There is a squirrel (or more than one?) burying acorns in my planters on the roof!! My husband finally actually caught one doing it a few weeks ago. I know s/he's still at it because I'm finding my plants half-uprooted!

Magellan's sun-window overlooks the roof, but he doesn't guard 24/7. I know some of you have had crazy pest problems on your balconies... does anyone know a squirrel-retardant mulch or something similar?

Thanks in advance.

I have seen a million threads on squirrels in almost every forum and it seems the consensus is that it is a losing battle. The one thing you could try is to place some hardwarecloth/metal screen in the planter, open holes large enough to plant through, and then cover with soil. This would deter the squirrels from digging because they'll hit the metal. Some have recommended mulching with gravel as a deterrent. Squirrels apparently recognize freshly dug or soft soil and will go right for those spots. So you could also try really packing the soil down and/or mulching in order to hide the surface after planting.

Poopoo squirrels! they were at it again this morning. The problem seems to be a vicious cycle, because when they keep digging the soil it's always freshly dug, if that makes any sense. Unfortunately I don't think the screen will work too well... these are planters that already have a lot of plants crowded into them, and I'd have to cut it in really funny shapes to get it around them all.

I'm going to try putting on a new layer of mulch and pack it all in. And maybe mix in some cat fur for good measure; I don't know what good it'll do but heck, I have lots of it so what can it hurt. if not it might have to be a patchwork of screeny kind of stuff.

I'll try to have some pics of my mess, I mean my balcony, sometime soon, to warm up those of you in the cooler states.

Short of that, can you borrow a dog or cat for a few days to scare them off?

Good luck; so far they haven't really found my balcony, but it's only a matter of time . . .

Jim (practicing with his slingshot)

Of course, if he had his way, I'd just open the window and he would run around on the roof. This might keep the squirrels away. But it would probably cause more damage than it prevented, because Magellan would eat all of the catnip, mint, chives, and mini roses - in short, everything but the strongly scented oregano, lavender and rosemary.

The good news is, we just had some rain and it settled the soil in the boxes. In retrospect I think the squirrels were attracted to them because I'd just dug in them to put in some new herbs. I put some new wood chips on, they're kind of splintery. Hopefully this will take care of the problem.

(Chuckling about Jenny's pidgeons) It's crazy how much wildlife a few potted plants will attract. (well it's more than a few in her case.) In the past three years I've had several colonies of anole lizards, lots of spiders, and birds that peck for bugs in the dirt. But until now they haven't been this destructive. Well, except those wrens who picked all the thyme!

The funny thing is that I keep my containers right by my back screened porch and have never caught anything digging around in them. Ah well, if my peanut fairy doesn't bother my plants I'm not going to bother my peanut fairy. lol

I'm about to move to a sunnier balcony. and it's screened! (jumping for joy.)

On my large containers with huge Alocasia, I simply have it layered around the base of the plants. On my smaller containers where bulbs, corms, and tubers are just sprouting up - I have it draped over the plants and tuck it beneath the base of the container to keep the squirrels from tossing it aside. Hope that helps!

You might try mixing some cayanne and oil, putting it into a spray bottle, and spraying down the top of the soil, and all the edges of your balcony (railings, etc) They might do it one more time, but I bet after that they might leave you alone.

Luckly they just went away, for whatever reason. I only found about two dead ones, so maybe that was all there was. Mine must have come from the tree near the balcony.

Okay, you win (or "lose" depending upon how you look at it) - I'll take squirrels any day over huge mucus monsters!

I can't remember who told me that, but they said they got it off the TV so I don't know if there's any truth to it or not but you could try it.

Best Wishes
Amino-X

Last year, I had no squirrels at all. But this year they seem to have noticed that something is going on. Did someone say Cayenne pepper can kill them? I'm thinking they'll take one whiff and decide to go and bug someone else... I don't have much, so I have to protect it.

I had totally forgot about the squirrels and raccoons while planting my garden.. Now this year I have not planted anything because of my little theives.. I love watching them come eat tho and play and fight.. so cute..

Is there not something we can do to live in harmony.. maybe make something special for them too?

I had a bad squirrel problem with my container plants too, but putting those decorative stones in a variety of sizes on the top of the pots absolutely stopped them from digging. Now I've watched them as they come up to the balcony looking for places to dig, peer over the tops of the pots, then just walk away! It's like another poster said: they get inspired by broken up, uncovered soil -- they either think something is hidden down there, or it makes them want to hide something!

I do that when the pigeons come roosting if I'm here to run out there and chase them off. One of my sisters showed me where a squirrel managed to find some soil to hide an acorn under a full mass of impatiens in one of her urns. The tell-tale dug soil was littered on the ground beneath the urn and a hole with the acorn was found in the container. Unbelievable. It's not like there aren't soft beds all around the house and yard to hide nuts and that don't require jumping up and balancing on a small pot.

Try Cyan powder, but it has to be fresh and not old since it is the spiciness that they do not like. My parents have had good luck with that on veggies in the summer...just sprikle some on the surface of the plant it eats or on the soil...it gets on their paws and such...

Trapping squirrels would be an interesting plan at this apt. There are scads of them. I'd have to relocate them by the truckload.

I have a large patio full of containers, and 50 pecan trees.

The squirrels are a problem, but I've solved the ones they make with the container plants.

I go to a rockyard - and buy river rock. I prever the flattened shape. The biggest ones that I can fit around the plant on top of the dirt. They work like mulch in that they shade the soil and keep it from getting splashed out when watering. I have one pot that is about 3 feet across, in it, I have smaller stones, and they are 3 stones deep across the whole pot. All my pots with this type of mulch are squirrel free. No digging, no holes, no seeds.

The ones that are as big as my hand, and flattened look like giant lozenges are my fave, because it is easy to remove them when you want to repot. Don't have to sift through to find them. But this is the only thing that has worked. Hot pepper is enjoyable to them. I thought about getting my husband a paint gun and letting him scare them off, but that would create other problems. Red and yellow squirrels for one thing.

First, there is a product called Shake-Away that is out now. I have not tried it but some people have appeared to have had good success with it.

Secondly, I had heard that moth balls will keep possums out of your garden. This is my first year to have trouble with digging squirrels, so I purchased some moth balls and placed them out in the garden in 1 or 2 in each of my pots. The squirrels usually hit me first thing in the morning. So far, no sign of the cute little buggers.

I'll let you know if the moth balls work or if I will be investing in Shake-Away!

Good luck and happy gardening!

Paul