I have a problem with squirrels?
Question:The problem is that I have a new hose and had planted bulbs and flowers and now the squirrels are digging them up, what can I do to deture them from diggin up my flowers
Answers:
Could be moles that are digging up your bulbs. Put down Grub x to kill the grubs the moles are eating & digging for.
They can really make lots of damage.
If you do not have a pet and your neighbors do not have pets. You can put some cayanne pepper down. That will chase the squirrels away. But, it is very dangerous to the pet community.
So be extremely careful.
I did a quick search and found lots of websites about this. Here are three.
distract them, in other words get some squirrel feeders and feed them. maybe you can keep both around like we do. yes we occasionally loose a bulb or 3 but hey they are funny to watch sometimes.
okay this really works and it works in my yard . go to a store where they sell lawn ornaments and buy a plastic owl and set it up in your yard . turn it every few days so that they will think an owl has invaded your property and they will leave . good luck and happy gardening .
a 22 rifle works really well if your in the city limits and cant fire off a gun then use a pellett gun squirrels are great food
I have fought this war for years with no success... until recently. I did some research and found out that the reason they chew ( the house, the arbor, the bird feeders... ) is their teeth grow at a faster rate on the theory that they will be grinding them down. So.. I have hung corn cobs and ordered about 20 lb. They eat them and it is somewhat entertaining as well. Don't put them out if there are racoons around.
As far as bulbs you can buy bulb wire cages to plant them in, usually in the fall. I believe http://www.gardeners.com has them at a good price.
As for pots, I have bought hardware cloth from the local store that is big enough to cover the top of the pot and tuck under the lip. If there isn't a lip, a good rock will work. If you have existing plants in them, you can cut a hole in the hardware cloth big enough for the plant(s). A crayon can be helpful in this case.
So far so good. They are going after the unprotected decoys...; )
You can also bait a live trap with sunflower seeds and relocate them to a worthy environmental area, but...others quickly move in ..
Good Luck !!
If you can plant bulbs close to strong-smelling plants , such as sage , or other any mint family member ,or Matricaria (aka Feverfew , Leucanthemum parthenium ) they will leave the bulbs alone . Allium , or fritillaria bulbs, planted with the other bulbs will do the same thing . You could also plant the bulbs inside a wire cage .Chicken Wire, doubled up will work .
grrr, this is a problem that lots of people have! If you distract them with a feeder, you have to keep feeding them or they will go back to the garden, and it's never good to feed wild animals and make them dependant on humans!
One way the many have detered garden pests from dining on their bulbs is to build a cage or barrier of chicken wire for the bulbs. The squirells don't like the feel of the wire on their feet and the metal makes it hard for them to chew thru it.
you can make a slender box for the bulb of the wire and plant the whole box. The plants will still find a way to come up thru the wire...if you don't want to do a box, then lay a layer of chicken wire down on top of the dirt, making sure that the entire area is covers. Secure with earth staples (long pieces of bent wire you can push into the ground) then cover the whole space with a mulch.
good luck!
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