgrass, some varieties of hakone have variegated leaves, while others have brilliantly chartreuse blades.

In areas of hot summers, grow them in full shade. Otherwise, this perennial grass requires moist, rich and well-draining soils.

4. Catmint

Nepeta catmint (Cat’s Pajamas) plants are true blue bloomers – deer-resistant perennials that bloom all summer long.

Nepeta can be grown in USDA zones 3-8 in full sun to partial shade. This drought and heat-tolerant perennial not only deters deer, but it attracts butterflies and hummingbirds with its long lasting indigo blooms.

You’ll find that caring for catmint is a relatively straightforward task. Nepeta does well on its own in the garden or in containers, and really wows when planted en masse.

5. Peony

Peonies are notable for their stunning spring blooms, but did you know these delicate beauties are some of the most deer-resistant perennials you can grow in your garden?

Peonies like Karl Rosenfield and other cultivars can be grown in USDA zones 3-8 in full sun to partial shade. In bloom for four-six weeks, peonies are spurned by deer and rabbits, while being attractive to butterflies.

Gorgeous cut flowers, peonies can be planted alone in containers or en masse in beds or borders.

6. Orange Butterfly Weed

Orange butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) is a species of milkweed which, as its name suggests, is extremely attractive to butterflies, but not deer.

It prefers sun to partial sun and, when mature, is drought tolerant.

You’ll find that growing butterfly weed results in large clusters of bright orange flowers in summer. It can be grown in USDA zones 3-9 in a variety of soils, provided they are moist but well-draining.

The striking blossoms give way to fluffy large seed pods which, if allowed to break free, can become invasive.

7. Jack-In-The-Pulpit

An incredibly unique looking plant, Jack-in-the-pulpit is a woodland flower (now cultivated) of North America.

The Jack is the columnar bloom or spadix of the plant, accompanied by the sheath or pulpit, followed by a cluster of red berries in late summer.

Only reaching a couple of inches (5cm), Jack-in-the-pulpit has the ability to change its sex, is pollinated by flies and gnats, and thrives in rich, medium-wet soil in partial or full shade. It can be grown in USDA zones 4-9a.

8. New England Aster

New England asters are late bloomers, enlivening the garden in late summer to early fall with their hot pink blooms.

Resistant to powdery mildew, asters are valuable plants for bees and butterflies but the deer aren’t interested in them. Asters can be grown in USDA zones 3-9 in moist but well-drained soil.

You can grow New England asters in sun to partial sun, where they are important nectar sources for migrating monarchs.

Expert Picks: More Perennials That Deer Avoid

Here are 7 more plants, recommended by landscape designer Lee Miller, that are excellent for creating a beautiful, deer-resistant garden.

9. Coreopsis

For a reliable and long-lasting bloom, coreopsis is a fantastic choice. Lee specifically points to one variety as a proven winner in her designs.

"I have found the 'Zagreb' variety to be an excellent 'deer-resistant' bloom that produces a full array of repeat blooms for many years in the garden," she says.

She notes that coreopsis is hardy in USDA zones 4-8, prefers full sun, and is drought-tolerant once established.

10. Salvia

A favorite of Lee, salvia is a hardworking perennial that's also an attraction for butterflies.

"Salvia or sage... is 'deer resistant' and blooms throughout the summer with regular dead-heading," Miller says. She also points out the wide range of options, "from the 10-12-inch tall Salvia 'Marcus' to the 20-30-inch tall 'Caradonna' variety."

Hardy in USDA zones 4-8, Salvia thrives in full sun and well-drained soil.

11. Ornamental Grasses

In addition to Japanese forest grass, many other ornamental grasses are ignored by deer. They add grace, movement, and four-season interest to the landscape.

Miller recommends several varieties: "Fountain grasses Pennisetum Alopecuroides 'Hameln' (2-3 feet) or 'Little Bunny' (1-2 feet) as well as the maiden grasses Miscanthus Sinensis 'Gracillimus' (5-8') or 'Morning Light' (4-5'), among others." These are generally hardy to USDA zones 5-9 and prefer full sun.

12. Ajuga

For a tough, deer-resistant groundcover, especially in shady areas, Miller suggests Ajuga.

"Ajuga (bugleweed) is a groundcover perennial hardy in USDA zones 3-10 that displays bluish-purple blooms in early spring on 4-6-inch tall plants," says Miller. "Ajuga thrives in partial to full shade and serves well as a massed planting under trees or in perennial borders."

13. Allium

If you have trouble with rodents as well as deer, Lee suggests allium for its impressive, globe-shaped flowers.

"If you have an issue with deer or rodents, alliums are an excellent addition, since they are looked upon as distasteful to the palate," she explains.

Hardy in USDA zones 4-9, alliums are easy-to-grow bulbs that are best planted in the fall for late spring or early summer blooms.

14. Lavender

Well-known for its wonderful fragrance, lavender is a classic garden plant that deer simply can't stand.

"Lavender is a well-known aromatic herb... It is hardy in USDA zones 5-9 and requires full sun and a well-drained, moderately dry soil," Miller notes. "Lavender also is known to attract butterflies."

15. Lamb's Ear

The unique texture of lamb's ear makes it a great deer-resistant border plant. Deer tend to avoid fuzzy or "woolly" leaves.

Miller says, "Stachys (lamb's ear) is hardy in USDA zones 4-9 and displays silvery-white 'woolly' leaves with a velvety feel... The interesting foliage of Stachys remains throughout the winter and serves nicely as a border plant in a perennial garden."

As you plan your garden, it helps to know why deer avoid certain plants. I'll leave you with this great rule of thumb from landscape designer Lee Miller:

"Generally, the more aromatic and coarse the foliage, the more undesirable the plant will be to foragers."

One of the great benefits to living in a more rural area is watching wildlife. As charming as deer and elk might be, plant damage from elk is no joke. Yes, an elk needs to eat, but most gardeners would prefer it not to occur within their landscape. So, the question becomes how to keep elk from eating plants, and out of your yard. An elk fence and deer and elk resistant plants are the place to start.

Elk Fence Height

The most foolproof way to prevent plant damage from elk is to build a fence tall enough to keep them out. How tall should an elk fence be? Elk fence height should be at least 8 feet (2 m) or even taller to keep elk out of your yard. If you are in an area of high snowfall, keep in mind that elk and deer can use packed down snow as an incline to help them hop over a fence. Taller is better.

Hungry deer and elk are capable of knocking down a fence, so be sure your fence is sturdy. A guard dog or even a radio playing can also deter both deer and elk.

How to Keep Elk from Eating Plants

Certainly a tall fence is how to keep elk out of your yard, but it isn’t the only deterrent. An added deterrent is to use netting to cover berries and other low growing plants that elk like. You can also use elk repellent.

Frequent applications of a mix of 20/80% mix of egg and water, or hot sauce and water are said to keep elk from eating plants. There are also commercial solutions but, as with other home remedies, animals may become accustomed to the solution. The best bet is to rotate and vary the types of repellent used.

How to Keep Elk Out of Your Yard

If you can’t manage the idea of fencing, try adding either deer and elk resistant plants or those that will recover quickly from browsing. A good idea is to mix native species with ornamental plants to allow the overall landscape to blend in with the rural environment.

Native plants like chokecherry, hawthorn, sumac, and serviceberry are plants that over time have evolved and adapted to browsing. For trees, try growing some species of maple, ash, blue spruce, holly and narrow leaf cottonwood.

No plant is completely deer or elk proof, especially during drought, but some are less desirable. Plants with different textures, scents or even toxicity are less palatable. Planting these types of plants is called camouflage gardening. Examples of camouflage gardening include thyme, lavender, artemesia, bee balm catmint, verbena and hyssop.

Thyme can be especially helpful. Wooly or creeping thyme planted as ground cover confuses the animal’s sense of smell. Fuzzy lamb’s ear tickles their mouths and irritates their stomachs.

Toxic plants you might consider adding include barberry, cotoneaster, digitalis, annual alyssum and dead nettle.

Be advised that even if you use fencing, repellent, and incorporate deer and elk resistant plants, a hungry and/or thirsty animal is going to do its utmost to take care of those needs. A combination of all three is the best way to minimize damage from elk.

Legend has it that groundhogs pop out of their tunnels on February 2nd to tell the world if winter is over. While these adorable critters may delight some people, groundhogs are not appreciated by many gardeners. This member of the squirrel family can do significant damage to crops and deterring them from the garden can be difficult. If you're wondering, “What does a groundhog eat?” the answer is pretty much anything.

The Groundhog Lifestyle

Although they are sometimes called woodchucks, groundhog is a more fitting name. These large rodents live in burrows underground and they can make pigs of themselves in a backyard garden. An adult groundhog weighs between 6 and 12 pounds (3-5 kg.) and can eat as much as 1.5 pounds (1 kg.) of vegetation per day.

Sometime between mid-September and early October, groundhogs enter their underground burrows to hibernate for the winter. During this period, they live off their fat reserves, and you guessed it, groundhogs will be building this layer of fat prior to hibernating. Which, coincidentally, is right about peak harvest time for many homegrown veggies.

What Plants Do Groundhogs Eat?

Although most of a groundhog's diet consists of plant material, they will occasionally eat insects and larvae. They love alfalfa, clover, dandelions, and grass but are also attracted to these lawn and garden plants:

• Apples
• Acorns
• Asters
• Beans
• Blackberries
• Blueberries
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Celery
• Cherries
• Coneflowers
• Corn
• Cucumbers
• Daisies
• Hackberries
• Hickory nuts
• Lettuce
• Maple leaves
• Marigolds
• Mulberries
• Pears
• Peas
• Raspberries
• Snapdragons
• Soybeans
• Squash
• Sunflowers
• Sweet peppers
• Tomatoes

In addition to these foods, the woodchuck diet can also include bark and roots.

How to Tell if a Groundhog has been in the Garden

While it's easy to spot fruit, vegetables, and plants that have been damaged by animals, it's not always easy to tell who the culprit was. One of the best ways to know if the garden has become groundhog food is to see woodchucks or find evidence of their dens near the garden.

Woodchucks depend upon dew and the moisture inside plants for their hydration needs. In the summer, they will most likely be seen foraging for food in the early morning when dew is heavy. Look for them mid-afternoon in the spring.

Even when the vegetable garden is thick with plant foliage, groundhogs won't hide. As you approach the garden, you will likely see them scurry out and head toward the safety of their underground burrows.

Groundhogs access their burrow by one or more entrance tunnels. The primary entrance will have a mound of dirt at the opening, but side entrances will only be a 4 to 6 inch (10-15 cm.) hole in the ground. Burrow tunnels can run 50 to 100 feet long (15-30 m.) and can descend 6 feet (2 m.) deep.

In soft soil you may also find groundhog tracks. These resemble tiny handprints. Although similar to raccoon prints, woodchuck tracks can be distinguished by the presence of claw marks at the end of each digit.

Protecting Garden Veggies from Woodchucks

Groundhogs are notoriously hard to eliminate from the garden. You can trap them by using one of the groundhog's favorite foods as bait. Try sunflower seeds, peanut butter, corn, or cantaloupe. Remember though, removing the current one often allows other groundhogs to move into the established burrow.

Fencing is effective in protecting garden vegetables from groundhogs. Woodchucks can climb and dig. Burying the bottom of the fence underground and bending the top outward are measures which can thwart groundhogs and keep veggies safe.

If you are finding mysterious holes in sunflower leaves and wonder who the culprit is, take heart. You are not alone. Many people, particularly in California and Texas, are asking what eats sunflower leaves.

Surprisingly, the leaf eater is not an insect, but probably a bird called the lesser goldfinch. While it enjoys seeds of plants in the daisy family, the lesser goldfinch also dines on sunflower foliage, leaving tattered greens in its wake.

Identify Damage from a Goldfinch on Sunflower Leaves

The range of the lesser goldfinch extends from the Western U.S. south into Mexico and as far as the Peruvian Andes in oak, cottonwood, and willow habitats. In residential areas, the lesser goldfinch visits feeders alongside American goldfinches, pine siskins and house finches.

What do goldfinches eat? They primarily eat seeds of the composite family of plants and seeds of grasses, weeds, and certain trees. Lesser goldfinches add coffeeberry, elderberry, and madrone fruits to round out their diets.

Experts surmise the lesser goldfinch enjoys consuming greens for the added vitamins and minerals it needs during breeding and growth phases. Sunflower leaves eaten are described as “skeletonized leaves” or “shredded leaves with angular holes.”

Control Methods

If the damage is excessive, hang reflective items such as sparkly streamers to scare them off. However, birds generally acclimate to scare tactics, so it helps to move the device every few days. Another option is bird netting stretched over the plants for protection. A commercial repellent is available that can discourage feeding.

House finches have been reported to feed on low-growing vegetable plant leaves. These can be protected with row covers.

Many residents just plant more sunflowers so there is enough for everyone.

When considering a recourse, remember that the Migratory Bird Treaty Act makes it illegal to capture or harm protected migratory bird species without the prior approval of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This applies to bird species that are native to the United States or U.S. territories.

Goldfinches and sunflowers go together like birds of a feather so don’t be surprised if they become a regular visitor to your sunflowers.

Help, something is eating my plants at night! Yes, pests come out at night too. It’s easy to see and deal with the daytime nibblers, but when something comes in the dark to feast on your garden, it can be tough to figure out who's to blame. Here are some of the possible culprits. 

What Animal is Eating My Plants at Night? 

Many animals come out at night to eat under the safe cover of darkness, so your pest might not be an insect. Some common nighttime feeders are deer, groundhogs, rabbits, raccoons, opossums, and skunks. 

Deer and rabbits tend to do the most damage. Deer nibbling leaves behind ragged edges, while rabbits leave a distinctive 45-degree angle cut. The best way to deter animal feeders at night is a barrier. Fencing will keep them out of your vegetable patch. For flower beds, which they’ll also go after, use specific repellants that deter animals based on smell or taste. 

What is Eating My Tomato Plants at Night? 

This can be very frustrating, but it isn’t just tomato plants that are vulnerable to nighttime damage. A major culprit is the cutworm caterpillar. Tomatoes are a favorite of this species, and they can do a lot of damage, especially during the night. 

Some species destroy plants from the roots and stems, while others chew on the leaves. You’ll find them hiding in the soil around tasty plants during the day. Look for thick larvae that curl up when disturbed by sunlight. 

To protect your tomato plants from cutworms, keep your planting area free of weeds as early in the season as possible. You can also pick the worms off the plants after dark or use a collar around plants that you push into the ground to a depth of at least one inch (2.5 cm). 

Other Nocturnal Pests

Many insects feed at night. Beetles eating plants at night, for instance, is common. Asiatic garden beetles leave large holes around the edges of leaves with irregular shapes. Slugs and snails leave characteristic slime trails. Earwigs don’t go far at sunrise; you can usually find the culprits in the plant debris right below the damage. 

These kinds of signs can help you determine exactly what is eating your plants at night and point you to the best solution. For example, slug traps are easy to make, while for other insects a pesticide might be best.

Tick prevention is a major concern in most areas. Even in your own backyard, you can be exposed to disease-carrying ticks. Any steps you can do to prevent their populations from thriving will protect you and your pets and family. Surprisingly, this includes removing non-native honeysuckle plants. 

Why is Bush Honeysuckle Bad? 

Bush honeysuckle is a group of non-native deciduous shrubs. Originating in Asia, these plants came to North America via Europe in the late 1800s. Not long after, they became popular landscaping and ornamental species. 

Bush honeysuckles are now considered invasive throughout most of the eastern and midwestern states. There are many reasons to consider these non-native honeysuckles a problem: 

• They crowd out native species and reduce plant diversity. 
• They make it more difficult for tree seedlings to survive in forests.
• By reducing plant diversity and forest health, bush honeysuckles negatively impact insects, amphibians, pollinators, and other native wildlife. 
• Birds eat honeysuckle berries, but the bush species provide “junk food” for birds with too few nutrients. 

Honeysuckle and Deer Ticks

It isn’t just wildlife and native plants and animals that suffer because of invasive honeysuckle. Researchers have found that bush honeysuckle is also bad for human health. 

One of the reasons bush honeysuckle has an advantage over many native species is the duration of its leaves. It leafs out earlier in spring and stays green later in fall than many other plants. This is an advantage for deer. They find green leaves earlier in spring and later in fall in areas where honeysuckle has invaded. 

What this means for human health is greater exposure to ticks and tick-borne diseases. Studies have found that white-tailed deer numbers can be as much as five times higher in areas with bush honeysuckle. With deer, come tick species that carry several diseases. 

How to Prevent Ticks in the Garden

Two important things you can do to reduce tick populations go hand-in-hand: remove invasive honeysuckle and keep deer out of the garden. 

If you have bush honeysuckle in your yard, remove it entirely. If you’re not sure, read up on identifying the species. Similar species to distinguish it from include Japanese and native honeysuckles, which are all vines, coralberry, winterberry, and native viburnums. 

The simplest way to get rid of invasive honeysuckle is to pull it out by its shallow roots. Do this early in spring or in fall when they are greener than native species. This will make it easier to determine what to pull. 

Removing honeysuckle will go a long way toward minimizing deer in your garden, but there’s more you can do. Plant more species that deer don’t like to eat. Use fragrant plants—onions, garlic, herbs—near plants that deer like as a way to repel them. A fence or thick hedge can also keep deer out of the yard. 

Use motion-activated devices to scare off deer that venture into your yard at dawn, dusk, and nighttime. Lights that come on at night when they move, for instance, are a deterrent. 

Keeping invasive plants and deer out of your garden will benefit your own safety and that of your native wildlife. Start with the honeysuckle to significantly reduce tick numbers and use other measures as needed.

“Help, I'm seeing other birds at my hummingbird feeder!” If you've ever said this, you're not alone. Many bird-loving gardeners hang hummingbird feeders in an attempt to attract local species of this delightfully tiny avian. Then they discover other species of birds have invaded the feeders and chased the hummers away. If this conundrum has you positively frustrated, there are some simple solutions you can try.

Why are Other Birds at My Hummingbird Feeder?

Have you ever wondered, “Do other birds use a hummingbird feeder?” The answer is yes. If you're seeing other birds on hummingbird feeders, it's because they are also hungry. 

Compared to mammals, most birds have high metabolic rates. This means they must consume more calories per ounce of body weight each day. The sugar-water solution used in hummingbird feeders is a high energy meal. 

How Do Other Birds Use a Hummingbird Feeder?

Like hummingbirds, other birds on hummingbird feeders drink the sugar water mixture to obtain the calories they need. Unfortunately, hummingbird feeders are not designed to hold the weight of larger birds. As these other birds make their rounds, they can tip the feeders and spill the nectar. These birds can also damage the feeders as they attempt to access the sugar water. 

Additionally, larger species of birds have bigger appetites and can quickly empty the feeders. The intimidating size of these larger species can frighten off the hummers and some types of birds prey upon hummingbirds. 

How to Stop Other Birds on Hummingbird Feeders

One of the best methods for stopping other birds on hummingbird feeders is to provide those species with a place of their own to feed. Take note of which types of birds are visiting the hummingbird feeders and peruse the list below to determine what types of food to use. If possible, place these feeders away from the ones for hummingbirds.

• Chickadees – Suet and black oil sunflower seeds
• Goldfinches – Thistle seeds
• Grackles – Sunflower seeds
• House finches – Safflower, black oil sunflower and thistle seeds
• Mockingbirds – Sliced fruit and peanuts
• Orioles – Suet, fruit and peanut butter
• Sparrows – Millet, cracked corn and chopped peanuts
• Thrushes – Suet and soaked raisins
• Titmice – Peanuts, fruit and suet
• Warblers – Suet and mealworms
• Woodpeckers – Suet and black oil sunflower seeds

In lieu of using species-specific feeders, you can also try hanging multiple hummingbird feeders.

Hummingbird Feeders That Keep Other Birds Away

Another method for discouraging unwanted visitors is to make or purchase hummingbird feeders that keep other birds away. Look for hummingbird feeders that don't have perches or remove the perches from the feeders you already own. 

To prevent other birds from hanging down over the top of the feeder, use a baffle. These metal or plastic disks slide down the hanger and rest on top of the feeder. Not only do baffles make it harder for other birds to reach the nectar, but they also prohibit direct sunlight from reaching the nectar and spoiling it.

We’ve all seen small birds pecking the lawn for worms or other delicacies and generally there is little to no damage to turf, but crows digging in the grass are another story. Lawn damage from crows can be disastrous for those that strive for that picture perfect golf course-like turf. So what is it with grass and crows and can crow damage to lawns be repaired? 

Grass and Crows

Before we discuss how to manage crow damage to lawns it is a good idea to know why the crows are attracted to the grass. The likely answer of course is to get at some delicious bugs. 

In the case of crows digging in grass, they are looking for the chafer beetle, an invasive pest imported from Europe. The chafer beetle’s life cycle is around a year during which time nine months are spent as grubs feeding on your lawn. From August through May they feast on the fibrous roots while waiting to pupate to adult beetles, mate, and start the cycle all over again.

Given that chafer beetles are invasive and can do their own serious damage to lawns, the question of how to eradicate crow damage to lawns might be a moot point, since the crows are in actuality doing a service by dining on the invasive grubs. 

How to Stop Lawn Damage from Crows

If you rather like the idea of crows ridding your grass of invasive grubs, the best bet is to allow the crows their free for all. The grass may look a mess, but grass is actually quite difficult to kill and will likely rebound. 

For those who can’t stand the idea of lawn damage from crows, there are a couple of solutions. Proper lawn care in the form of raking, thatching, aeration, fertilization, and watering while at the same time mowing judiciously will keep your lawn healthy thus far less likely to be infiltrated with chafer grubs. 

Also, the type of lawn you choose will help to deter chafer grubs ergo crows digging in grass. Avoid planting monoculture turf grass. Instead opt for diversified grasses that help to encourage a healthy ecosystem.

Avoid Kentucky bluegrass which needs too much water and fertilizer and focus on red or creeping fescues, drought and shade tolerant grasses that thrive in infertile soils. Fescue grasses also have deep root systems that thwart chafer grubs. When looking for seed or sod, look for mixes that contain over half fescue along with some perennial ryegrass to speed up the growing process. 

How to Stop Crows Digging in Grass

If the idea of replacing sod or reseeding isn’t going to work for you, then nematodes might be your answer to keeping the crows from digging in grass. Nematodes are microscopic organisms that are watered into the grass in the summer. They then attack the developing chafer larvae. 

For this option to work, you must water the nematodes in during the end of July to the first week of August. Moisten the ground prior and then apply the nematodes in the evening or on a cloudy day. A proven biological control, nematodes are sure to stop the crows from digging in the grass.

For gardeners, nothing is more heartbreaking than to discover your carefully tended rose garden or vegetable patch has been trampled or nibbled on by marauding wildlife. Gardening with electric fencing may be a viable solution. Read on for tips on when to use electric fencing and the basics of electric fence options for gardens.

Electric Fence Pest Control

Using an electric fence around gardens is quicker and less expensive than building a deer-proof fence, and more effective than repellants. Unlike a tall fence, electric fence pest control won’t block your view. Still, when gardening with electric fencing, there are some things you need to consider.

First, check with your city or county to make sure electric fences are permitted in your area. Some municipalities ban use of the fences due to safety concerns.

Gardening with electric fencing may not be a good solution if there’s any chance young children may touch the wires. The fencing isn’t powerful enough to do any real harm, but it can deliver a significant shock. Install warning signs on or near the fence to alert people that the fence is present.

The height and number of wires varies depending on the animals you wish to exclude. A wire 3 to 4 inches (8-10 cm.) above the ground usually works for rabbits or woodchucks, but deer will simply step over, while small animals will sneak under a wire installed at deer’s eye level. If your garden is visited by various varmints, you may need a three-wire fence.

Electric fence pest control works best if animals learn from the beginning that the fence is hot. One way to accomplish this is to entice animals by smearing a little peanut butter, or a mixture of peanut butter and oil, on the wires, or on shiny flags attached to the wire as soon as the fence is installed.

Be careful that foliage doesn’t touch the fence. It may reduce the charge or cause the fence to short out. Attach a few aluminum flags to the fence to prevent deer from breaking the wires by walking into the fence.

When to use electric fencing? Install electric fence pest control early in the season, either before planting or shortly after. Consider installing a timer to the charger so the fence will be on only when you need it.

If you live in an area where you have wild pigs in the garden, you are likely frustrated and want to get rid of them. One alternative is growing plants javelina will not eat. Take it a step further and grow plants they hate, in order to repel them. You may have better results with other repellants, though.

About Javelina Resistant Plants

There are plants that wild pigs don’t like and even some that repel them. Keep in mind, though, as with deer, if an animal is hungry enough, it will eat anything. So, if you’re in a prolonged drought or experiencing forest fires that are burning out their habitat, it is unlikely that you can keep them totally out of the garden. Be careful around javelina also, as they may harm people and pets when they feel trapped or threatened. And they usually travel in small herds.

Unfortunately, and in some cases, there are no javelina-proof plants. Even the types they don’t like to eat may be rousted from the bed for a drop or two of water. They love slugs and worms that are often in the ground with the plants. Petunias, pansies, and geraniums are on some lists but are known to have been consumed by the wild hogs. Container plantings are not safe. These animals are destructive beyond reason.

While there are lists of javelina-resistant plants available, information indicates they are not always accurate. Some info seems to reveal that they prefer annuals to perennials and container-grown plants to those in the ground.

How to Control Javelina Eating Plants

Coyote urine has worked to deter these animals. A short, electric fence is said to work well to keep them out of the yard and garden. Chicken wire over beds of bulbs, which they love, sometimes keeps them from digging.

Strips of carpet tacks at the bottom of steps can keep them off your porch or deck. The foliar spray "Armadillo Repellent" by BioDefend has been said to be somewhat successful in blocking them from gardens and flower beds.

If you wish, you may try planting repellant plants such as fragrant herbs among growing flowers and fruit trees, as these are supposedly plants javelina will not eat and tend to avoid. Rosemary and lavender are on some of the “won’t eat” lists, as are basil and mint.

Practice good sanitation in your orchard, keeping dropped fruit out of sight from the javelinas. Never feed these animals, as it will encourage them to return.

The javelina is an animal that haunts the American Southwest. What is a javelina? Wild pigs are common in many areas of the world and although the javelina resembles a pig, it is a peccary. Peccaries are in the same genus as our domesticated and wild pigs but on a slightly different branch of the group.

If you live in Arizona, for instance, and see a hairy, pig-like creature, it is probably a javelina. They range wild in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and south throughout Mexico, Central America, and Argentina. These tropical peccaries survive on a variety of foods; however, javelinas in a garden can pose a problem, where the abundance of cultivated produce is extremely attractive.

What is a Javelina?

If you live in the southwestern United States, down into South and Central America, you may have experience dealing with javelinas. Javelinas are in the order Artiodactyla, just like our common pigs. Where pigs are ‘Old World’ animals, javelina are ‘New World’ animals and in a completely different family.

They will eat almost anything, making javelina garden pests a real problem where food and water are abundant in the landscape. They will even eat puppies and kittens! The animals resemble small, hairy boars but are actually hoofed animals that travel in herds.

Dealing with Javelinas

Javelinas are opportunistic when it comes to their food. Since their range is so large, they are adapted to a great many menu items. They like prickly pear cactus, berries, nuts, bulbs, flowers, fruits, snakes, eggs, carrion, frogs, fish, you name it.

Javelinas in the garden will wreak havoc as they enjoy the smorgasbord that you work so carefully to preserve. Dogs can be effective deterrents to javelina garden pests but don't feed pets outdoors, and if you do, remove any leftovers promptly. Javelinas will also enter the garden if there is a constant source of water.

The recommended method of peccary control in areas where they are common is a 4-foot (1 m.) high fence. If a fence isn't practical, a low-voltage wire 8-10 inches (20.5-25.5 cm.) above the ground is sufficient.

You can usually keep them away by emptying any containers of standing water, keeping garbage cans tightly closed, picking up dropped fruits, and generally keeping your landscape clean and tidy so they are not tempted to enter.

Note: Javelinas are a game animal and a license is needed to hunt them. Killing them in the landscape is frowned upon and not recommended as peccary control.

Watching deer move through your property can be a peaceful way to enjoy nature until they start eating your flowers. Deer are notoriously destructive, and in many areas, they are overpopulated. For your shady beds, look for shade flowers deer won’t eat and destroy.

Choosing Deer Resistant Flowers for Shade

There are many strategies to employ in the war between deer and gardeners. For instance, you can fence in vulnerable plants or use a deterrent chemical. These are labor-intensive, expensive, potentially harmful to other species, and create eyesores in the garden. 

A more organic way to live harmoniously with the big herbivores in your garden is to simply put in plants that hold no interest for them. Some plants are delicious to deer, while others they will outright avoid.

Ideas for Deer Proof Shade Flowers

Any part of your garden can be a challenge with deer, but deer resistant shade flowers may be especially important. Deer tend to congregate in areas where they have coverage, like your shade beds.

Here are some great options for shade-loving, flowering plants the deer will simply admire but not eat (unless other more palatable options are scarce):

• Barrenwort – This perennial is strongly deer proof. Creeping rhizomes allow barrenwort to spread in clumps and they produce delicate white, yellow, and pink spring flowers.
• Bleeding heart – Another flowering perennial to use with deer, bleeding heart is a shade plant that likes moist, rich soil .
• Lungwort – Lungwort is a flowering perennial and groundcover that does well in shade.
• Hellebore – The striking perennial flower of hellebore comes in a variety of colors, even green and nearly black.
• Butterfly bush – Attract pollinators and deter deer with the small flowering shrub of butterfly bush. Produces bottle brush like clusters of delicate flowers.
• Forget-me-not – The pretty, little, blue flowers of forget-me-not tolerate some shade and are deer resistant.
• Pulmonaria – This is an easy perennial to grow that deer have no taste for. Pulmonaria produces small clusters of flowers in blue and pink.
• Astilbe – Astilbe is a great shade perennial that requires little maintenance. Numerous varieties have flower spikes in a range of colors. These are mostly deer resistant, unless they have nothing else to eat.
• Ligularia – Ligularia provides both striking, dark green foliage and impressive spikes of bright yellow flowers.
• Begonia – For a deer resistant annual you can hardly go wrong with begonias. They do well in the shade and come in a number of varieties with different colors and foliage.
• Wishbone flower – This is another shady annual. Wishbone flower produces small, pretty flowers all summer.

We should all agree that snakes are important. They help keep those pesky rodent species in check, preventing the spread of disease and protecting our crops. However, we don't all necessarily want them in our gardens. Snake repellents are really just "snake oil" or bogus products that don't really work. The best methods for keeping snakes out of the garden are keeping it clutter-free and planting snake repelling plants.

What Plants Do Snakes Hate?

Mothballs and other purchased snake repellents are not effective. The only way to keep snakes away from the home is to keep tempting habitats like rocks, woodpiles, and debris away from your house. As an extra precaution, you can install anti-snake plants. There is some controversy that even these don’t work, but they can be rewarding in other ways and can't hurt to try.

Snakes gather molecules on their tongues which they then run past their Jacobson's organ. This is essentially how they smell. They don't have noses and their idea of a smell is a bit different from ours. That being said, they do have an extraordinary sense of smell which can be affected by certain plants.

Strong scents are said to be plants that repel snakes. Think allium, herbs, etc. Society garlic is an ideal example. Another great plant is lemongrass, which releases citronella oil and has a strong, lemon-like fragrance. Most of these smelly plants are also pretty and useful and could make good snake repelling plants.

Other Anti-Snake Plants

Keeping the garden natural and avoiding chemicals is a sensible way to look after our planet. Using plants that repel snakes rather than any formulation can keep the garden organic. Prickly and spiky plants may also have some repellent properties.

Mother-in-laws tongue, yucca, and other such pointy plants could be effective in keeping snakes out of the garden. Marigolds are used to repel a host of plants and could provide some deterrent to snakes. Mugwort, albeit considered a weed, provides a flowering season combined with strongly scented leaves that snakes apparently do not like.

More Tips on Repelling Snakes

Keeping your yard free of debris is the number one tip in keeping snakes away. Additionally, keep the grass mowed so that snakes don't have a cover or a place to hide. Seal up around the home and under decks, ideal snake hiding places.

Most importantly, do not allow animals that are “snake's food” to gain a foothold in your garden. Prevent mice and rats by using bait stations. Do not leave food out that would attract these pests.

Snakes are good for the garden and environment and shouldn't be harmed but a few little tricks can keep them from surprising you in the landscape.

Of all pests that can assault a garden, a less common one is pigs. In some states, escaped domestic pigs have become feral and run around disruptively. Yet another scenario can simply be a neighbor’s pig (or multiple pigs) deciding your landscape looks infinitely tastier than their own, leading to pig-rooting damage in your garden.

If you’ve ever had to handle pigs in the garden, you know it’s no joke and might be wondering how to keep pigs out of the garden.

Pig Garden Problems

Pigs are highly intelligent but what really motivates them is food. They spend a good portion of their day eating or looking for things to eat. This is where your garden comes into play. Imagine being pigs in a pen. Although getting three square meals a day and plenty of water, they can see and smell a cornucopia of edible delights just beyond the fence in your garden.

Pigs will eat leaves, trample plants, and dig up roots all while damaging trees as they rub against them in their frenzied search for a tasty morsel. Pig rooting damage can become so severe that entire areas are rendered bare and unrecognizable. Since even the most intelligent pig can’t read a “no pigs allowed” sign, how do you keep pigs out of the garden, and is there a way to repel them?

How to Keep Pigs out of the Garden

A fence is an obvious solution, although the clever animal can sometimes dig underneath or even push over a fence. An electric fence is a better option for keeping pigs away from garden areas. A small electric jolt won’t hurt the pigs but does train them rather quickly to avoid the area. If electrifying the fence is a bit extreme, installing a plastic mesh fence around the garden can help deter the pigs. They don’t want to walk through something that they might get tangled up in.

Of course, if you are home when the piggys enter the garden, loud noises made can scare them off, at least temporarily. What if you aren’t around though? Install a motion detector that will emit a stream of water. This may scare the pigs off and teach them to avoid your garden, or being the smart animals they are, the animals may figure out all they’ll get is a cooling bath instead. Motion-activated devices are a temporary deterrent at best.

Other Ways to Eliminate Pig Rooting Damage

Humans in the garden do tend to deter pigs, sometimes. Try putting a scarecrow, mannequin, or the like in the garden. Move the scarecrow around every few days so the pigs don’t get used to it and think a real person is in the garden.

Pigs have a terrific sense of smell and are attracted to the fruits and veggies you are growing especially overripe ones. To deter the pigs, clean up any fallen or overripe fruit or veggies. Avoid growing crops that pigs enjoy, such as strawberries and other sweet fruit. Also, keep Fido’s food in the house. Pet food left outside attracts the attention of pigs as well as other opportunistic critters.

Last Resort to Getting Pigs out of the Garden

If all else fails, it might be time to capture the pig. There are some agencies that may be able to assist you with this endeavor and let’s just say that assistance will be needed. You may decide to bait a trap such as a dog crate or try to convince the pig to get into a container with the aid of food and patience. Patience will be needed.

Pigs in the garden aren’t going to give up on their little Eden without a protest. Take it slow and easy, and offer plenty of food, the way to any good pigs’ heart. 

Few things are more frustrating in the home vegetable garden than dealing with unwanted pests. While insects can cause quite a bit of damage to crops so too can the presence of small animals like mice, squirrels, and chipmunks. Though garden plants may be damaged at any stage of growth, tender seedlings are especially vulnerable.

Determining which animals are the culprit and, more importantly, how to control them will be essential to a successful start to the garden season.

Read on for tips on what to do about small animals eating seedlings in your garden.

What Animal is Eating My Seedlings?

While garden seeds are commonly eaten by mice, most seedlings are damaged by voles, chipmunks, rabbits, or squirrels. To determine the small animals eating seedlings in your own garden, it will be important to observe the area carefully.

Many types of rodents can create a series of tunnels, while larger animals like squirrels may leave more obvious signs that chewing has occurred. In many cases, these small animals may be seen in the garden early in the morning or late in the evening.

How to Protect Seedlings

While there are many traps available for the control of problem animals, these techniques may not suit everyone. This is especially true for those with pets or children in the home. Luckily, there are several strategies that gardeners can employ to deter animals that eat seedlings.

In many cases, animals that eat seedlings may be deterred by homemade DIY repellents. These DIY recipes most commonly include the addition of ingredients such as cayenne pepper or vinegar. If choosing to make your own repellent, make certain to use a recipe only from a reputable source, as this will ensure that no harm will be done to plants, pets, or people.

When seedlings are being eaten, it is often a sign that food for the animals has become scarce. Many growers choose to counteract this by creating a feeding station far away from garden beds. This can be done through the use of feeders specifically designed for squirrels, for instance, or other wildlife. Some may even choose to plant additional vegetables near the feeder in an attempt to divert attention from the actual garden.

Small animals eating seedlings may also be scared away. While both dogs and cats can be effective for this task, many small animals are quick to scurry away with the use of motion-activated sprinklers or other visual deterrents.

If these tactics fail, gardeners always have the option to protect seedlings with the use of wire, row covers, or netting. Securing these structures tightly in place is usually ample protection to help delicate seedlings thrive until they have grown large enough for transplant into other areas of the garden.

Deer can be both a blessing and a curse. It’s so lovely to see a doe and fawn early on a Sunday morning, standing in the mist, nibbling on your garden. And that’s the problem. They can eat through a garden in no time.

Whether you love or hate deer, or have a more complicated relationship with them, there is one important question to answer: Can you use deer manure in gardens?

Fertilizing with Deer Manure

Using manure as a fertilizer is not a new practice. People long ago discovered that manure is full of nutrients. Deer droppings on plants or on your grass may provide some additional nutrients, depending on what those deer have eaten.

In the wild, the deer diet is pretty limited, meaning their droppings are not very nutrient-rich. But suburban deer and those feeding around farms may have more nutrients to offer in their waste.

Just letting droppings sit on your lawn may provide some nourishment, but it is hardly enough to replace a robust fertilizing program. To really get the benefits of the extra nutrients, you would need to collect piles of deer droppings and spread them more evenly around your lawn and in beds.

Safety Issues of Deer Poop in the Garden

Any type of manure that is raw poses a risk of contaminating crops with pathogens. You can potentially get sick from this kind of fertilizing. Those at highest risk are young children and the elderly, people with compromised immune systems, and pregnant women.

The recommendation from the National Organic Program is to allow 90 days from the time of application of a raw manure fertilizer to the harvest of any crop that doesn’t touch the soil. For crops that do touch the soil, the recommendation is 120 days.

For these safety reasons, you may want to reconsider using deer droppings as fertilizer in a vegetable garden. Or, if you do want to make use of it, run it through a hot composting system first. It needs to hit 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celsius) for at least five days and be composted for 40 days or longer in total to kill any pathogens.

If you do choose to handle deer droppings to use in your lawn or beds, always wear gloves. Wash and disinfect all tools you use to handle it, and wash your hands thoroughly when finished.

The presence of deer in the garden can be troublesome. Over a short period of time, deer can quickly damage or even destroy prized landscaping plants. Depending on where you live, keeping these nuisance animals away may prove to be difficult. Although there are many types of deer repellents available to homeowners, they usually are left disappointed by their results.

With some proven planting techniques; however, gardeners may be able to reduce the occurrence of damage caused by deer. Planting deer resistant evergreen plants, for example, can help to create a beautiful green space all year long.

Choosing Evergreens Deer Won’t Eat

When planning a garden filled with deer proof evergreens, it is important to remember that there will always be an exception. Despite choosing deer proof evergreens for planting, these animals are known to feed on a wide range of plants during times of need. While planting evergreens deer don’t like will be effective in most cases, they may still be damaged on occasion.

The maturity of the plant will also attribute to its resistance to deer. Deer are much more likely to feed on small sapling evergreen plants. When adding new plantings, gardeners may need to provide additional protection until the plants have become well established.

When choosing deer proof evergreens, one of the most important aspects to consider is the texture of the stems and leaves. In general, deer are more likely to avoid plants that are unpleasant. This includes evergreens that have toxic parts, sharp leaves, or strong odors.

Popular Deer Proof Evergreens

• Green Giant aborvitae – Popular in landscape plantings, these evergreen trees are especially prized for their ability to offer privacy in residential settings. Like many types of arborvitae, Green Giant is also easy to grow.
• Leyland cypress – Fast growing, leyland cypress can easily enhance privacy. This evergreen tree adds visual interest through its soft blue-green color.
• Boxwood – Ranging in size, boxwoods are a great option to establishing hedges and flower bed borders.
• Evergreen barberry – Beloved non-invasive species of barberry, the evergreen type produces a beautiful ornamental display in fall landscapes.
• Holly – Coming in a wide range of sizes, prickly holly leaves are especially unappetizing to deer.
• Wax myrtle – Similar to boxwood, these evergreen plants work well when planted as hedges. Wax myrtle may be better adapted to United States growing regions.

Voles are mouse-like rodents with short, stubby tails. These troublesome little varmints do a lot of damage in a garden where they chew on foliage or tunnel under plants in search of roots and seeds. Planting an anti-vole garden is a challenge, because voles aren’t very picky about their diet. However, it is possible to plant a variety of beautiful, vole proof plants. Here are a few of the most popular plants voles don’t like.

Plants Voles Won’t Eat

Salvia (Salvia officinalis) has good things to offer if you’re human or even a hummingbird, but there is apparently something about the aroma that voles don’t appreciate. Salvia (available in perennial and annual forms) is most often blue or red, but you can also find varieties in pink, purple, green, white, yellow, and even brown. Hardiness of perennial salvia depends on the species, but most are suitable for growing in USDA zones 4 through 8. Annual salvia can be grown anywhere.

When it comes to vole repellent plants, Lenten rose (hellebore) is one of the best. Lenten rose has glossy, green leaves and is a cinch to grow. It’s one of the first plants to bloom in spring. Plant hellebore carefully, as this beautiful perennial plant is not only toxic to voles, but also to people and pets. Lenten rose is suitable for growing in zones 3 through 8.

Crown imperial (Fritillaria) is also known as “skunk lily,” and for good reason. The plant has lime green foliage and a circle of nodding, bell-shaped blooms in shades of red or orange. It’s a real eye catcher. However, the odor is unmistakable to voles and humans alike, and the smelly bulbs are toxic. Crown imperial is easy to grow in zones 5 through 8.

Castor bean (Ricinus ommunis) is a distinctive plant with huge, tropical leaves in various shades of red, purple, or pink depending on the variety. The flowers aren’t impressive, but they are followed by interesting seed pods. Castor bean is a great choice for an anti-vole garden, that is if you don’t have kids or pets. The plant is highly toxic. This huge plant is perennial in zones 10 and above, but it can be grown as an annual in cooler climates. 

Due to their oniony aroma, various types of ornamental allium are excellent vole proof plants and they’re beautiful too. Examples include Globemaster or Gladiator, both tall plants with softball size heads of long-lasting lavender or purple blooms in late spring. Schubert allium is only 8 inches (20 cm.) tall, with blooms that look like pink fireworks. Most types of allium grow in zones 4 through 9, although some types tolerate freezing temperatures of zone 3.

In winter, when food sources are scarce, small rodents eat what they can find to survive. This becomes a problem when your tree bark becomes a mouse meal. Unfortunately, mice chewing on trees can cause serious damage. Read on for information on mouse bark damage as well as tips on keeping mice from eating tree bark in your yard.

Determining When Mice are Eating Tree Bark

Trees add so much to a garden or backyard. They can be expensive to install and require regular irrigation and maintenance, but most homeowners find it well worth the trouble. When you first see mouse bark damage, you may feel that your house is under attack. Just keep in mind that small rodents need food to survive the winter too. The mice are eating tree bark as a last resort, not to annoy you.

First, make certain it’s actually mice eating the tree bark. It’s important to be sure of the issue before you take action. Generally, if the bark is being eaten by mice, you will see gnawing damage at the base of the tree trunk near the ground.

When mice are eating tree bark, they may chew down through the bark to the cambium underneath. This disrupts the trunk’s system of transporting water and nutrients. When mouse tree damage girdles the tree, the tree may not be able to recover.

Keeping Mice from Eating Tree Bark

Don’t think you have to put out poison or traps to stop mice chewing on trees. You can usually start keeping mice from eating tree bark without killing them. When bark is being eaten by mice, especially tough trunk bark, it is because other food sources have dried up. One way to protect your trees is to provide mice with other food.

Many gardeners leave autumn branch trimmings on the ground beneath trees. Branch bark is more tender than trunk bark and mice will prefer it. Alternatively, you can sprinkle sunflower seeds or other food for rodents during the coldest months.

Another idea for keeping mice from eating tree bark is to remove all weeds and other vegetation from around the base of trees. Mice don’t like being in the open where they can be spotted by hawks and other predators, so removing cover is a cheap and effective way to prevent mouse bark damage, and also works well for keeping mice out of the garden too.

While you are thinking of mice predators, you might also encourage them to hang around in your yard. Putting in perch poles is likely to be a welcome mat for attracting birds of prey like hawks and owls, which can itself keep mice away.

You can also prevent mice chewing on trees by placing physical protections up around the tree trunk. For example, look for tree guards, plastic tubes you can position around your tree trunks to keep them safe.

Look for mice and rodent repellents in your garden or hardware store. These taste bad to mice eating your tree bark, but don’t actually harm them. Still, it can be enough to prevent mouse bark damage.

Mice in the garden, or home, can be a major pest problem. Having plants mice won’t eat can be one solution. If there is no food source, there is no need for a mouse to hang out or make a home in your garden. Use these suggestions for plants that will be safe from nibbling mice and some that may actually help repel the critters.

What Plants Do Mice Dislike?

Most gardeners are concerned with bigger pests, like deer and raccoons, eating their plants or vegetable harvests. Mice can be a big issue as well. They may be small, but mice can make quick work of the plants you have worked hard to grow and nurture.

Mice particularly like to nibble on bulbs you’re hoping will bloom in the spring. You may think it’s a mole or a squirrel, but oftentimes the bulb culprit ruining your spring garden is a mouse. Bulb plants that are safe from mice include:

• Daffodils
• Snowdrops
• Chionodoxa (Glory of the Snow)
• Fritillaria
• Wood squill (Siberian)
• Camassia
• Muscari (Grape hyacinth)

There is mixed evidence that mice will eat allium bulbs, but they definitely enjoy munching on all tulip, crocus, and iris varieties and most types of hyacinth.

Plants That Repel Mice

If you have an issue with mice in your home or garden, you may want to consider growing some plants that will keep them away. This can be a cruelty free way to control a mouse population and a way to avoid traps. Here are some ideas of plants that repel mice for indoor and outdoor containers or beds:

• Catnip: Catnip may also bring mouse-hunting cats to your garden.
• Most herbs: Mints and lavender are especially good.
• Garlic and onions: Garlic and onions both have strong scents that mice don’t care for.

There are also some natural ways to protect plants in your garden that mice insist on feasting upon. Blood meal in the soil, for instance, will add nutrients and also keep rodents away from buried bulbs.

Cayenne pepper sprinkled on bulbs or plants will deter mice after one taste or even sniff. Your local garden store may also sell specific mouse deterrent products.

In winter, regular sources of food for rodents die back or disappear. That’s why you’ll see many more trees damaged by rodents in winter than during the growing season. Rodents that eat tree bark include everything from rabbits to voles. With a little effort, you can install rodent protection for trees and take steps to aid trees damaged by rodents. Read on to find out how.

Rodent Tree Damage

Winter is a hard time for rodents, killing off many plants that they usually eat, or else covering them up with a thick layer of snow. That’s why rodents turn to trees for food.

Rodents that eat tree bark, like rabbits, mice, and voles, work hard to get access to the softer, tastier inner tree bark called the cambium layer. The hungry creatures chew through the outer bark of the tree to get to this green cambium.

Rodent tree damage can be moderate, but it can also be very serious. If rodents remove the bark all around the tree, it girdles the tree, effectively killing it. Roots can also be damaged by gnawing.

Rodents That Eat Tree Bark

Rabbits, voles, and mice are some of the more common rodents that eat tree bark. Other animals, like beavers, also damage trees.

You may be surprised when you see rodent tree damage much higher on the trunk than a rabbit or mouse could reach. Don’t forget that snow also acts as a ladder, allowing short rodents access to higher parts of the trunk.

The best thing you can do for trees damaged by rodents is to prune out the dead areas and have patience. A tree that hasn’t been girdled has a fighting chance to recover.

Protecting Trees from Rodents

The most effective rodent protection for trees is to install a barrier. For shrubs, this method of protecting trees from rodents might consist of a wire mesh container affixed over the plant. Trees are usually too big for this type of “cage” protection. Instead, experts recommend that you use hardware cloth (one-eighth to one-fourth-inch mesh) as a way of protecting trees from rodents.

When you are protecting trees from rodents with hardware cloth, you should fold the cloth to form a cylinder around the tree trunk, wrapping the tree to some 30 inches (76 cm.) above the ground and several inches (8 cm.) into the ground. This protects the tree from voles, rabbits, and other rodents.

For young trees, you can buy and use the white, plastic protection tubes made to spiral around the trunks of young trees. Again, you’ll need to extend this rodent protection for trees below the soil surface so that the rodents can’t dig their way into it.

Vermin like mice, shrews, and voles can be a troublesome pest for many. The thought of these rodents is enough to make many homeowners shudder. Just as we would prefer our homes to be rodent free, preventing the presence of these nuisance animals in our gardens, yards, and flower beds is equally important. Read on for tips on preventing mulch rodent problems.

Do Mice Like Mulch?

Mice in the garden, as with other rodents like voles and shrews, can cause a multitude of problems. Damage to vegetable plants, fruit trees, expensive ornamentals, and/or flowering bulbs can be quite costly. By familiarizing ourselves with the needs and habits of these pests, we can better prevent them from nesting in or near our homes.

The main reasons in which mice invade the home landscape is to look for food and to find materials to safely build nests with. Your garden is naturally filled with plants that may appeal to rodents. This, in combination with the presence of mulching materials, make your garden the ideal space for these pests.

Mulches such as straw, wood chips, and leaves offer the mice and their relatives safety and cover. While many growers use these resources to prevent weed growth or to regulate moisture, the mulch also provides protection for undesirable rodents. Keeping mice out of mulch is a very difficult task, especially as the weather begins to cool in the fall. Though mulch rodent problems can be extremely frustrating, there are some solutions.

Get Rid of Mice in Garden Mulch

When it comes to mice living in mulch, prevention is key. When making new plantings, avoid using a very thick layer of mulch. This is especially true when planting trees. Using the mulch only as needed will reduce the amount of protection provided to the mice. In turn, the mice may be less likely to feed on the bark of trees or on the stems of delicate flower plantings.

Be certain to maintain a clean and tidy yard and garden space. Remove any excess materials and/or mulches that are not in use, as this will discourage mice and the like from moving into the garden.

If prevention of keeping mice out of mulch has not been successful, there are other options of pest control. These methods include the use of traps and other products designed to deal with rodents. Poisons designed to control mice should not be used outdoors, as other animals or children may come into contact with them. As always, make certain to use these products only as directed per the manufacturer’s label instructions.

Though some people may suggest growing fragrant plants such as mint or lavender, there is little evidence that this is effective in deterring mice. Those wishing to naturally control mice populations may consider employing the help of our feline friends. Depending upon where you live, the presence of working cats in the garden can help to reduce rodent populations.

Your English ivy is eaten down to the ground. You've tried deer repellents, human hair, even soap, but nothing keeps the deer from chewing the leaves off your groundcover. Without their leaves, groundcovers fail to control the weeds. By now, you're probably wishing the deer would munch on the lawn instead!

Planting Groundcover to Deter Deer

In areas where deer are a problem, the long-term solution is to plant groundcovers that deer won't eat. In general, groundcover plants deer leave alone are those with thorny or prickly leaves and stems, herbs with pungent aromas, plants with hairy leaves and poisonous plants. Deer like tender young leaves, buds and nutrient-rich vegetation.

The key is finding deer-proof groundcovers that grow well in your area. Here are few that may work for you:

Shade-Loving Groundcovers Deer Won't Eat

• Lily-of-the-Valley (Convallaria majalis): The tiny little bell-shaped flowers are a wedding favorite. The emerald green leaves come up in early spring and last until frost to form a dense cluster of weed stopping foliage. These plants are perfect for deep shade areas and under trees. Lily-of-the-valley likes moist soil with a layer of organic mulch. Hardy in USDA zones 2 to 9.
• Sweet Woodruff (Galium odoratum): This perennial herb is well-known for its mat-forming growth habits. Sweet woodruff is a woodland plant that makes a great groundcover to deter deer. The 8- to 12-inch (20 to 30 cm.) plants have 6 to 8 lance-shaped leaves arranged in a swirl. Sweet woodruff produces delicate white flowers in the spring. Hardy in USDA zones 4 to 8.
• Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense): The heart-shaped leaves of this native woodland plant are naturally deer resistant. Although wild ginger is not related to the culinary version, the roots have the reminiscent aroma of ginger. It prefers moist, but well-drained soil and is hardy in USDA zones 5 to 8.

Full Sun to Partial Shade Deer-Proof Groundcovers

• Creeping Thyme (Thymus serpyllum): These low-growing edible herbs are prized for their thick, mat-forming growth and the blanket of color their blooms create. Tolerant of full sun and easy to maintain, creeping thyme has a strong scent that makes it the perfect groundcover to deter deer. Hardy in USDA zones 4 to 8.
• Japanese Sedge (Carex marrowii): This true sedge grows in a low mound with long bladed leaves similar to grass. Japanese sedge loves moisture and is suitable to plant around ponds and water features. Japanese sedge cultivars are easily maintained deer-proof groundcovers. Hardy in USDA zones 5 to 9.
• Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla mollis): This attractive herbaceous perennial has circular leaves with scalloped borders. The yellow flowers last several weeks and the plant reaches heights of 1 to 2 feet (30 to 60 cm.). It’s easily grown from seeds and prefers partial shade. Lady's mantle can be grown in full sun, however, leaf scorch can occur. Hardy in USDA zones 3 to 9.

It should be noted that no plant is 100% deer resistant. When times get tough and food sources dwindle, even these deer-proof groundcovers may be consumed. Applying commercial deer repellents during these times may provide sufficient protection to groundcovers to deter deer.

It can be fun to watch duck and goose activity near your landscape, but in addition to their droppings, they can wreak havoc on your plants. Not only do they like eating the vegetation, they are notorious for damaging them too. Geese will tromp over any smaller flora, crushing it and keeping you from being able to fill in blank spaces with new plants. Are there duck and goose proof plants? Let's find out.

Finding Goose and Duck Proof Plants

Certain regions are waterfowl Nirvana. If you live in such a site, don't despair. There are some plants ducks and geese won't eat. Keeping plants safe from ducks and geese is another option to a waterfowl proof garden by using barriers. Consider some of these plants as well as effective barriers in areas of the garden that are known havens for these birds.

Ducks will eat small insects as well as vegetation, while geese tend to stick with foliage and flowers. They are voracious eaters and will dine on both aquatic and terrestrial plants. Many gardeners relate the birds’ fondness for flowers, especially, but they also eat grasses and other plants.

A well-planned pond with wild plants should withstand wild fowl activity, but a landscaped home pond that gets visiting birds may experience the most problems. In such situations, you can try bird netting or a fence to keep them out. This may limit the problem to some degree. There are also pellets that you can use to repel them, or plant herbs with strong scents like oregano, sage, and lemon verbena.

Developing a Waterfowl Proof Garden

If keeping plants safe from ducks and geese with barriers isn't possible, the types of plants surrounding a water feature may help limit damage. Gardeners familiar with the issue state that birds love plants like lilies and moss roses. Ducks, especially, like to dine on cultivated flowers, while geese will stomp on your precious plants and crush them.

Try to use perennials that will at least come back if walked on or eaten. Consider coarse plants with tough leaves and blades, like Egyptian papyrus. Many of the species in the Scirpus genus would also be effective choices. Also, use spiked plants and palms or cycads.

Plants Ducks and Geese Won't Eat

Stick with highly scented, thorny, or spiked plants. One suggestion is to find a list of deer resistant plants and use these. The properties that will repel the deer will also repel the birds. While you probably can't guarantee a hungry bird won't disturb a particular plant, here is a list of potential candidates that may not be attractive to the fowl:

• Pickerel weed
• Rose mallow
• Water canna
• Texas sedge
• Indian grass
• Lady fern
• Powdery alligator flag
• Broadleaf cattail
• Sand spikerush
• Bushy bluestem
• Creeping burrhead

Why do squirrels dig holes in trees? Good question! Squirrels typically build nests, also known as dreys. In general, squirrels don’t create holes, but they sometimes take advantage of abandoned woodpecker holes or other pre-existing cavities. Additionally, squirrels sometimes gnaw trees, usually where bark is rotten or a dead branch has fallen from the tree, to get to the sweet sap just below the bark. Let’s take a closer look.

Do Squirrels Harm Trees?

Squirrel tree damage is generally limited on healthy trees. However, although it is uncommon, removal of too much bark around the circumference of a branch can block movement of sugars and the branch can be damaged. Bark may also be damaged if fungal infections enter the damaged wood. Broad-leaved trees are most vulnerable to damage by squirrels. Again, tree damage by squirrels isn’t a common occurrence.

Preventing Squirrels from Making Tree Holes

You may be fighting a losing battle when it comes to preventing squirrels from making tree holes. It’s extremely difficult to remove squirrels and even if you do, more will move into the vacated area. However, you can take steps to limit squirrel tree damage. The most effective way to limit squirrel tree damage is to care for trees properly, as a healthy tree is very resistant to damage by squirrels. Water, fertilize, and prune properly. Treat insects and diseases as soon they appear. Wrap the base of the tree with a sheet of tin to prevent squirrels from climbing up the tree. Be sure the top of the tin sheet is at least 5 feet (1.5 m.) from the ground. Keep in mind, however, that this method won’t work if the tree is within jumping distance of structures or other trees. You’ll also need to remove all low-hanging branches. You can also wrap the base of young trees with 1 inch (2.5 cm.) thick chicken wire to prevent squirrels from digging in the tender bark. Try spraying trees with squirrel repellant such as a capsaicin-based product. Reapply the repellant if it rains. If your squirrel problem is out of control, contact your local fish and wildlife department for advice.

Coyotes generally prefer to avoid contact with humans, but as their habitat shrinks and they become more accustomed to people, they can sometimes become unwelcome visitors to the garden. Read on to learn more about coyote control and what to do about coyotes in the garden.

Are Coyotes Dangerous?

Although the wily canines may occasionally dine on juicy vegetables or fruits (especially melons), they depend primarily on rats and other rodents and are extremely effective at keeping destructive, disease-causing vermin under control. Since they are such important members of the ecosystem, coyotes should be appreciated more than feared. However, it’s sometimes necessary to devise ways of controlling coyotes that venture too near the home and garden.

Coyotes tend to be shy creatures, but like most wild animals, they can be dangerous and shouldn’t be approached. Coyotes are especially aggressive and active when they’re hunting for food and when they’re protecting their offspring.

Coyotes can be dangerous to cats and small dogs, but coyote attacks on humans, which generally involve very young children, are extremely rare. Arizona Cooperative Extension notes that domestic dogs post a much greater threat.

Should you Kill Coyotes?

Absolutely not. If coyotes are causing damage in your garden, or if you are aware of coyotes acting aggressively, don’t take matters into your own hands. Report the matter to your state’s department of fish and wildlife or your local cooperative extension office.

Controlling Coyotes in the Garden

So, what to do about coyotes hanging around your garden and surrounding landscape? If you’re serious about controlling coyotes, you can build a fence of concrete blocks, wire, brick, or solid wood, with a buried apron that extends 4 to 6 inches (10-15 cm.) into the ground and away from the fence at least 15 to 20 inches (38-51 cm.) to prevent digging under. A coyote-proof fence must be at least 5 ½ feet (2 m.) tall.

The following steps will minimize coyote activity in your garden:

• Control rodents around your home and garden. Also, keep weedy areas and tall grass mowed, which will help control rodents that attract coyotes to your garden.
• Confine pets and backyard poultry after dark. Remove pet food dishes from your garden at night as well and always keep pet food containers indoors or ensure they are tightly sealed.
• Bring garbage cans indoors at night or ensure that the containers have secure covers.
• Never leave food or water available for a coyote, either intentionally or unintentionally. Doing so will cause them to lose their natural fear of people. With that in mind, pick up any windfall fruit and harvest vegetables when they are ripe.
• Bright lights may (or may not) discourage coyotes.

Of all garden pests, mammals are often the ones that can do the greatest damage in the shortest time. One strategy for warding off these animals is to use predator urine as a pest deterrent. Predator urine falls into the category of olfactory repellents, meaning they target the pest animal’s sense of smell. Coyote and fox urine are the most commonly used for smaller mammals and deer; bobcat, wolf, bear, and mountain lion urine are also available.

Does Urine Deter Pests?

Gardeners report mixed results with predator urine. Fox urine works best for repelling small mammals like rabbits, squirrels, and cats. Coyote urine and the urine of larger predators is a better choice for deer and other larger animals, and is also reported to work against woodchuck, raccoon, skunk, and smaller mammals. Predator urine in gardens is not a foolproof solution to pest problems. One common complaint is that herbivores may become habituated to scent repellents and return to the area. Switching out your repellent every three to four weeks can help. Another issue is that if an animal is hungry enough, it will be determined to reach your edible plants, and olfactory repellents including urine are unlikely to make a difference. Like other olfactory repellents, predator urine is a safer alternative compared with poisons. It is less expensive than setting up a fence or netting system, but it’s also less reliable than a strong physical barrier.

Using Urine for Pest Control

Knowing what animal is causing the damage will help you pick an effective control method. For example, deer are likely to be repelled by coyote urine but not fox urine. You can often tell what mammal is responsible based on the type of damage, what time of day or night it occurs, and which plants are targeted. Be aware that coyote urine may attract curious coyotes or dogs to the area. Reapply predator urine products after rains and every week or so, depending on the product. To increase their effectiveness, consider using multiple types of animal repellents simultaneously or combining a repellent with an exclusion method like fencing or netting.

In combat and sports, the quote “the best defense is a good offense” is said a lot. This quote can apply to certain aspects of gardening too. In deer proof gardening, for instance, this can be quite literal since plants that smell offensive to deer can deter them from their favorite edibles. 

Planting a garden with edible plants deer don’t eat is also a defense. Continue reading for tips on deer proofing the garden and a list of fruits and vegetables deer won’t eat.

Deer Resistant Edibles

The sad fact is that there are actually no completely deer proof plants. When herd populations are large and food and water are scarce, deer will graze on whatever they can. Deer get about a third of the water they need from eating plants, so in times of drought they may eat unusual plants just to avoid dehydration. 

The silver lining is that usually a desperate deer will find wild plants or ornamentals before raiding your vegetable garden. However, if your garden contains fruits and vegetables favored by deer, they just may go the extra mile. 

Knowing which plants are irresistible to deer can help you properly use companion plants to deter deer from their favorites. Below is a list of plants that deer love to eat.

Edible Plants Deer Love

• Apples
• Beans
• Beets
• Blueberry
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Carrot tops
• Kohlrabi
• Lettuce
• Peas
• Pears
• Plums
• Pumpkins
• Raspberries
• Spinach
• Strawberries
• Sweet corn
• Sweet potato

Are There Fruits and Vegetables Deer Won’t Eat?

So what vegetables are deer resistant? As a general rule, deer don’t like plants with strong pungent scents. Planting these plants around the garden perimeter or around their favorite plants can sometimes be enough to make deer seek food elsewhere. 

Deer also don't tend to like plants with thick, hairy, or prickly leaves or stems. Deer can be a little lazy about digging up root vegetables, but this doesn’t mean they won’t eat their aerial foliage. For example, they are very fond of carrot tops but rarely eat the carrots. 

Below are lists of edible plants that deer don’t eat (usually) and edible plants that deer sometimes eat, though they are not preferred.

Edible Plants Deer Don’t Eat

• Onions
• Chives
• Leeks
• Garlic
• Asparagus
• Carrots
• Eggplant
• Lemon Balm
• Sage
• Dill
• Fennel
• Oregano
• Marjoram
• Rosemary
• Thyme
• Mint
• Lavender
• Artichoke
• Rhubarb
• Fig
• Parsley
• Tarragon

Edible Plants Deer Don’t Like But May Eat

• Tomato
• Pepper
• Potatoes
• Olive
• Currants
• Squash
• Cucumber
• Brussels Sprouts
• Bok Choy
• Chard
• Kale
• Melons
• Okra
• Radish
• Cilantro
• Basil
• Serviceberry
• Horseradish
• Borage
• Anise

Most of us love having backyard birds to watch and to feed. The music of songbirds is a sure sign of spring. On the other hand, bird damage to lawns can be extensive. If you’re finding small holes in your grass and you see a lot of birds around, the damage is probably caused by birds foraging for food. There are some ways you can keep birds from digging up lawn and grass. Read on to learn more.

Why are Birds Digging up my Lawn?

It’s not hard to identify bird damage to lawns. If you see a lot of birds in your yard and you find small, one inch (2.5 cm.) holes in the turf, it’s most likely bird-related damage. What are birds digging for in your lawn? The phenomenon of birds digging holes in lawns has an easy explanation: food. They’re looking for tasty snacks, so if you’re seeing a lot of bird damage, it means you have an insect problem. Basically, your lawn is the best restaurant around because it has so many bugs. Birds are simply foraging for grubs, worms, and insects. The good news about this is that the grubs and insects will actually do more damage to your lawn than the birds will, and the birds are helping you control the population.

How to Keep Birds from Digging up Lawn

If you want to avoid the bird damage of small holes all over your lawn, you have to get rid of the insect pests. To get rid of your bug problem, invest in a pesticide, preferably something natural. You can either have it applied by a professional lawn company or you can do it yourself. It is important to time the application. If you have grubs, for instance, you need to apply in late spring or early summer. It’s also important to time application to avoid harming the birds. Apply the pesticide in late afternoon so it will be dry by the next morning when the birds reappear to search for breakfast. If you prefer not to have birds at all around your property, there is little you can do but you can try using a few scare tactics that may keep the birds away.

Man’s best friend isn't always the garden’s best friend. Dogs may trample down plants and break stems, they may dig up plants, and they just might decide that your prize peony is their favorite potty spot. Keeping dogs away from garden plants can seem like a never-ending battle. Continue reading for some tips on how to keep dogs from damaging prized plants.

Protecting Plants from Dogs

The internet is full of forums and discussion groups with gardeners asking for or sharing tips on protecting plants from dogs. Some of the tips are so simple you may wonder why you hadn't thought of that yourself. Other tips are such outside-the-box that you never would’ve thought of that. One such tip, from the Louisiana SPCA, is to blow up some balloons and bury them where your dog has a habit of digging. When the dog digs at it and pops the balloons, the noise will scare it off and hopefully teach it to be wary of the spot in the future. Naturally, with some dogs, it may take a few popped balloons before the lesson sinks in. Here are some other ideas for keeping dogs away from garden plants:

Fencing

If your yard is large enough, you can simply create a specific area for your dog, away from the garden. Decorative garden fences have become popular garden accents and there is really no law that says you cannot run a cute little picket fence down the middle of your backyard to give Fido his own play space while keeping the garden safe at the same time. In the doggy play area, include toys to keep him/her entertained and create a dirt bed where your dog is allowed to dig and use the bathroom. This way when you are out in your garden digging, Fido can feel like helping out by digging in his or her own space. Just make sure the fence is tall enough that your dog can't just leap right over it. If your yard is not big enough to create a specific dog-zone, you can still put decorative but functional garden fences around specific garden beds to keep dogs out. Of course, the problem with this is that smaller border plants may never be seen behind the fence and it could also cast shade on plants that would rather have sun. To protect specific prized plants, you can simply put a decorative fence, chicken wire cage, obelisk or other plant cage/support around that one plant that Fido always seems to mess with.

Mulching

Fencing and cages are pretty common sense solutions for keeping dogs away from garden plants, but you may not want random fences or cages in your yard or gardens. So think for a moment about mulches and your dog’s paws. Most gardeners will have organic mulches, like wood chips or chopped up straw, in garden beds. These mulches are soft, damp and full of wonderful smells to a dog. They seem to scream “dig here!” and “roll around in this spot!” to your dog. So how about mulching your plant beds with less inviting materials. Some pet owners suggest scattering clippings from thorny or prickly bushes, such as rose stems, barberry or juniper trimmings. Your dog will not like the way these poke the soft pads on their paws when they try to enter the garden. Perhaps, my favorite mulch deterrent idea for keeping dogs away from garden plants might help. Simply create moats of pine cones around the garden or even just around specific plants. Like the trimmings from thorny shrubs, your dog will not like the way the pines cones feel on its paws, and the pine cone moats will look like you just added a decorative, natural accent to the garden.

Deterrents

The battle between dogs and plant protection is much simpler when the problem is your own dog. You can watch the habits of your dog when he/she is outside, so you can judge exactly what plants and areas need the most protection. However, when your garden is being visited at night by the neighbor’s dogs or strays, what can you do? One option is to install a motion activated sprinkler that shoots out bursts of water when an animal is in the area. Decoys with LED lights can also work, making an animal think a predator’s eyes are glaring at them from the garden. Garden centers, pet stores and hardware stores also sell all sorts of animal deterrents that can be sprayed on and around the garden. Some of these deterrents are made from the urine of predators and can work nicely with LED garden decoys. Other animal deterrents are made from plants with strong scents that dogs do not like, such as hot pepper sprays, apple bitters and orange peels. You can also make your own animal deterrent sprays with items you most likely already have in your kitchen. Some household items with strong scents that deter dogs are:

• Ammonia
• Vinegar
• Tabasco sauce
• Coffee grounds
• Orange peels
• Crushed red pepper
• Black pepper
• Cayenne pepper
• Ground mustard

How to Protect Indoor Plants from Dogs

Sometimes, Fido isn't content to just dig outside. Houseplants can be a source of entertainment for pets on rainy days or when they’re just in a destructive mood. However, many houseplants can be harmful or poisonous. One easy solution to keeping pets out of houseplants is to keep these plants up out of reach, either in hanging baskets or on high shelves. This isn't an option for some large houseplants, though. What usually attracts pets to houseplants is the bare soil that seems to beg them to dig in it. My sister has cats and houseplants. The concept seemed impossible to me, as all my experiences with my pets and houseplants have resulted in me constantly having to repot my plants and sweep up potting soil. After closer inspection of my sister’s plants, I noticed she had saved cardboard frozen pizza circles and plastic coffee can lids, which she had cut holes in for the crown and stems of the houseplants to stick through. She pushed the cardboard or plastic circles down to the soil level so there was no bare soil to attract the pets. Of course, this protects just the soil and stops digging habits, but it won’t stop a pet from chewing on houseplant foliage. Many animal deterrent sprays, store bought or homemade, can be sprayed on indoor plants as well.

Urban chicken farming is everywhere in my little suburban area. We are used to seeing “chicken found” or “chicken lost” signs and even chickens themselves strutting across our lawns. Those folks didn’t do a very good job of chicken proofing their garden. However, you don’t just want the chickens running amok.

Protecting plants from chickens is also a priority. How do I chicken proof my garden, you ask? Read on to find out how to protect plants from chickens.

Garden Plants and Chickens

There’s nothing like a freshly laid egg for breakfast. For this reason and because more and more people are concerned about how their food is grown, urban chicken farming is all the rage. Adding chickens to your landscape has more benefits than just fresh laid eggs, but it can also have its share of problems.

Chickens scratch to get at bugs, often a boon to the gardener, but all that aggressive scratching can wreak havoc on tender plants. Once they get an area free of plant life, it turns into an inexpensive chicken spa – a dust bath. So, it’s important to keep garden plants and chickens either at a safe distance or go with it and install plants for the chickens.

Don’t let the fact that the chickens might disturb a few plants deter you. The benefits of having chickens outweigh the downsides. Since they tend to eat pests such as beetles, aphids, and larvae, your garden will be less affected by them with no need for chemical controls. Their feces make an incredibly rich fertilizer and while they’re pecking around the garden, they eat many weed seeds that might otherwise overtake the garden. In fact, many gardeners move the chickens to different areas of the garden to reap the benefits of the manure as well as the removal of larvae, pests, and weeds by their feathered friends.

How to Protect Plants from Chickens

If, however, the chickens are a little overzealous and you’re losing too many plants, you’re probably wondering how to chicken proof your garden. There are a number of methods for chicken proofing a garden. The most obvious is fencing off the most problematic areas. There are a number of ways to do this. Probably the most common is chicken wire.

There’s a reason it’s called chicken wire. Certainly, you will want to fence off the vegetable garden since there will be new, tender seedlings coming up, as well as tempting bare areas the chickens can’t keep their talons out of.

You don’t have to use chicken wire; any wire barrier works. Livestock fencing or sturdy wire mesh works well. Creating a hedge will also block the chickens from areas you would rather not have them in.

If you don’t want to make an entire fenced area, there are other ways of protecting plants from chickens. Rocks placed around the base of new plants will keep the chickens from scratching and digging them up. Cloches or netting around plants will also protect them. Trellising keeps plants up and out of reach. Tall container plantings will keep the chickens away from vulnerable plants, as do hanging baskets. Plant flowerbeds close together.

Any bare patches of dirt are irresistible to chickens. Also, keep an area of the yard as a dust bath to keep the chickens from scratching other areas of the landscape. Sprinkle it with diatomaceous earth periodically to keep them mite free.

There are some plants that chickens don’t seem to be interested in. These are generally taller plants that are out of reach. Roses, barberries, dogwoods, and hydrangeas are all beauties that are unappreciated by chickens.

Sunflowers, for obvious reasons, are chicken proof but plant these with care, as the un-hulled seeds are not good for them either. You don’t just want to focus on keeping the plants from the chickens; you might want to incorporate some plants just for the chickens, especially if they are free-range.

It’s a good idea to plant at least one evergreen so they have cover in the winter and a dense thicket of bushes so they can scratch and doze under them during hot days. Chicken friendly berries, like elderberries or blueberries, are a great option for the thicket. The hens will snack away on the berries, thereby cutting the costs of expensive chicken feed.

One of the trickiest parts of having a garden is making sure you’re the one enjoying it. No matter where you are, pests of one kind or another are a constant threat. Even containers, which can be kept close to the house and feel like they ought to be safe, can easily fall prey to hungry critters, like rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, etc. Keep reading to learn more about how to protect potted plants from animals.

Potted Plant Protection

Protecting container plants from animals is, for the most part, the same as protecting a garden. A lot of it depends upon how humane you want to be. If you just want to deter pests, each animal has certain sights and smells that will drive it away. For instance, birds can usually be scared away by hanging strips of fabric or old CDs around your plants. Many other animals can be deterred by human hair or chili powder. If your goal is keeping animals out of containers in your garden for good, you can always buy traps or poisoned bait – though this isn’t something anyone should really recommend.

Keeping Animals Out of Containers

One good thing about container plants is that they have firm underground barriers. While in-ground gardens can be assaulted by moles and voles from the sides, potted plant protection in that respect is nice and easy. Similarly, keeping animals out of containers has one failsafe option. If you simply can’t keep your plants or bulbs from being eaten, you can always move them. Try raising the plants out of reach of rabbits and pets, such as up on a table. You can also try moving the containers closer to places with noise and foot traffic to scare away animals. If all else fails, you can always move them inside.