How to Deter Animals from Your Garden

Name: Greenbloom Landscape Design Inc
Address: 165 Geary Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M6H 2B8, CA
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After the time you’ve spent planting and arranging your garden, it’s frustrating to see all your hard work be erased by animals digging up seeds and destroying your plants. Here are some things you can do to help keep animals at bay.

General Animal Prevention Tips

Blood meal helps keep out squirrels, rabbits and raccoons as the smell is associated with predators. It needs to be reapplied after rain or watering and is a natural fertilizer.
Wood ashes repel rats, mice, ants and roaches as well as slugs and snails.
Do not leave food out and keep garbage and compost bin lids secured.
Clean your garbage bins periodically with bleach to get rid of food smells.
You can purchase predator urine which will repel most animals.
Clean up after your pet and dispose of the waste in a secure bin. The odour from pet waste can attract unwanted pests.
For any new planting, smooth the soil as much as possible so it doesn’t look as if it has been disturbed.
A mix of garlic and chili powder is excellent for deterring animals from your garden.
Make sure areas under decks and sheds are secured so skunks and other animals cannot get underneath to nest.
To deter raccoons and squirrels, boil a cup of cayenne pepper and habanero chilies in a pot of water. Allow it to cool, and then spray the perimeter of your yard, paying special attention to the tops of fences and trees where raccoons congregate. Use a mask and gloves to protect your eyes. Raccoons and squirrels hate the smell.
Get professionals in to trap and remove problem raccoons or squirrels and relocate them.
The best way to keep out rabbits and raccoons is with appropriate fencing.
Dogs and cats dislike the herb called rue, but do not use it if you have young children.

If You Have A Specific Animal Problem

Raccoons
- Don’t like prickly plants as they have sensitive feet. They will avoid squashes, cucumbers and other plants with spiky leaves.
- Don’t like spicy things. Plant garlic, hot peppers, and any other nightshade veggie.
- Don’t like the smell of peppermint.
- Discourage raccoons by using motion activated lights
- Do not leave your pet’s food out.
- Do not like the smell of ammonia. Soak tennis balls or rags in bleach and place them around the yard.
- Do not like the smell of peppermint. See rats and mice.
Squirrels
- Remove what attracts them, such as fallen fruits and seeds.
- Protect tulips and other bulbs by planting daffodils, ornamental onions, snowdrops, and muscari with them, as squirrels don’t like these. Daffodils and Narcissus are toxic to them.
- Dislike the smell of nasturtiums and marigolds. Planting them in your garden will deter them.
- Hen manure is a smell squirrels do not like. It can be purchased in a pellet form. The scent is undetectable to humans.
Rabbits
- Using ¼” to ½” chicken wire, make cylinders to protect new trees or shrubs. Bury the collar. The cylinder should be 2” – 4” larger than the diameter of the plant.
- Remove any evidence of nesting and block the area.
Cats
- Tend to dislike the smell of citrus. Plant lemon scented plants such as citronella or lemon balm, or chop up the peel from lemons, oranges and grapefruit and place them around the garden. Coffee grounds mixed in with the citrus also helps, and these act as natural fertilizers as they decompose.
- Dislike marigolds.
Dogs
- Fence the area off.
- Using an equal mix of dried mustard powder and crushed dried pepper, disperse around the garden. Reapply after rain
Rats and Mice
- Prevention is the best control method. Keep your garden, shed and home clean. If storing any seeds in a shed or garage, put them in a plastic or metal container. Put all garbage in a closed bin.
- Rodents in the garden can be identified by sight, plants disappearing overnight without a trace or appear to be pulled under the ground from below, tunnels in the ground, or mounds and droppings that look like black grains of rice.
- An eco-friendly deterrent is peppermint essential oil. Peppermint has a strong aroma which is unpleasant to rodents. Mix it with water and spray it in corners and around entrances to nests and burrows. Apply a few drops to a cotton ball and place in affected areas. Citronella and eucalyptus oil can also be used. Replace the cotton and respray approximately every two weeks.
- Rodent proof any sheds, garages or your home by repairing any cracks or holes, as they can squeeze through very small gaps.
- Remove their shelter. Rats and mice like to make nests in brush and wood piles. Elevate wood piles or periodically move or rearrange them.
- There are a variety of traps on the market from live traps to snap traps. In the yard, put the trap under a milk crate or inside a box so other animals are not hurt by the trap. Poison is another alternative. Caution must be used as the poisons are extremely harmful to humans and pets.
- If live traps are used, remember trapped animals are dangerous. Always handle traps carefully and wear thick, protective gloves when disposing of dead rodents. You’re your hands with soap and water after handling traps or rodent carcasses.

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How to Deter Animals from Your Garden

General Animal Prevention Tips

If You Have A Specific Animal Problem

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