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While groundhogs might look cute from a distance, they can do serious damage to your yard and garden. These animals love to burrow and will dig tunnels throughout your lawn. If they begin digging beneath your house or patio, they could crack your foundation and cause other structural damage. Groundhogs also have a voracious appetite, eating up to 1 ½ pounds of food per day. Berries, beans, corn, broccoli, cucumbers, carrots, lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes, peas, and various other fruits and vegetables are delicious to groundhogs, and they will happily raid your garden. These mammals will also munch on flowers, such as sunflowers, marigolds, and daisies.
Though groundhogs will eat many things you’re growing, some herbs will deter them. Lavender, rosemary, thyme, mint, basil, oregano, chives, and sage are helpful for keeping groundhogs out of your garden. These herbs can either be planted in your garden or around your outdoor space to prevent these pests from overtaking your yard.
Planting herbs to repel groundhogs
Groundhogs have a good sense of smell and by using herbs with scents they don’t like, you can repel them from your garden and yard. Planting mint, sage, lavender, or the other herbs mentioned above in your garden or in pots will help protect your fruits, vegetables, and lawn. If groundhogs seem to be targeting and destroying specific plants, growing these herbs near the plants in danger will discourage the pests from bothering them again. You could also plant the herbs along the outside edges of your yard to prevent these animals from coming onto your property.
If there’s no space for new plants in your garden, growing the herbs in pots and strategically placing them in areas where the groundhogs are causing damage should help drive the animals out. This is also a great option if you want to use mint as your deterrent, as it can spread and take over your yard.
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Other ways of using herbs to deter groundhogs
If you don’t want the responsibility of caring for more plants, you can spread dried herbs near the plants groundhogs have been munching on, by their burrows, or wherever you would like to discourage them from hanging out. You could also drop the herbs directly into their tunnels, which should encourage them to move on. Though it’s more expensive than dried herbs, you could add a few drops of lavender, mint, or other essential oils that groundhogs hate into a spray bottle with water and spritz it around your outdoor space. Another spice you can use is cayenne pepper. Groundhogs detest the irritating smell which could be helpful for getting rid of them.
Using several of these herbs is an easy, natural way to keep groundhogs out of your yard for good. If the groundhogs seem out of control or are causing serious damage to your property though, it may be best to call a professional pest control agency for help.
