Squirrels are notorious for causing major damage to vegetable gardens and fruit trees, therefore many people are in need of a way to get rid of squirrels and encourage them to move somewhere else. Adding plants to your garden to repel squirrels is one option. However, if you don’t want to wait for those plants to mature, you could add a spice that they dislike, such as cinnamon. Because ground cinnamon is extremely fine and easily inhaled, a curious squirrel is likely to inhale the spice into its nostrils, causing significant discomfort and irritation. This can cause the squirrels to move on to less uncomfortable foraging grounds.
You could spend a significant amount of money to repel squirrels by installing a wire mesh fence around your garden, which could require a lot of materials if you have a large garden. Instead, you may want to try the cheaper cinnamon hack first, and it might just help repel these pesky rodents.
How to add cinnamon spice to your garden to repel squirrels
Squirrels have an incredibly sensitive sense of smell, helping them find sources of food that are quite a ways away. Adding cinnamon to the garden allows you to use the squirrels’ sense of smell against them. As they’re aggressively sniffing different portions of the garden, they may inadvertently inhale the cinnamon.
The best way to apply this spice to your garden is to sprinkle cinnamon powder in a variety of areas. You can spread fine powder in the spaces underneath plants, where other repellant options may not fit well. Cinnamon is also available in sticks – its natural, unrefined form — which carry the same odor as the powder form, though they are not quite as effective as the powder is at getting up squirrel nostrils. Cinnamon oil you can spray throughout the garden is also available, but, again, the pests won’t inhale it as they do with the powder.
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If you’re wondering whether cinnamon is dangerous for the squirrels, don’t worry; it doesn’t harm them. They simply do not like the odor and the sensation it causes, so it’s a more humane option for tackling unwanted squirrels.
Does cinnamon powder harm the plants in your garden?
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Although cinnamon powder can irritate the nasal passages of squirrels and other garden pests, there is no evidence that it harms your plants. In fact, cinnamon powder can actually be beneficial to garden soil, giving plants a nutrition boost. Cinnamon can also kill fungus spores that may be present in the soil, preventing them from spreading to your plants.
Cinnamon works well as a rooting agent, too. When you have cuttings you want to plant, you can place the fine powder on the edges of the cutting. When you place the cutting into potting soil, it should encourage a stronger root system, while keeping mold, mildew, and other harmful fungi away from the vulnerable cuttings.
Not only does adding this spice to your garden potentially keep squirrels away and help your plants grow stronger, but it also may keep other pests away. Cinnamon powder is a strong ant repellant. Again, just as it does with the squirrels, its strong odor serves as a deterrent to the insects, even killing them on contact.
