What Besides Daffodils Will Keep Rodents Away?

Flowers

• In the late winter and early spring, tiny white snowdrop blossoms, cool-hued bulb irises and deep blue Siberian squills keep furry pests away. Rodent-repellent spring flowers, which share a blooming season with daffodils, include golden leeks, trout lilies, silver bells and fritillaria, the last of which especially repels squirrels and chipmunks. Grow these flowers in combination with daffodils to keep your flowerbed a rodent-free zone. Flashy summer flowers such as magic lilies, flowering onions and the striking-violet Star of Persia also ward off rodents.

Other Plants

• Fragrance-sensitive rodents tend to avoid strong-smelling plants other than flowers. Heavily scented herbs – including fragrant catnip, allium, camphor, elderberry, euphorbias and mint – act as rodent-repellent garden plants. These plants also ward off ants, moths, beetles and squash bugs. Lathyrus latifolius, commonly known as the perennial sweet pea, serves as an effective barrier to keep rats and mice out of your garden.

Other Natural Remedies

• Live plants are not the only natural way to fend off rodents. Natural oils such as peppermint and citronella also do the trick. Create a border of these pungent natural oils around your garden, or place soaked cotton swabs in entry points around the house. Dried bay and holly leaves act as a mice repellent, while combining pepper and paprika repels squirrels. Similarly, chile with garlic powder wards off groundhogs.

Tips

• You can protect your garden from rodents by erecting structural barriers such as 19-gauge wire mesh, or “hardware cloth,” around garden plots. Likewise, loose wraps of quarter-inch hardware cloth help prevent rodents from damaging tree trunks. Bricks joined with mortar, concrete and galvanized sheet metal also serve as rodent-proof barriers. Humane traps – especially when baited with pumpkin seeds, nuts or bits of bacon – work as a targeted solution for mouse and rat problems. Of course, a good old-fashioned cat also works wonders as a natural, multipurpose rodent repellent.