Most people would agree that squirrels are adorable little furry creatures. The thought of them evokes storybook images of natural, woodsy scenes where tiny animals frolic about without a care in the world. Unfortunately, in the real world, squirrels can be quite a nuisance for homeowners, especially those with yards. They don’t shy away from eating your precious plants, vegetables, and tree bark, and dig up holes around your garden to plant their food stash for the winter season. Quite often, they also make homes in your yard or convenient nooks and crannies in your home. Fortunately, just using one herb, like mint, can help you keep squirrels at bay.
If you are tired of these pesky critters wreaking havoc in your yard, you may be on the lookout for easy-to-implement solutions that prevent them from feeling at home in your abode. There are ways to deter squirrels from your garden by using a pinwheel and some other ways to keep squirrels from digging up your bulbs. If these seem too complicated, however, we have an easy tip for you. You can keep them at bay just by planting mint or using it in other unique ways.
How mint works to keep squirrels away
The science behind planting mint or using an essential oil made of mint is that its scent is strong enough to keep squirrels away. Even though the fresh scent of mint leaves is appealing to the human olfactory senses, the Farmers’ Almanac states it’s exactly the opposite for squirrels. When used for the purpose of keeping squirrels away, mint-scented essential oils work well, but be careful of using them around the house as they could be harmful for children and pets.
Hence, the most common and safest way for people to use the mint herb around their homes and plants is by growing it. The species of the mint plant you choose to grow doesn’t matter as such, because all of them have a similar effect when it comes to giving off a scent that dispels squirrels. Peppermint – both as a plant and as an oil – is a popular choice with many gardeners, though some people also plant chocolate mint, lemon balm, and spearmint plants to achieve a similar effect. The only thing to be careful of while choosing to plant mint in your garden is that it doesn’t overpower your yard by taking over completely. Mint is a plant that thrives when conditions are conducive for it do so.
(We may receive a commission on purchases made from links)
Other ways to use mint to repel squirrels
In case you are worried about mint taking over your garden, but still want to use it to ward off squirrels, all you need to do is find other ways to dispel its fresh scent around the area that squirrels frequent. You could make a mint-based oil at home and spray it around the garden and yard. Just add the essence of any mint oil to water or white vinegar to make the spray. In fact, the latter ingredient is also known to repel squirrels so a single product will work double time.
An oil diffuser is another effective tool to spray the scent of mint around the area. A way to ensure that the scent stays concentrated in a particular area and lasts longer is by soaking cotton balls in the mint spray and placing them in your kitchen, yard, or anywhere else you feel you need them. Since the oil may evaporate, you can always check in and re-soak them as needed.
Another unique method is to dry out the leaves of your mint plant for about two weeks, and use those to create closed sachets of potpourri that smells strongly of mint. These can then be placed around the yard, too.
