The Squirrel Battle - Update

Well, a few weeks ago I had posted some suggestions on keeping squirrels out of the garden - an annual and ongoing battle, for me.

Image via WikipediaI actually found quite a few suggestions I had not tried before, but the only one I have actually implemented so far is the spices....because I haven't needed another method!!

I am SO excited that this is working, and I would have posted sooner, but wanted to make sure the results I was getting were for real, and not just a coincidence. But it will be a month, this week, since I started trying this, and I've had virtually NO digging in my garden - whereas before, it was more than once a day.

I've still seen plenty of squirrels around, so I know they're still in the vicinity, but they just seem to be leaving my garden alone.

I had tried cayenne pepper before, but on the advice of the video I posted, I decided to try some stronger smelling spices. I had a small bottle of ground cloves in the pantry - obviously very potent, scent-wise, which I'd had for ages and never used much of. So I started with that, and just using the shaker bottle, sprinkled it around the perimeter of my tiny garden plot, and also over the area where the most active digging was occurring.  Immediately, I stopped finding holes everywhere, and my dear lettuces stopped being molested.

Image via WikipediaEncouraged, I continued this, but my small bottle soon ran low, so I picked up a big container of ground cinnamon at Aldi's (I think I paid a dollar?). I've been using this ever since, and it seems to be working just as well, although it is more obvious to the eye - the cloves were the same color as the soil, so you wouldn't notice it, but the cinnamon now gives a rust-colored perimeter to the garden. It doesn't bother me though, and hopefully the neighbors don't care!

The one drawback is that I do need to reapply every time it rains - which, this spring, is a lot - but it only takes a minute or so, and it is working so well, I don't mind at all.

I haven't planted the potatoes just yet, but the onions are all up and growing nicely, and the gladiolas are just planted and mulched - and nothing is digging them up!

Anyway, I hope this method proves helpful for others - it sure worked for me!

If you find your squirrels impervious to spices, there were a couple other interesting suggestions I haven't tried: 1. Castor Oil mixed with water, and used to water the areas in question (this is supposed to be good for the plants as well as repelling squirrels). 2. Cotton balls soaked in peppermint oil, and tucked into the toes of old pantyhose, hung in the corners of the garden (works on the same premise as the spices, with the strong scents).

Feel free to post your own comments below! What have you used to repel squirrels from your garden?  What have you tried that has worked, or hasn't?