Garden

[Wannabeincali]

I need some help. We have 2 very old (both are 20+years old!), large, gorgeous tropical house plants. One is a Tree Philodendron (aka, Lacey Tree), and the other is a Draceana. Both are just stunning. We take them both out to the porch (open porch) every Spring, until mid Fall. Last year we had a battle with the squirrels. They would dig up the soil and the porch was covered with dirt every morning. Mind you, this is a white house with a white porch, and white porch furniture. No way to hide that dirt. The squirrels are just having a blast in these pots. This happened a few times during the season last year. 

This season? Oh man. It is a full on WAR!

These little monsters have dug up my plants every single day, for the past 2 weeks that we have had them out. Today I woke up to a wet muddy porch because I had watered the plantslast evening. Grrrrrrrrrrr. I keep adding more soil to the pors, BUT now they are ripping some of the top, finer roots out of the Draceana!

At first, last year, I thought the squirrels were so cute, rolling around on top of the pots, but now? I am just irritated. I do not have any other place to put these plants. They need indirect sunlight. The plrch is it. I do not have enough room for them to be inside, by our sunnier windows. They are in a half shaded windowduring the winter and do fine, but they will not thrive that way in the summer.

What do I do to keep these bratty squirrels OUT?

And don't even get me started on the six gorgeous hibiscus I had last summer. They were doing superbly.....until the deer found them. 

I am so tempted to just buy a few of the fake Ivy fence stuff that qvc sells, and then "plant" some plastic flowers around them, and call it a day. Lol. sigh

Any tips for the squirrel issue???

[blackhole99]

Secure screening over the dirt so they can't get into the pot and dig. The squirrels stored their nuts in my raised bed herb garden last fall  and I had to cover it to keep them out.

[Wannabeincali]

Hi blackhole99,

Dumb question, but what kind of screening? CanI get this at home depot? Or should I go to a nursery? Do I have to buy a roll? Or?

Thanks so much! I had asked my husband if he thought putting a mesh screen would work and he just laughed as if I was being silly. Ha! I cannot wait to tell him I got the same suggestion here.   yesssssssss!

THANKS much!

[Mz iMac]

Have you considered screening your porch?

[blackhole99]

@Wannabeincali I think it's called hardware cloth or screening, it's dense, but water will go through it. We live in the woods and the squirrels are attracted to soft dirt hence , problems with digging and hiding nuts. My husband secured the hardware cloth to a wooden frame and we just put it over the bed at the end of the season.

[noodleann]

One tip I read was to stick a bunch of upended garden stakes or bamboo skewers, pointy-side up, in the pot to prevent them from digging. You could try this out on the cheap, since I think bamboo skewers are usually available in the barbecue or kitchen section of the dollar store. It might look a bit odd, but at the price, it's worth a try. I also thought of hardware cloth, but I hate working with that stuff and it's just plain ugly. The skewers are instantly reversible, and unless a squirrel goes kamikaze on one, won't hurt them.

Other ideas I've read include sprinkling the soil in the pot with bone meal. Problems: The plant might not like it, it could attract other pests like raccoons, and it will have to be replenished periodically. Human and dog hair were also suggestions, although a bit icky, IMO.

[Kinz]

I have lots of squirrels that come on my deck too and they can sure make a mess.  I also put my houseplants out for the summer.  I used bit rocks in the pot around the base of the plant.  It has sure helped on the squirrels making big messes--- and it looks pretty in the pots too.

[ValuSkr]

I have a lot of potted plants too and squirrels love to play in them.   What usually works for me is to fill the pots with pine cones.  My experience is that squirrels will only dig if they can see soil.  If you cover the soil with other things - stone, pine cones, other plants, for example - they'll likely leave it alone.

[fthunt]

I've always heard - sprinkle HOT PEPPER - where you don't want them.  That Ceyanine (spelling) cooking one.  Sprinkle the dirty around the plant.   I know it doesn't bother or hurt birds - but squirrels turn tail and run.

[Rose429]

I have the same problem and I gave up. They dug dirt out of pots and tossed my bulbs on the deck. They killed my hibiscus? tree by stripping all the bark and hanging off of and snapping all the branches. My front porch has deer that walk up on it and eat any plant they can find!!  I miss being able to have nice plants and flowers.