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Do Squirrels Ruin Vegetable Gardens? They Dig More Than Eat

Most squirrel damage in a vegetable bed is caching and sampling, not grazing. What they actually take, and the exclusion that works.

By Zakaria 2 min read Save to Pinterest — opens Pinterest in a new tab
Hands planting a seedling plug into freshly worked bed soil
Photo: schauhi, Pixabay Content License, via Pixabay
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Most squirrel damage in a vegetable garden is a by-product of burying things, not of eating them. That changes what the fix should be.

What they actually take

croprisk
Sweetcornhigh
Tomatoes, strawberrieshigh (often thirst)
Peas, beansmoderate
Squash, pumpkinmoderate, mostly young fruit
Brassicas, roots, onionslow
Potatoeslow
Herbslow

Bulbs

bulbsquirrels
Tulipeaten
Crocuseaten
Daffodil, narcissusleft alone
Alliumleft alone
Fritillaryleft alone
Snowdrop, hyacinthleft alone

Plant the bulbs they do not want

Switching from tulips and crocus to daffodils, alliums and fritillaries removes the problem permanently and costs nothing to maintain. Where tulips are non-negotiable, mesh laid over the planting area until the soil settles stops the digging.

Exclusion that works

  • Mesh laid flat over newly sown or planted soil, pinned, lifted once seedlings are up
  • A netted frame over fruiting crops, mesh held clear of the foliage
  • Never drape netting on plants — it is chewed through and traps birds and hedgehogs
  • A shallow water dish nearby in dry weather, for the thirst-driven fruit damage
  • Capsaicin repellent on bulbs and feeders — the one chemical category with real effect
  • Harvest sweetcorn promptly; a day’s delay is when it goes

Mothballs are not a garden product

They are ineffective outdoors, toxic to soil life, pets and children, and illegal to use this way in many jurisdictions. The same goes for any pesticide used against an animal it is not labelled for.

Common questions

Do squirrels actually eat vegetables?

Some, selectively. Tomatoes, strawberries, sweetcorn, peas, beans, squash and anything soft and sweet are genuinely taken. But the signature squirrel damage in a vegetable garden is not grazing — it is digging. Loose, recently worked bed soil is the best caching medium in the garden, and a squirrel burying and retrieving nuts in it uproots seedlings as a side effect.

Why do they bite one tomato and leave it?

Thirst, usually, and sampling. A half-eaten tomato abandoned on the plant in dry weather is a squirrel drinking rather than feeding, which is why a water source nearby often reduces fruit damage more than netting does. They also test unfamiliar fruit and abandon it if it is not ripe, which is why you lose several fruits rather than one.

Which bulbs do they dig up?

Tulips and crocus above all — both are eaten rather than just displaced. Daffodils, alliums, fritillaries, snowdrops and hyacinths are left alone because they are toxic or unpalatable, which is the simplest planting answer there is. Squirrels also dig newly planted bulbs of any kind simply because the disturbed soil smells worked, then abandon the ones they do not want.

What keeps them out of raised beds?

A physical cover during the vulnerable periods. Chicken wire or plastic mesh laid flat over newly sown or newly planted soil and pinned down stops the caching digging entirely and lets seedlings grow through. Over fruiting plants, a netted frame with the mesh held clear of the foliage works; netting draped directly on plants gets chewed through and traps wildlife.

Do repellents work on squirrels?

Capsaicin-based products have some real effect on mammals and none on birds, so they are the one category worth trying on feeders and bulbs. Everything else — mothballs, predator urine, ultrasonic devices, human hair, plastic owls — fails or is habituated to within a fortnight. Mothballs are illegal to use this way in many places and are harmful to everything else in the bed.

Is the damage worth preventing at all?

Depends what you grow. A garden of brassicas, roots and alliums loses almost nothing to squirrels. A garden with sweetcorn, tomatoes, strawberries and tulips can lose a substantial share. Target the exclusion at those crops and at the two vulnerable windows — just-sown soil and just-ripening fruit — rather than trying to squirrel-proof the whole plot.

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