Hi! This is my first comment. We own an darling Victorian home in Massachusetts, but cannot afford landscapers. etc. We have planted a fragrance garden in the backyard and are attempting a cottage garden look. But we are overwhelmed with squirrels despite living in the city! currently, my husband traps them and relocates them to a large city park. But they are constantly digging in the garden. Any suggestions how to deter the little critters?
Thanks,
Seandor
Squirrels
I hate squirrels...I really do. In above freezing weather I use a nasty spray made from old milk, chopped garlic, cayenne pepper and some water - let it sit in the sun (outside!!!) for a few days and then spray around your best plantings - the smell is repulsive and it sends the critters running. Course if it rains/snows you must re-apply. Nasty and work intensive but effective. Good Luck. oh, and there are commercial critter sprays too
Catherine
I can't help much on the squirrels -- we have a boat load of them here, too, but they seem more interested in the acorns than with anything I've planted, or at least they don't bother my stuff too much. I just mostly wanted to say -- Welcome to the CG forum, Seandor!
We love pictures...houses and gardens both. :)
Suzy
I'll second both the welcome and the pictures! I'd love to see your home (keeping in mind that you're "working on it" - as if you'll ever stop!)
My best guess on squirrels is a dog 8*) ... I don't think you could relocate enough to really make a dent - have you noticed a difference?
You could always buy an oak for your neighbor down the street >evil grin
My experience squirrels is don't fight them, fed them! Since I put up some feeders they leave my garden alone. I have onefeeder that you put 4 ears of corn on and it turns when the little buggers go to reach for it. Then another where they have to open the lid and reach in for unsalted peanuts.
They are fun to watch and it keeps them busy!
I agree, feed them. Of course, you may find some stange plants growing in your garden.
Depends on what they are digging.
I have found that putting a layer of freshly urine-soaked rabbit litter/bedding on top of bulbs when I plant them seriously discourages the buggers from digging up my bulbs. The rabbit litter is totally compostable, and the poop degrades very rapidly.
Squirrels don't like rock mulches much either, but perhaps you have fewer places to use that in MA than we do here in colorado. I disagree on the feeding -- whatever they cannot consume they will try to bury in your garden, including corn, peanuts, sunflower seeds. The sunflower seed hulls will also kill the grass and prevent germination of any other plant seeds.
Welcome, Seandor!
I'm looking forward to photos of your fragrance garden.... too bad Dave hasn't managed to enable that "scratch-n-sniff" feature!
On relocating squirrels... bear in mind that they tend to range far and wide... be sure you're taking them at least 5 miles away (as the crow flies), or you'll see the same squirrels again.
With just a few squirrels, feeding them might work... but with dozens, I'm afraid it will just encourage them and increase their numbers.
I've only had passing squirrels a few times, and I holler and chase and harass them to encourage them to pass right along and not give my garden a second thought in their search for a new home. Mean? Maybe. But I'm already contending with an abundance of bunnes and some destructive groundhogs... I do not need squirrels!
I agree with Pagancat that the surest way to keep squirrels out of your garden is with a dog. Of course, then you have to figure out how to keep the dogs out of the garden - the dogs jumping around the trees, barking at the squirrels, do more damage then the squirrels!
Dogs never worked for me. The squirrels just thumbed their noses at the dogs.
I had just reached this perfect balance; the dog knows the boundaries of garden (finally, after lots of training) and understands that the cats are allowed in (she thinks I'm so unfair!). Between them pretty good deer, rabbit, mole and squirrel control. Now I have a neighbor, after enjoying solitude for 3 years. Not close enough to see, but they have a dog that is young and very sweet and great buddies with my Sophia. He however does'nt get get it where the garden is concerned, and the cats don't like him and want to stay inside all the time. So now here come the little critters again. Oh well, guess it was good while it lasted, lol.
I have enjoyed reading this thread ,as I've never seen a squirrel - They look so cute in pictures , I didn't realise they could be a pest . We don't have them (or moles,) in NZ ....Some friends were touring the Canadian rockies ,and when the bus driver saw a squirrel ,he stopped the bus just so the NZers could see it ! The other passengers were amused !
Emelle.
Hi Emelle, Yes they can be a pest, if they get into your house, like in the attic they can cause a lot of damage. But they are fun to watch, one year we had removed some old carpet from our home and there was what old fiber padding I watched for days as a squirrel kept coming back to fill her cheeks with the padding, I couldn't think about it to much as it would make me gag LOL.
She was building a nest in a hollow part of a tree in our yard. I really enjoyed watching the youngsters getting their tree legs and chasing each other around.
thank you for your many ideas! A dog is out of the question . . . for now. The neighbours feed the squirrels - and the squirrels simply come to our garden and bury the stuff. I think perhaps my husband is not tranporting them far enough if the squirrels need to be relocated 5 miles away!
the garden is barren right now - and I suspect it will take 3 or more years for the plant to fill in. But once spring starts, I will send photos :-) Meanwhile, I will try to find a good picture of the house. I have attached a picture of a dahlia we grew during the summer. I think that is what impressed my husband to dig up the lawn and put in the new garden.
cheers,
Michaela
I enjoyed your story of the carpet bits for a squirrel nest ,Lady gardener . Carrying fibre in their cheeks ? ?Really ??
A similar thing with some little finches building a nest here - -- After I had clipped my West Highlander , the birds removed the white hair and lined their nests with it .Very cosy.
I love white dahlias ,Seandor ,and mine are at their peak here in mid -Summer ..Another white variety - a fimbriated dahlia for you -what a thoughtful husband .Lots of compost in dahlia beds does wonders. I also have a 'recipe' for dahlia feeding from a NZ dahlia expert ,but am not sure what forum to put it in.
Emelle.
Seandor, Great dahlia! The foliage looks so healthy!
Geminii-sage, Bummer on the new neighbors -- I can't imagine not having houses in view from every direction. I think I'd be scared at night!
Emelle, You put the dahlia recipe right her inthe CG forum! We take a bit of everything because that's what our gardens are: a bit of everything. Do you have Japanese Beetles there on the North Island? I only asked because white dahlias would be eaten up here in July -- the dahlias aren't white, that are literally that sort of weird metallic color. there are so many JB on them. Only the whites and lightcolored ones, though, and only the 1st 2 weeks in July +-.
Ladygardener, I have tried and tried to get some critter to take my dog's fur. I stick is in the bushes and I sort of attach it to th trunks of trees and a year later it's still there. yuck! Is there any kind of trick?
Critter, I have a hilarious vision of you waving your arms and stomping up and down while screaming at the top of your lungs at those poor squirrels. LOL!
Suzy
Thanks for including me in the conversation .We don't have Japanese beetles here .What an awful pest they must be ! The dahlias are attractive to earwigs though .Here is the dahlia feeding recipe -it makes strong ,sturdy stems ,and lush foliage .
10 days after planting ,put a handful of the following mix around each plant .:I only do it once a season .
2and a half kilograms of blood and bone
2kg sulphate of potash
500 grams (half a kg) of Sulphate of iron
4kg superphosphate
!kg Epsom salts (magnesium)
Do you use metric measurements in the USA ? 500 grams would be the equivalent of one pound.
Best wishes to all ,and next time you shout at the squirrels ,say Hi from NZ ...
Emelle.
Darn, Emelle! We don't have blood & bone here. We also don't have hoof and horn. It is so annoying to read the English gardening books and their prize-winning recipes, including hoof and horn. I am pretty sure we substitute steamed bonemeal which is the only kind we can buy.
If we were going to recalculate this to an English (US) measurement, it would look like this +/- (I added the statement about the Iron sulphate because so many parts of the US have high iron content in the soil already, and also places with low pHs.)
5 pounds of blood and bone (bonemeal)
4 pounds sulphate of potash
1 pound of Sulphate of iron (iron sulphate) -- probably not necessary if you have a low ph
9 pounds superphosphate
2 pounds Epsom salts (magnesium)
I have a freiend who uses a similar concoction with the addition of regular white table sugar! She uses it under all her plants when she plants, but usually a Tablesoon or two, not a whole handful. I have a little shaker of it, but I can see I will have to make up some larger quantities! Bonemeal is my dog's favorite scent in the garden so I have to be soooo careful and only use it when he's inside and I also have to make sure it's buried good and well! In fact, the shaker can't even stay handy because he has a NOSE!
I have earwigs here, too, but I never knew what they were or that they were bad-bad BAD until I joined Dave's. I was just messing around in the bug ID forum and saw a picture of one..."hey! I have those!" Then I read and thought, "Ut-oh, I should be killing them!" Somewhere in one of the forums there was a thread that told about coiling a section of garden hose inside a flower pot and then empty the contents of the hollow garden hose every morning into a bucket of soapy water to get rid of them....when summer comes (a 1/2 year from now for us!) I'll look up the thread and try to take a more proactive role in getting rid of them. Who knew? I consider all bugs good unless they bite me or sting me. LOL!
The squirrels *are* cute. They're cute and fun and welcome, at least here, although maybe I'm in the minority. They do like to dig up things sometimes, but I love them. We have a lot of big oaks and walnut trees and they have a field day in the fall. It might be because so much of my property and that of my neighbor's is "woods" that they stay out there and don't really come near the house & garden...or maybe PC is right and the dogs keep them away. Do you know what chipmunks are? I think they are more of a pest than the squirrels.
Suzy
Suzy, I agree that chipmunks are more of a problem, I have had them steal lily bulbs I was relocating off my deck and I was just in the house for a quick trip to the bathroom. That is on reason I don't plant many tulips, they will eat them, I stay with Daffodils they leave them alone.
As far as the pet hair, Emelle, wrote about that. But I use to have an Alaskan Malamute that I would brush in the back yard, in spring she would blow coat, I would just let the hair lay where it was and it would be gone in a day or two, don't know who took it. One time a neighbor asked my husband that all the white stuff was in the yard, husband just said "The dog exploded" LOL
Chris
We do not have chipmunks,but I vaguely remember a 'chipmunk' song a few years ago " Dadada Da Dada" -something like that .
We had metrics forced on us 20 0dd years ago .Everything now being in tens ..The 12 measure system is the historical ,logical system ...with 12 being divisible etc -8-4 -6-2- 4-3.Quilters here still use the 12 measure system ,and need to import the rulers .for inches and feet .I am not good at Maths ,so may not have explained it too well ,but the globe is divided into degrees ---metric can't be .
Yes ,we have to be careful of using blood and bone ,as if there are cattle nearby they get very upset by the smell .I put it on just before rain ,so it gets washed in .My daughter ,a vegetarian refuses to use it .We live in the most intensive dairying area in the world ,so b&b is made from dead cattle -(sorry to the sensitive souls among readers )and the removal of dead cattle is a service to the farmers.
Emelle
Suzy, add some clapping of hands and stomping across the deck, and you've got a pretty acurate image of my approach to running off critters! For starlings, I've also been known to bang on the window near the bird feeder.... but after the second or third time, they just shrug and keep gobbling... yeah, I know they have to eat too... but do they have to eat every scrap in 4 minutes flat?? LOL
LOL at LadyG's "exploding" dog!
If you have squirrels or chipmonks eating ornamental plants (not ones you want to eat yourself), there are also some tablets you can bury at the roots of the plants (like hostas)... I think they're called "Bittrex" but could check... The roots take up the compound over time, and any new growth on the plant is extremely bitter and unpalatable.