Do Marigolds Keep Squirrels Away From Your Garden?

Marigold foliage has a distinct odor, and Minnesota Extension says deer and rabbits tend to avoid it, which is why it recommends marigolds as companion plants against those pests. That page does not mention squirrels.

The squirrel fact sheets are built on other tools. Between them, the three list habitat changes, mesh fences, taste repellents and trapping. None of the three mentions marigolds.

Whether marigold scent changes what a squirrel does is a question these sources leave open, and the plan below does not depend on it. If deer are the animals in your beds, the deer-resistant plants guide covers them. Rabbits have their own rabbit-resistant plants guide.

Squirrels dig holes in garden soil and turf to bury nuts, acorns and seeds, mostly in the fall, and they may never retrieve what they cache. They also dig up seeds and bulbs of vegetables and flowers, chew on spring-planted potted plants, and eat ripened fruit and grains.

What goes up depends on what the squirrels are after.

The best way to keep squirrels from digging up tulips and other bulbs is to cover the planting area with chicken wire or hardware cloth. Planting depth and firm soil should make digging harder before the wire goes on, so the order matters.

For newly seeded or established crops, UC IPM describes cage-like freestanding covers made of 1-inch hexagon chicken wire. Nebraska says wire mesh fences with a weave no larger than 1/2 inch, or mesh enclosures, may be practical for keeping squirrels out of small areas.

Fruit trees are harder, because it is virtually impossible to keep squirrels out of fruit or nut trees given their climbing and jumping ability. Sometimes, when other unprotected trees are nearby, netting a single tree protects its crop. Squirrels can readily gnaw through plastic netting, but they may not persist if enough other food is easy to reach.

In larger areas little else can be done other than removing the squirrels by cage trapping or shooting where that is safe and legal. The last section covers the trapping rules.

Three university fact sheets describe squirrel repellents as of limited use. Very few are available, bitter-tasting (denatonium) repellents have had a very limited success rate, capsaicin products vary with how much other food is around, and sticky polybutene products are only marginally effective and messy to use.

Taste repellents can be used on seeds, bulbs and flowers that will not be eaten. On food crops, timing matters.

UC IPM says squirrels quickly become used to frightening devices that use sight or sound and pay little attention to them after a couple of days, and that none of these devices have proven very effective. Home remedies such as garlic or egg sprays, coffee grounds and bar soap do not appear in any of these fact sheets, so they get no place in this plan.

A gray squirrel can jump sideways 8 feet, straight up 4 feet and down 15 feet, then hang on where it lands, so Nebraska recommends these steps.

Nebraska adds that capsaicin mixed into birdseed may be effective, while UC IPM says birdseed repellents have not shown to be effective.

Keeping squirrels out of a yard or garden is a continuous challenge, partly because many people feed squirrels and put up nest boxes for them. Feeding them is ill-advised, since well-fed squirrels quickly fill available nesting areas and are more likely to invade buildings.

For a raided feeder, Penn State still suggests an alternative food such as an ear of corn wired or nailed to a tree or fence post away from the problem spot, which sits uneasily with Nebraska's advice not to feed squirrels.

Trapping is regulated. A kill trap is usually the most effective way to thin out the population, but new squirrels move in to fill the void and trapping usually becomes an ongoing process. Check with your state wildlife agency first, because Nebraska requires a trapped squirrel to be released within 100 yards of where it was caught or euthanized, and California makes releasing one elsewhere illegal without a permit.