Most gardeners know that squirrels can be a menace to almost any potted plant. They like to dig in the ground to hide food that they won’t eat right away, so in addition to digging up your plants and knocking over pots, these furry rascals often accidentally plant other seeds in your containers. If they’ve chosen your porch or patio as a convenient place to store food, they’re also likely to knock things over and generally cause chaos. Fortunately, there are a few simple steps you can take to discourage squirrels and prevent them from ruining your garden containers.

As with most pests, the only way to completely keep squirrels out of your potted plants is to build a barrier to keep them out. Making a “cage” out of bird netting, chicken wire, or using a ready-made potted plant barrier that slides over your plant will keep squirrels at bay. Chicken wire can be bent into a cone or cube shape and will hold itself up if it is not too large. Bird netting should be attached to stakes for support. Some gardeners have had success with homemade squirrel fencing made from PVC pipes and bird netting for larger areas such as raised beds. As with the bird net cage method, the homemade fence can be attached to the PVC pipes to create an enclosure, but this method leaves the top open for ease of weeding and maintenance. You may also choose to use a mesh ground cover to simply cover the soil so furry intruders can’t dig it up. This type of barrier is the only way to keep squirrels at bay, but there are a few other simple things you can try if a caged plant isn't your style.

Ways to discourage squirrels from digging in your soil include using wood chips on top of your potting soil or using coconut fiber cut to the shape of your pot and laid over the soil. These aren’t foolproof and a persistent squirrel will eventually bypass them, but they are a good deterrent when combined with other methods.

If you can’t cover the soil, you can spray it with capsaicin-infused water by boiling cayenne pepper, hot peppers with seeds, or black pepper in water, letting it cool, straining it, and pouring it into a spray bottle. This homemade squirrel repellent will deter squirrels, as they don’t like the taste or smell of hot pepper, but be aware that the mixture will be unpleasant if it comes into contact with your skin or if you inhale the spray, and it will burn if you get it in your eyes. The best way to apply homemade squirrel repellent to the soil of your potted plants is to wear safety goggles and gloves. Make sure to label your spray bottle so that it isn’t mixed with plain water. If you don’t want to mix it yourself, you can use a pre-made repellent, taking the same safety precautions when applying it. Squirrels can also be repelled by the scent of cinnamon and mint, so adding these herbs to the soil of your potted plants can help keep them away.