Indeed, they're cheeky, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, playful, and cute! Their gestures are unquestionably loving and adorable.
But did you know chipmunks can be incredibly destructive as well? Their innocent mischief can become a gardener's nightmare.
As a result, it’s not surprising to wonder how to keep chipmunks out of your garden.
A Glance at the Trouble…
With their tiny mouths, chipmunks can munch on all your favorite veggies and flowers. What's more concerning, due to their foraging instinct, they can dig up holes all over your garden. They do so to bury their treats or look for the lost treasures.
Being pretty tiny and nimble, chipmunks can easily reach into tight places and cause wreckage on your beautifully maintained yard.
Due to this reason, every gardener seeks a few effective hacks to help them keep chipmunks away from the garden. And you might be in this situation yourself.
Fortunately, you have landed on the right page as this post will help you learn how to keep chipmunks out of your garden.
13 Easy Ways to Keep Chipmunks Away From Your Garden
Statutory Disclaimer: It's worth knowing that chipmunks tend to be amazingly creative and persistent in getting what they want.
Consequently, don't give up after experiencing several failed attempts to control chipmunks in your yard.
It's time to delve deeper and get to know how to keep chipmunks out of the garden!
Use Homemade Repellents
Chipmunks definitely have an affinity for your garden; however, they don't like the odor of a few ingredients.
Therefore, if you want to outsmart these critters, you can try out a few homemade repellents like cayenne pepper or castor oil.
You can take finely ground cayenne pepper and sprinkle it on your yard's soil. The ingredient is widely available at the local grocery shops, and it's pretty affordable.
In addition, you can also spread castor oil in your garden as it works well as a chipmunk repellent.
Apart from cayenne pepper and castor oil, you can also use over-the-counter chipmunks repellents to get rid of their mischievous deeds.
These repellents are free from harmful ingredients that carry the risk of different health hazards.
They usually contain a chemical called capsaicin or predator urine that frightens the chipmunks away.
To get the best results, you should essentially reapply the recommended ingredients periodically.
Offer Them Water
On the hot and dry summer days, chipmunks may invade your yard in search of water, and they may end up ruining your tomatoes, berries, and carrots. So, the best trick is availing water for these little devils.
More importantly, keep that clean supply of water out of your garden so that they find a way to quench their thirst without trespassing into the garden.
Fencing
Building a physical barrier like a fence can help you get rid of chipmunks; however, you need to ensure that the mesh is finer than regular chicken wire, and don't forget to bury it in the ground around the perimeter of the garden. This will prevent those tiny creatures from burrowing.
Use Coffee
Squirrels and chipmunks are not that fond of caffeine kicks. In fact, they hate the smell of coffee. So, you can use coffee grounds between your plants to set a barrier against chipmunks.
You can also mix coffee grounds with the compost. Apart from being an effective tool to combat chipmunks, coffee grounds make an excellent compost that benefits your plants significantly.
Install Ultrasonic Sound Devices in Your Yard
Ultrasonic sound devices give off vibrations and sounds that make chipmunks nervous, forcing them to simply run away from your garden.
Don't worry, as the sound is ultrasonic; it won't harm your ear anyway since you won't be able to hear anything.
The devices will simply prompt a "leave right away" message for your chipmunks and encourage them to stay away from your beloved plants.
These ultrasonic devices work great as location-specific protections. You can simply place them around vulnerable and highly beneficial plants.
These devices are easily available at your local hardware store; you can also purchase them online.
Change the Landscape
If your garden has rock walls and shrubs, remove them as early as possible. Chipmunks love such structures as they can conveniently use them as wonderful hiding places.
When you remove them from your garden, chipmunks will consider them more risky than attractive.
As a result, they will try to avoid stepping in to dig out or munch on your lovely plants.
Place Rubber Snakes
Chipmunks are afraid of snakes, just like many other animals. But you do not have to get a pet snake to get rid of harmless chipmunks. The idea is that you can place rubber snakes in the garden.
Remember, chipmunks are adeptly observant, and they won't take much time to learn that your snake is fake.
So, to trick these intelligent critters, you should move your snake twice a day. When you move the snake, it will keep the chipmunks guessing, and they won't dare intrude.
Apply the Owl Trick
As owls prey on different small creatures like chipmunks, the rodents prefer to maintain a safe distance from them.
So, you can definitely place fake owls in your garden to scare chipmunks off. However, you’ll need to move the toy owl around regularly to keep the chipmunks guessing.
Cover Your Plants
This trick acts effectively when it comes to keeping chipmunks away from your plants. You just need to cover wire mesh over and around your flower beds and veggies and keep them safe from not only chipmunks but birds and other pests as well.
Herb Plantation
As mentioned earlier, chipmunks hate powerful smells. Thus, you can go ahead and plant herbs like basil, sage, rosemary, or lavender in your garden.
All these herbs carry a strong aroma which turns out to be ultra-effective in repelling chipmunks and other rodents.
Spread Human or Gog Hair in Your Garden
Chipmunks have a good sense of smell, and this is why you can spread some amount of dog or human hair in your garden.
This will make chipmunks think that a dog or a human is in the garden, compelling them to stay away from your plants.
Though chipmunks prefer to live around humans, they don't show much interest in direct interactions. They are innately shy, and due to this reason, they hardly roam around near humans.
Moreover, chipmunks are afraid of dogs and other canine animals as they often make chipmunks their prey.
Disrupt the Burrowings and Holes
Chipmunks hold the natural knack for digging. They effortlessly dig beneath your fences, garden, and flower beds.
Therefore, the cleverest way to prevent them from entering your edible garden through these holes is by placing hardware cloth on them.
You can make your job easier by digging a trench of 6-8 inches around your plants and placing hardware cloth in the trench.
Once done, you can simply shovel the dirt back to ensure chipmunks don't reach your plant's through the holes.
Placing traps
If none of the above-mentioned hacks work, you can try trapping the chipmunks and relocating them far away from your garden. Chipmunks are most active in the early morning and evening.
So, you need to observe them for a few days and track when they are making their way to your yard.
Place traps and avail food that is most loved by chipmunks. You can count on peanut butter, guava, banana, and nuts as chipmunks go crazy over them. Once the trap is set, catch chipmunks when they fall in your trap.
Using traps that kill chipmunks is not at all recommended. Remember, chipmunks contribute to the ecosystem actively, and should not be killed simply for entering your garden.
Instead, you can rely on a live trap that allows you to catch chipmunks and relocate them miles away from your home. This will ensure that they do not find their way back to your garden.
Conclusion
So, now that you know how to keep chipmunks out of your garden, here's something that you need to remember.
Chipmunks are not harmful, and they don't challenge your patience and effort intentionally.
They dig the nice soft soil of your garden just to bury the little stashes of food that they collect with intensive hard work.
On the other hand, the hunt for food pushes them to enter your garden, which looks no less than an all-you-can-eat buffet to them.
So, don't get too hostile with chipmunks! Instead, try offering them a little food and water to handle their mischievousness in a humanitarian way.
- How To Fill A Raised Garden Bed - March 4, 2023
- Modern Raised Garden Bed Ideas - February 21, 2023
- How To Build A Raised Garden Bed - February 15, 2023