squirrel digging up my bulbs!

[newbie_jules]

lots of potholes appearing in my borders where the squirrels are helping thmselves to our bulbs :-( i do love squirrels and dont want to harm them at all, but dont want them munching the rest of my garden, will putting some nuts out distract them enough? i have some mesh fabric that will let light and water through but not sure how to securely fix it down so its not dug up!
help!

[BrideXIII]

I'ts a tough one, like you I love squirrels, and would willingly sacrifice a few bulbs to have one in my garden.
Nuts might help, but they just seem to LOVE digging even when there is an easier source near by.
you could use nuts and an obstacle course for them? something they could enjoy 'stealing' from.
I know most gardeners hate them, and call them vermin, and perhaps they are, but they are the cutest vermin I have even seen

[HeyWayne]

We have an oak tree in our garden and it's not a particularly big garden. As a result - at this time of year it is covered in a carpet of acorns and leaves. There are a few squirrels that inhabit the tree and despite the abundance of acorns they still dig up bulbs.

On GW the other night they showed a good idea.

Plant bulbs within one of those tubs you use for pond plants (like a pot made of mesh). Dig a whole big enough for the mesh pot and then fill the pot with soil/compost and plant the bulbs withing the mesh pot. Place some chicken wire over the top of the pot and then bury the whole thing in the ground.

When the bulbs have died back, you can dig the whole thing up to store the bulbs ready for next season.

[di]

I was gonna suggest roasting them....but then saw you wanted to do them no harm!!So.....what he others have said!!

[lynda66]

my squirrel gets nuts in their shells from some old ladies in the sheltered housing round the corner ....... then buries them in my garden ..... i did get some peanut plants this year, but they all died ...... so not sure peanuts would work, but it might keep them occupied, and they might go bury them elsewhere

[HeyWayne]

I have no need to aerate my lawn any more - the squirrels do it for me by burying their acorns.

3 squirrels, countless acorns, 1 lawn. You can imagine.

[lynda66]

cool, if they all grow, you can have your own woodland ....... just imagine how much fun you could have building bean a tree house

[bluemoon]

The only sure-fire way to deal with squirrels is to find a portal to an alternate universe where everything is exactly the same as here, except that there are no squirrels.

[BrideXIII]

The only sure-fire way to deal with squirrels is to find a portal to an alternate universe where everything is exactly the same as here, except that there are no squirrels.

do we move there? or do we send them there?

[Hilary B]

If you feed the squirrels, you'll get even more, and they will STILL dig up the bulbs!

[tootles]

I was gonna suggest roasting them....but then saw you wanted to do them no harm!!So.....what he others have said!!

So, should I not suggest an air rifle...

[aud]

we had a major problem with this, so we gave up shouting abuse at them from the kitchen window and put on fine mesh chicken wire over the pots.
though we did have the idea of burying a mine in the pot of blowing mr furry tail to kingdom come. But mum said it would make too much of a mess.

[di]

though we did have the idea of burying a mine in the pot of blowing mr furry tail to kingdom come. But mum said it would make too much of a mess.

.....& of course render it useless for the pot!!

[HayleyB]

.....& of course render it useless for the pot!!

Johnny Appleseed has got a great recipe

[BilboWaggins]

A powerful air rifle works extremely well . . .

As I am privileged to have Red Squirrel visit our garden on a daily basis the only advice you will ever get from me regarding greys is trap & kill them, sorry

We fight a constant battle against greys in Cumbria and the north of England, this summer there have been loads of greys breeding in Whinlatter, only 5 miles from us. It is only a matter of time before they find their way here and sadly in my lifetime I expect to see the beautiful reds driven out of Cumbria and probably most of England.