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Lavender – Try planting some lavender around the garden. While it smells lovely to us, groundhogs find it offensive and avoid the areas where it is. They also dislike the smell of these herbs: basil, chives, lemon balm, mint, sage, thyme, rosemary, and oregano.
How do I keep woodchucks out of my vegetable garden?
A good fence to protect gardens from woodchucks consists of a tight wire mesh at least 3 feet tall. Extra height at the top can be bent at a 45° angle away from the garden to deter climbers. Excess at the bottom can be bent out underground at a 90° angle to keep diggers at bay.
What smells do groundhogs hate?
3. Plants as deterrents. Plants with strong fragrances, such as lavender, will keep groundhogs out of your garden. The Farmers’ Almanac says groundhogs also dislike the smell of these herbs: mint, sage, basil, lemon balm, rosemary, thyme, chives and oregano.
What will repel woodchucks?
Repeated treatments of planted areas with various repellents, such as fox or coyote urine, diluted Tabasco sauce or red pepper flakes, or scattered human hair are other reported deterrents. Allowing a pet dog access to the planted area may also help deter woodchuck visits.
Does cayenne pepper keep woodchucks away?
Cayenne Pepper/Garlic The taste and smell of powdered cayenne pepper can prevent a woodchuck from eating your plants. Simply sprinkle a liberal dose of cayenne pepper on plants and in your garden dirt to repel woodchucks.
Will vinegar keep groundhogs away?
Mix ammonia with washing detergent, vinegar, hot pepper and soap and pour the mixture down each hole. This may have to be repeated for a few days until the groundhogs go away. Apply ammonium mixture around the fence to prevent groundhogs from coming in. This may have to be repeated if it gets washed off.
Do groundhogs eat tomato plants?
Woodchucks. Woodchucks are messy eaters that often trample the tomato plant in the process of eating the tomatoes. Although woodchucks prefer peas, beans and corn, they often dine on tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage and other tender vegetables.
Do marigolds deter groundhogs?
Groundhogs do not like noxious smells. They particularilly do not like certain flowers like marigolds, snapdragons, dianthus, ageratum, nicotiana, sweet alyssum, and annual poppies. The bonus is that you will have beautiful flowers to view and plants that are unappealing to groundhogs.
Do groundhogs hate coffee grounds?
Maybe the coffee smell will be a deterrent. It’s a great soil amendent, in any case. Woodchucks seem to have very distinct foraging preferences — curcurbits, tomatillos, kale, and beans are greatly preferred.
Do groundhogs eat vegetable gardens?
Groundhogs have voracious appetites and love to snack on flower beds and vegetable gardens. Each of these herbivores can eat up to a pound and a half of vegetation every single day, meaning a couple of them can eat through an entire garden (your garden) in less than 24 hours.
What is the best groundhog repellent?
Lavender – Try planting some lavender around the garden. While it smells lovely to us, groundhogs find it offensive and avoid the areas where it is. They also dislike the smell of these herbs: basil, chives, lemon balm, mint, sage, thyme, rosemary, and oregano.
How do you build a groundhog proof garden?
Buy chicken wire (at least six feet tall) and five-foot posts. Bury the wire twelve inches deep to prevent tunneling. Attach the fencing to the posts except for the top foot. Bend that away from your garden to keep groundhogs from climbing over it.
Will human urine deter woodchucks?
Repellent products, such as mothball or urine granules or powders, have no demonstrated effectiveness in keeping groundhogs away. However, an aggressive dog might work. You can fill in any open burrows, but if there is an animal present, it will re-open them again.
Will chili powder keep groundhogs away?
Groundhogs aren’t fond of hot, pungent or spicy scents and tastes. Keep groundhogs away from areas such as specific garden plants or old groundhog holes by sprinkling crushed fresh garlic, hot pepper sauce or hot pepper flakes around the perimeter.
Does peppermint oil repel groundhogs?
These products can often have a strong chemical scent and have substances like ammonia or mothballs as a base, while other repellents will have a strong peppermint scent, which is also said to drive away problem animals such as groundhogs.
Does lavender keep groundhogs away?
Many herbs have vegetation and/or leaves that smell wonderful to humans but that pests find repellent. Lavender (Lavandula) is such an herb. Harvest those fragrant stems and lavender-colored flowers that the groundhogs conveniently avoided all summer and use them in potpourris for your home in winter.
What time are groundhogs most active?
Activity: Groundhogs are diurnal (active during the day) from spring to fall. Most activity occurs during the early morning and early evening hours, at which groundhogs emerge from their burrows to gather food.
Will groundhogs eat rat poison?
Be sure to keep this bait out of reach from children and pets. Rat poison works for groundhogs and it is legal depending on state law.
Will groundhogs eat pepper plants?
Food They Won’t Eat Presumably the nightshade family is as toxic to groundhogs as to humans, and they know it. You can safely grow potatoes, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. Rodents also avoid Mediterranean herbs in the mint family such as rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano, basil and lemon balm.
Do groundhogs eat hot pepper plants?
With plenty to choose from, groundhogs by me have NOT eaten tomatoes, peppers, and corn. However, if they ran out of other veggies I’m betting they might find them tasty, too.
Do groundhogs eat hostas?
Groundhogs can devastate a garden very quickly. In your garden, they eat freshly planted annuals and returning perennials, hostas, and just about every leafy herb and vegetable in the veggie patch.
