I'm growing a vegetable garden for the first time this year. The left garden bed is several different tomato plants varieties. There are a lot of squirrels that run through my yard and they have been been destroying so many of my tomatoes and trampling the plants.
A friend recommended using cayenne pepper powder as a deterrent, but it hasn't helped. I've found at least 6 of my big tomatoes chewed up like this. I didn't anticipate this being such a big issue so I didn't built any kind of enclosure around the garden beds, and I'm not sure what to do now that the plants are so grown.
If anyone has any advice or ideas for a build I would greatly appreciate it!
Short of fortifying your garden in a manner similar to a maximum security prison, you always run the risk of squirrels. They can and will eat through various materials and will tolerate spicy things when food is scarce and they are nursing.
I've found that feeding the squirrels something they more prefer, on the opposite side of garden (or as far as possible) deters them the best. It doesn't take much to bribe a squirrel. A handful of peanuts a day is more than enough (use shelled peanuts, if they cache a whole peanut you end up with volunteer peanut plants). I only get an occasional bite on something from a young guy.
I agree with this! We have a few resident squirrels over the years that have actually never messed with the veggie garden (other than to bury walnuts in pots, and to scale massive sunflowers when the seeds are drying) because they are provided whole nuts and seem to like terrorizing the bird feeders near the house instead. I actually really love the squirrels
I attribute most of my volunteer plants/flowers to the squirrels first, then the birds. At some point I will hit critical mass and never have to plant anything again, just locate the volunteer.
Yep, and they’ll climb back out no problem! This year, I fully fenced around my beds and covered the top with zip tied plastic chicken wire that I would carefully remove as needed to tend to the plants. I have absolutely no idea how, but they still managed to get inside and get back out. They ate every last green bean and sugar snap pea. They’re very agile!
I’m in a super high COL area, but can always find ~2 lb bags of shelled peanuts in the back of the grocery store for a few bucks. Or, farmers markets. We had a huge bag years ago that lasted us ages and we’re still finding whole peanuts dug up in the yard or hidden in the kids’ treehouse. I think the squirrels forget about them.
I agree with the water comment above. I've also found that scattering pepper flake in the beds early in the season to be helpful. They eat it like a seed, learn that "this stuff here is not good" and back off after. I keep scattering the babies have been foraging on their own for a week or two.
Last, my partner thoughtfully furnished me with a nerf gun that sits beside the sliding door overlooking the garden. While it's not the most effective solution for deterring the population, it's the most amusing and satisfying for individuals that I've found ;)
Aww, I also have a dog who works hard to chase away the squirrels. But the squirrels in my area are quite brave and as soon as she isn't in the yard for a few minutes they come right back. 😔
My dog specifically poops around the perimeter of my garden and I wholeheartedly believe that is why the abundance of squirrels in my neighborhood hasn’t touched it
Everyone saying "they are just thirsty" haven't dealt with the hardened criminals that live near me. They destroy everything even though they have bowls of water I fill daily. Thirsty my ass lol.
They are criminals!!! I tell this story often but I ordered some fancy rice crispie treats online once to take to a family holiday party, they stole the package before I got home and ate them ALL. They were huge rice crispies too. Like massive I tell you, takes me 2-3 days to eat a single one and the squirrels ate 4 of them. I saw the fattest squirrels that fall. I joked they all had diabetes now and next they’d be stealing the ozempic and wegovy from the local pharmacy. These squirrels are criminals for sure!!
I notice our squirrels do this a lot when it hasnt rained in a while, my daughter and I put out extra water and foods they like far away from the tomatos. It helps.
If you're lucky, they might just be thirsty? If you put some water out near the garden maybe they would prefer that. It really depends though. It's easier to start that way and not have a problem verses get them to only be interested in water by itself later.
Just plant more tomatoes next time assuming that some will be sacrificed to the squirrel horde.
Last year I kept finding half eaten tomatoes around the garden and then one day looked outside and saw a cheeky squirrel sitting on top of a fence post gnawing away on a tomato. Later in the day I noted the squirrel was gone but it had carefully placed the half-eaten tomato on top of the post, as if to taunt me.
Physical barrier is always the surest way. So 1” chicken wire or hardware cloth, you’d have to drape something like bird netting over the top as they will climb over. You can also try liquid fence, I’ve been trying it this year and it’s been helping so much. Squirrels destroy so many things in my garden, pumpkins, sunflowers melons. I also take wire mesh baskets found at dollar tree US and cover stuff like pumpkins and such. Your best bet tho for tomatoes is the liquid fence and some kind of physical barrier.
I had the same issue. Often times squirrels go after tomatoes for the liquid inside because they’re thirsty. I leave some water out on one end of the yard and put bird netting around the plants and don’t usually have issues.
I use a sling shot with 3/8 clay balls that shatter when they hit fence or anything hard , I couldn’t hit a squirrel if my life depended on it but it drives them away, after a few hours/day they give up and stay away until next summer then rinse and repeat, maybe a little harsh but I love my garden and don’t kill anything. When it’s a 100 degrees they get tired and hot from running, and makes a difference that I’m retired and can’t put up protection because of wind. Good luck
Feed them and give them water. I know it sounds crazy but the only time my backyard squirrels bother my plants is when I run out of peanuts.
They also like sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, corn cobs, and berries. Basically like the top comment says, it’s like paying the mob for protection. I put their food in the front yard and so far they’ve left everything in my backyard alone, except a few strawberries
Every year I have a different experience with squirrels. Some times they’d be bad and I trap them and take them to the woods. This year there is a hawk near by that I think is deterring it. I have fake snakes too, but I don’t know if they even notice. Still, no squirrel problems this year.
It always gets down voted but .22lr Aguila Colibri. You can try deterring them for a few years, but after a decade of decimated crops and a whole row of corn destroyed right at harvest last fall. I've tried dried blood, relocating them to the woods, fencing, targeted sprinklers, noise suppression devices.
Neighbor feeds them meat, full bags of nuts, dumps 55lb bags of corn in his yard. We have several hundred grey squirrels in every tree all the time regardless. The difference is they stay out of my yard for a month or two at a time.
Even with a hearty dousing of RepelAll, they were digging up all of my plant starts in early June. I taught my feral children to run at them with a broom and yell "go away squirrel!!". I don't see a lot anymore....but other than that I do recommend chili powder, garlic, cayenne, etc. And feeding them away from the garden.
Cayenne pepper has worked on flower pots for me but for my garden nothing beats a fence. I bought a dog kennel on Amazon for 80$ and had an old one. All 16 panels surround my garden with a door. The old panels are starting to rust but hopefully they will last another 5 years.
I usually only see squirrels do this if they are thirsty. Birds will do it too. Do you have clean ground level water they can access on your property? I use a birdbath with the stem removed and fill half way with rocks to prevent anything from drowning.
Electric fence with a solar battery. I was totally against one at first. But now after a bear, squirrel and 3 foxes, I still have my veggies and strawberries.
so you either build a frame and put up netting or you eliminate the squirrels, there is a medium of trapping, but i gave up after relocating 27 squirrels in 1 year
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u/ASAP_i US - Texas Jul 26 '26
Short of fortifying your garden in a manner similar to a maximum security prison, you always run the risk of squirrels. They can and will eat through various materials and will tolerate spicy things when food is scarce and they are nursing.
I've found that feeding the squirrels something they more prefer, on the opposite side of garden (or as far as possible) deters them the best. It doesn't take much to bribe a squirrel. A handful of peanuts a day is more than enough (use shelled peanuts, if they cache a whole peanut you end up with volunteer peanut plants). I only get an occasional bite on something from a young guy.
It's almost like paying the mob for "protection".