How to Landscape to Prevent Digging

A beautiful yard and garden invite neighborhood wildlife to your landscape. Many of these animals burrow into garden beds and lawns to nest or in search of food. Squirrels, moles, mice and chipmunks are a few of these digging pests. Designing your landscape to discourage or exclude as many of these animals as possible prevents future digging in the garden beds. If digging is already a problem, a few simple alterations to the landscape should discourage it.

Edging
Squirrel baffles
Poultry wire
Fencing

Instructions

- 1
  Install garden edging around the perimeter of ornamental and vegetable beds to discourage burrowing animals like moles and chipmunks. Sink the edging 12 inches deep to make it more difficult for the animals to dig under.
- 2
  Minimize dense ground cover planting. Heavy plantings of low ground cover provide nesting areas for digging animals.
- 3
  Minimize the amount of squirrels in your yard by installing squirrel baffles or 2-foot-wide metal bands around tree trunks. These devices keep the squirrels from climbing and nesting in the tree, so there are fewer of them around to dig in the landscape.
- 4
  Place a sheet of poultry wire over the top of garden beds before mulching. Animals attracted to the mulch for burrowing can't dig through the wire.
- 5
  Fence in the landscape areas that are most attractive to digging animals to exclude them. Use a 2-foot or taller decorative or utilitarian fence.
- 6
  Locate trash cans and compost piles away from flower and vegetable gardens. These attract animals to feed in the area, and they may later dig in the bed.

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