Are you a tree person? Then, you must have a beautiful garden full of tall trees. After all, trees give a classy look to your garden and enshrine you under the cool shade. Fruit trees have a quite different vibe that never fails to make your lawn serene.
But fruit trees are prone to several deteriorating factors besides providing you with sweet and juicy fruits. Birds and rodents perching in the trees are top among the various threats associated with trees in your garden.
Regarding rodents, squirrels are the first ones crossing our minds. They can intrude into your planting space for food and shelter. Fruits are among the favorite food of squirrels, thus making them regular visitors to the trees in your yard.
Effective Ways to keep Squirrels Out of Fruit Trees
So, if you are tired of watching squirrels eating away the fruits of your efforts even before you can harvest them, you are at the right place. Here we have brought the most effective ways to keep squirrels out of fruit trees (with pictures). You can use one or a combination of these tricks to free your yard of squirrels.
1. Scary Decoys
Violence is never the first option. So, before using violent methods to remove squirrels from your fruit trees, you must try scaring them away. The fact about squirrels is that it is easy to scare them, making them believe in predators.
Hence, even if you do not have the real predators of squirrels, you can always go for their decoys. You can implant decoys in your yard, big and scary enough for squirrels to notice them.
You can use scarecrows made of straws and place them in your garden. Other decoys, such as owl, hawk, snake, etc., also work best when you want to scare squirrels away as they are the predators.
Once you place decoys in your yard, you must ensure to change their position from time to time. It prevents squirrels from getting accustomed to them and returning to your garden of trees.
2. Sound
Noise is also a great way to frighten squirrels. They are not used to loud noises and run to the best of their capacity when they hear any. Over that, the sounds of their predators can easily make them believe in the danger ahead.
Hence, you can use noisemakers that create scary sounds to drive squirrels away. Metal pie plates, windchimes, tin cans, etc., work best. They generate startling noises when the wind strikes, scary enough for the squirrels.
Besides these noisemakers, you can also involve a little technology here. Ultrasonic sound machines are the best examples of the same. Ultrasonic devices create high-frequency ultrasonic sounds to detect any movement.
Squirrels can hear the ultrasonic sound, which is inaudible to humans. The high-frequency sound haunts them, and they never return to your yard. However, you must ensure that the ultrasonic sound machines do not affect your pets. You must consider removing them if you notice any unusual behavior.
3. Moving Objects
Moving objects also tend to scare squirrels. Hence, you can hang such objects in your tree yard to startle the squirrels. The most efficient things that work well toward scaring squirrels away are flags and streamers.
The flags and streamers move vigorously when the wind strikes them, frightening the squirrels. This method works best if you use flags with the squirrel predators printed on them.
Also Read:- How to Keep Squirrels Out of Flower Pots: 10 Ways
4. Hot Pepper
Not only can you scare squirrels away, but you also repel them. You can use many deterrents and repellents to keep squirrels out of your fruit trees. Repellents work by giving out a smell and taste that squirrels hate.
Hot pepper is one of the most effective repellents you can use. It is because of the capsaicin content in hot pepper. Capsaicin comes with a strong aroma and tastes highly disliked by squirrels.
Besides hot pepper, you can also use other spices that contain capsaicin. Some examples of such spices are chili peppers, jalapenos, hot sauce, chopped peppers, whole peppers, etc. You can spray these repellents near the trees in your yard and get smartly rid of squirrels.
5. Coffee
Coffee is another effective repellent that does wonders against squirrels raiding your fruit trees. Like hot pepper, squirrels despise coffee’s smell, taste, and feel. Hence, you can use coffee grounds to keep squirrels out of fruit trees.
The best way is to spread coffee grounds around the trees in your yard so that the squirrels stay out of reach of those juicy fruits. Coffee grounds work best as they are readily available at home, and you don’t need much effort.
Also Read:– How to Kill Squirrels Out of Deck Planters?
6. Mint
Mint is one of the most widely used repellents against squirrels. Mint has a strong aroma that keeps squirrels far away. Hence, mint can be your sharp weapon to get rid of squirrels. You can use mint in several ways.
You can either plant mint around the trees in your yard or spray it as essential oils. The best part about planting mint in your garden is that it does not require much care. Moreover, it proliferates, so you don’t have to wait to drive squirrels away.
7. Predator Urine
This method may seem nasty, but it works effectively against squirrels. Because squirrels have a strong sense of smell, predators’ urine can do wonders—the scent of the predator alerts squirrels, which acts as their defense mechanism.
Hence, if you spray predator urine around the fruit trees in your yard, the squirrels will never dare to roam around them, afraid of being prey. You can use the urine of animals, such as foxes and coyotes.
You might wonder where to find the urine of these wild animals. Well, you need not fetch it from the source. The artificially synthesized version of predator urine is available in various gardening stores, which can come in handy.
8. Metal Collars
If scaring away and repelling the squirrels do not work out, you can always switch to physical barriers. Physical barriers stop the squirrels from accessing the lovely fruits on your lawn and protect them against all odds.
Metal collars work best as a physical barrier between the trees and the squirrels. They come in various types. Cone-shaped metal collars and tubes are the two most widely used against squirrels invading fruit trees.
These physical barriers prevent the squirrels from climbing the trees. Cone-shaped metal collars are two feet in diameter. These are placed below the lower branches with the cones sloping downwards.
On the other hand, the metal tubes are placed around the trunk of the fruit trees. They rise two feet tall, starting six inches above the ground and reaching below the lower branches. Metal collars always show great results when removing squirrels from fruit trees.
Also Read:- How to Keep Rabbits and Squirrels Out of Your Garden?
9. Banding
Banding is another physical barrier you can use against squirrels. It acts like a bandage on the trunks of the trees. Squirrels tend to dig into the trunk of trees and deteriorate them with time.
Hence, banding prevents squirrels from such a heinous act. It also does not allow them to climb the trees and reach the fruits. You can also combine banding with sticky gels. It acts as an excellent repellent for squirrels.
10. Netting
Netting is another effective way that saves your precious fruit trees from squirrels. It is similar to bird netting. All you need to do is get bird nets and cover your trees with them, leaving no space for the squirrels to enter.
Netting is easy in the case of small trees. But it would help if you put a little effort into covering big trees with nets. Another way to approach netting is to cover the fruits with fruit nets.
Fruit nets prevent the squirrels from dining over the fruits in your yard. It also provides the fruits with a safe space to grow and mature.
11. Squirrel Repellent Trees
In keeping squirrels out of fruit trees, you cannot ignore that trees themselves can act as a repellent. You can plant squirrel-repelling trees in your yard to keep the squirrels at bay.
There are some trees and plants that are squirrel-resistant. These include avocados, kumquats, limes, pomegranates, lemons, etc. The squirrels hate the taste of these fruits and find them hard to chew due to their rough exterior. Hence, you can plant these trees in your yard and say goodbye to squirrels.
12. Food Distractions
Another great way to keep squirrels away is to create food distractions. You can keep a separate area in your yard away from the fruit trees. You can place the food items that squirrels prefer, such as nuts, fruits, etc. food will keep the squirrels distracted, and they will never turn towards your yard again.
Recommendations
Now you are brain-stormed with a list of the most useful ideas to eliminate squirrels from your fruit yard. Focusing more on the repellent part, here are a few recommendations for making an effective squirrel repellent at home.
- Collect some mint leaves in a container, either from your yard or a store.
- Add two tablespoons of cayenne pepper and garlic powder each. You can also substitute garlic powder with cloves.
- Add 512 g of boiling water to the mixture of spices.
- Mix them and store them for at least 24 hours.
- Shake vigorously and apply the spray around the fruit trees in your yard.
FAQ’s
Ultrasonic devices produce high-frequency sounds that scare squirrels away. It is inaudible to humans.
Yes, the strong aroma of coffee helps keep squirrels away.
Fruit trees, such as avocados, lemons, kumquats, limes, pomegranates, etc., are squirrel-resistant.
Squirrels hate the smells of mint, hot pepper, coffee, vinegar, daffodils, etc. Hence, they act as effective repellents.
Metal collars, birds nesting, and banding work as barriers against squirrels in your tree yard.
Conclusion
Squirrels can be a nuisance for your fruit yard. Though they appear fluffy and cute, squirrels usually perch on trees and feed on fruits. It can destroy the integrity of your lawn and wither away your fruit trees before you can harvest them. Hence, it makes it necessary to be rid of them as soon as possible. So, you can work through these effective ideas to keep squirrels out of fruit trees and enjoy the fruit of your efforts all by yourself.