8 Ways To Keep Animals Out Of Your Garden

Here’s how to protect your garden from your hungry neighbors.

Whether you have a small suburban plot or a big, rambling yard in the country, chances are your garden attracts the resident wildlife. But if you’re tired of animals using your garden as a buffet, there are a few things you can do to reduce damage to a more tolerable level. “Nothing is foolproof, and there’s no one-size-fits-all technique,” says Michael Mengak, Ph.D., certified wildlife biologist and professor at Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources at the University of Georgia. “You’ll need to combine a few methods for the best results.”

Meet The Expert

Michael Mengak, Ph.D., is a certified wildlife biologist and professor at Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources at the University of Georgia.

Read on to learn the eight best ways to protect your garden from wildlife:

1. Fence your garden.

Fencing is the best way to keep most critters out of your garden, says Mengak. Put up a fence from day one to prevent animals from finding a food source in your yard. For rabbits, install a fence with a minimum height of 18 inches with one-inch openings, such as inexpensive chicken wire, which will last a few seasons. Or create cylinders from chicken wire and place them around prized plants and tender, new plantings, which rabbits love.

You’ll need a fence of four to five feet high for deer. But it also depends on how hungry deer are and how many you have in your area: “The more deer you have per square mile, the more motivated they are to get to the food,” says Mengak. “A motivated deer can jump an 8-foot fence. But if there are many other things to eat, it won’t jump it and risk getting trapped inside.”

Groundhogs require a fence that’s four feet tall, with a 45-degree angle at the top so they can’t climb over. The fence must also be buried about a foot deep so they can’t tunnel underneath it.

2. Try Repellents.

Most repellents have been developed for deer but may work for rabbits, too. “Repellents can be somewhat effective, especially if you start using them early in the season before the animals establish habits,” says Mengak. “It’s easier to prevent a deer from eating your garden, rather than trying to change its behavior after it’s learned your yard is a grocery store.”

There are two types of repellents: Taste, which often contains capsaicin and requires the animal to take a nibble; and odor, which is sulfur-based and smells like rotten eggs. The concept is that when predators eat meat, they excrete waste with a sulfur odor, which should instill fear into prey, says Mengak. This type of repellent also may contain mint or cinnamon oils, but those are mostly about masking the smell for people.  A sprinkling of a smelly fertilizer product such as Milorganite around plants also may be useful.

Regardless of what you use, reapply every five to seven days and after rain. For best results, alternate use of a few products or apply two at the same time, says Mengak. For example, use products A and B one week, then B and C the next, and A and C the next, and so on. But be aware that animals sometimes get accustomed to the funky taste or smell. When they discover nothing bad happens to them, they’ll just keep chowing down.

3. Don’t rely on home remedies.

Your grandma may have sworn by tactics such as hanging out bars of soap or soap shavings, human hair, or pie plates on a string. “Anything can work once, but one observation in your garden without a control isn’t proof that it kept the animal away,” says Mengak. “The scientific evidence is weak for home remedies.” However, there’s no harm in trying these methods. If it works for you, do it, says Mengak. Just don’t expect it to be infallible.

4. Garden in pots or raised beds.

Depending on the culprit, you may be able to discourage some types of feeding. For example, beds taller than three feet will limit rabbit damage. And pots mounted on railings or window boxes keep tender plants out of their reach.

5. Try scare tactics.

Scare tactics, such as motion-activated water sprays, can be effective. But you’ll need to keep moving the device around your property or use multiple devices to maintain the element of surprise.  “An animal learns quickly that it gets blasted with water when it’s in the backyard, so they move to the front yard,” says Mengak.

6. Choose less tasty plants.

When they’re hungry enough and competition is high, animals will eat anything—even plants they wouldn’t ordinarily touch. “We jokingly tell our students that deer, for example, will eat anything but unfertilized artificial turf,” says Mengak.

However, there are some plants that are less appealing to animals, such as those with pungent scents, fuzzy leaves, prickly or rough foliage, or a bitter taste. Your local university coop extension service (find yours here) may have regional plant recommendations.

7. Hire a nuisance wildlife specialist.

Sometimes a problem is more than you can handle. For example, groundhogs are wily, and they can burrow and climb so there’s not much a homeowner can do to discourage them. And armadillos tear up gardens and lawns looking for bugs, and there are no repellents that work. A professional wildlife control operator may be able to solve nuisance wildlife issues like these for a fee, says Mengak.

8. Be realistic.

If you are persistent and combine different methods, you usually can make your garden less enticing. But you probably won’t eliminate all damage. “Five thousand years ago, Egyptians wrote about sending children into the fields with stones to scare off birds,” says Mengak. “This has always been a challenge. But when you live with nature, it’s ultimately about finding a way to get along.”

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