If you’re anything like me, it’s not so much growing things in your garden that’s difficult in the warmer months, but rather keeping bugs and critters away from your treasured plants.
And squirrels – while adorable with their big, bushy tails – can be a particular nuisance, digging up flowerbeds and causing all-round chaos (especially as far as your bird feeders are concerned).
However, one gardener has come up with a handy, cheap hack for stopping squirrels from chomping down on your favourite flowers.
Amber Noyes, a garden expert and editor of Gardening Chores, spoke to the Express about what she’s been doing to keep squirrels away from her tulips.
She told the Express: “I once had this stubborn squirrel that kept digging up my tulip bulbs. So, I mixed a little hot sauce with water and sprayed it around the bulbs, and it worked like a charm.”
That’s it. That’s the tip. Can you believe it?!
This is great news for thrifty gardeners as most supermarkets have their cheapest hot sauces at just £1.50.
If you want to put some extra deterrents in place, the gardening expert did have some more tips up her sleeve. These included:
- Planting garlic and mint plants, as squirrels have sensitive noses and dislike these strong scents.
- Hanging bird feeders in hard-to-reach areas.
- Using chicken wire to make plants inaccessible, not only to squirrels but to a range of bugs and critters.
Additionally, Garden Design recommends that if you want to keep them out of your garden in a humane way, place coffee grounds around the plants and add gravel to planting beds.
And if you find they tend to go for your juicier plants, such as cucumbers and tomatoes, they may just be thirsty. So leave a water option out for them.