A Furry Menace

This little critter might look cute, but I’m sure my plants would disagree.

One of the big things I did not anticipate when starting this garden was how much of a menace the neighborhood squirrels would be. These little critters are ruthless! I used to think they only dig to store their nuts or forage for food, but now I feel like there’s just no rhyme or reason to it. Sure, food storage makes sense, but I feel like boredom, fun, and maybe even spite should be added to the list. As an amateur gardener, I fell victim to the belief that property rights existed in nature. Surely the squirrels would just respect mine and my plants’. Boy was I wrong. I was in for a crash course on how nature really worked and the first lessons were opportunism, pest management, and survival of the fittest. This is the saga of my ongoing struggle to protect my plants from these unlikely bullies.

The first indication of the squirrely menace came almost immediately after I prepared and seeded my containers. I’m sure they were watching with glee as I poured potting mix into the little portable beds. Completely oblivious to the threat these little critters posed, I happily transplanted my indigo, planted a few more dye seeds, and thought nothing of it. All in all, I had six containers for dye plants and one unseeded pot of soil where a basil plant used to be. Throughout this process, I left the unseeded pot untouched. I knew the dye plants would take about two weeks to germinate, so I was prepared to hunker down and wait. The squirrels, however, had other plans. They saw uncovered dirt and decided it was open season. By the time I went to water my plants the following morning, they had already drawn first blood and made absolute havoc of my handiwork. Not a single one of us was prepared for that merciless onslaught. The soil was all over the place. The containers were riddled with holes. Some indigo sprouts vanished. It was a disaster. So many thoughts raced through my head.

Are the indigo sprouts okay??

Did they eat my madder and murasaki seeds??

How many weld seeds are left in the containers???

Why would they do something so cruel??

I was devastated.

I left this little pot alone as a compromise with the squirrels.

Fortunately, the situation was salvageable. Although a few indigo sprouts were gone, many of the seeds still hadn’t sprouted. I also had a few leftover seeds to plant in order to try and save my operation. I wasted no time and began reading articles and blog posts on how to deal with squirrels in a garden. I wanted this dye garden to succeed and nothing, especially not squirrels, was going to stop me!

Not wanting to resort to poisons (yet) or to spend money on chicken wire, I decided to start with coffee grounds. I don’t drink the stuff and the internet seemed to think it was a worthwhile deterrent. Fortunately, we had some Turkish coffee powder at home. Nobody was going to use it, so I thought it wouldn’t hurt to feed it to my plants. I smoothed out the soil, planted more seeds, sprinkled some coffee on top and prayed.

It worked!

The next day, everything was in great shape! More indigo was sprouting and the soil in all the containers was undisturbed. I was do happy! It felt like I found a viable solution and was home-free! Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. I was in for another rude awakening.

Cinnamon was the most potent deterrent I found in my quest to save my plants from these relentless squirrels.

The information I read online did not mention this so I am including it here: the remedies need to be re-applied after rain. I learned this the hard way. It rained a day or two later and, without missing a beat, the squirrels leapt into action. They had my pots dug up by the following morning. I was fuming. Fortunately, I was not out of options. A friend had suggested I try cinnamon and I said I’d try it if the coffee stopped working. Well, the coffee had stopped working and I had some cinnamon on hand. Once again, I smoothed out the soil then poured on the cinnamon. I was beginning to understand that this was going to be a long and demanding process. The problem would not solve itself. I would have to do my best to stay on top of things so I could ensure my dye garden succeeded. By the time I got to my last container, I was out of cinnamon. I substituted it for some crushed red pepper.

At this point, I was seriously praying because I still hadn’t gotten any sprouts (except for the indigo, which was started earlier); and the squirrel damage was significant. I started doubting my chances of success and began to feel dismayed. It felt like I was just tending fruitless soil. But, I couldn’t give up hope. Patience was the name of the game.

Fortunately, my efforts paid off. To my very pleasant surprise, the cinnamon actually worked better than the coffee! It seemed like the squirrels were completely avoiding my containers. They still played around in the unseeded pot and worked their mischief in my flax bed; but they left my dye containers alone. I was happy, but, I still didn’t have any sprouts. Although I anticipated the worst, I kept waiting because it hadn’t been two weeks yet.

The disrespect!

The squirrels pounced on my containers again after another rainfall, but there were significantly less holes this time. It seemed like the pungent concoction of spices and coffee was having a lasting effect. Rather than take things for granted, however, I put down some actual coffee beans and more crushed red peppers this time. They did the trick, but I would not recommend using coffee beans. They’re not as effective as the powder, the cinnamon, or the peppers.

Then a few days later, I noticed some weld sprouts! Then some madder, and then some murasaki! My patience was paying off!

The remedies worked!

I was over the moon. These homemade remedies kept the squirrels at bay long enough for my plants to start sprouting! I had a dye garden!!

Seeing this little weld sprout made me SO excited! I’m really glad the cinnamon worked as well as it did.

This was certainly a cause for rejoicing, but I could not rest on my laurels. My work was far from over. In the intervening days and weeks, I still noticed some periodic squirrel damage. Although it was minor, I took it seriously. I started doing more research. I learned that, apparently, these critters can’t stand the smell of mint. Well, we had mint growing in other parts of the garden so I figured I might as well put it to use. I moved a mint container onto the porch and began watering the plants with mint-infused water. Turns out that was just a waste of mint. I attributed most of the success in deterring the squirrels to the pungent spices.

So, I settled into a routine. I’d water my plants every morning. If I noticed squirrel damage I’d sprinkle cinnamon on all of my containers. It worked pretty well until I got a little arrogant. One day, I decided to use the unseeded container the squirrels were playing in to grow some Dyer’s Broom. I threw in the seeds and doused it with cinnamon. There hadn’t been any squirrel activity in weeks, so I thought I was safe.

Wrong!

They didn’t touch the pot but they ravaged one of my indigo containers. In what I could only understand to be an act of pure spite, they left a singular peanut shell there as a calling card. I was upset, but I learned my lesson. Fortunately no serious damage was done. I was able to fix up the soil and get the plants back into their places. I feel like we have a tenuous peace now, but these are terms I can accept. If they leave my dye garden alone then they can have the little pot of soil to play in. Hopefully things stay this way.

I am so thrilled with how well these indigo plants are doing! Cinnamon is basically an essential part of their diet at this point.

I’m learning that managing a garden is a much more involved process than I thought. However, it is also much more rewarding and enjoyable than I expected. So far, I am enjoying the ride. I just need to accept the fact that unless I poison these critters, which would rather not do, the games will be an ongoing theme in this garden. But, I like the fact that I need to stay on top of my plants and re-apply cinnamon every now and then. It gives me something to do and helps me bond with my plants. Life’s all about the journey, seldom the destination.

Thank you for indulging me and my stories. See you next post!