Squirrels are considered to be extremely tenacious animals and once they make up their mind to start digging up holes in your potted plant then it might seem like a mission impossible to stop them.
If you are fed up with squirrels destroying your potted plants then you have found the right page as we would be discussing protecting your potted plants from squirrels.
In this review, we would be bringing you a few tips and suggestions which we believe can be of help to you in tackling this difficult situation.
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Why Squirrels Dig Up Flower Pots
The main reason why squirrels tend to start digging is when they have to bury the cache of food such as nuts and acorns and they make use of flower pots because they are an ideal option.
This is because flower pots a soft potting soil which squirrels would find very easy to dig and there is a very good chance that you would find their nuts and acorns buried deep in your flower containers. The negative side of this is that these squirrels might also end up chewing your potted plants as well as digging up bulbs.
Protecting Potted Plants From Squirrels
It is simply a case of trial and error when you are tasked with protecting potted plants from squirrels but some of the suggestions that we have here might still be useful and effective when you start making use of it.
You can try out mixing something into your potted plants which the squirrels would find as distasteful and what you can use might be a natural repellent like garlic, peppermint oil, vinegar, crushed red pepper, cayenne pepper or you can also consider combining two out of the few we have listed.
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You can also try to create a homemade squirrel repellent yourself and all that is required is mixing two tablespoons of cayenne pepper, two tablespoons of black pepper, one chopped jalapeno pepper and one chopped onion.
The mixture should be boiled for about fifteen to twenty minutes then it should be strained using a cheesecloth or a fine strainer. This strained mixture should be poured into a bottle and then sprayed around the potted plant soil.
This mixture has the power to cause irritation to the eyes, lips and skin so caution should be taken during application.
You can add some blood meal to the potting mix and since blood meal has high nitrogen contents then you should try not to add excessive amounts. Having layers of rocks on the potting soil can also detest the squirrels from digging the potting soil but during the summer months, these rocks might start turning too hot and could end up causing damages to the plants.
So a better option should be mulch which would not only maintain the health of plants but would also keep squirrels away from digging.
You can also take into consideration the hanging of shiny materials on your potted plants and you can trust that these shiny elements would help in scaring squirrels away. Covering potted plants with a cage wire would most especially during the off-season when squirrels tend to hide their treasures and if you are not comfortable with the idea of surrounding your plants with a wire then you can also consider cutting up small pieces and putting them under the surface of the soil.
Cut few stems of wild roses or blackberry vines and put them right into the soil. The thorn is quite sharp to keep squirrels away from digging up the soil of your potted plants. These stems should however be placed standing upright for it to be able to lure squirrels away.
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