I hate squirrels

I grow in containers on my apartment patio outside of Chicago and have a lot of trouble with squirrels digging in my soil. They don't even seem to want to get to the roots of most plants. They seem just to like to dig.

Are there any plants you would recommend growing that might deter squirrels? (We have rabbits, too.) Would mint, for instance, keep them away at all?

If I spray Messina Wildlife's Squirrel Stopper, they stay away for a day, but it has a very strong and unpleasant odor. (It has rosemary oil, mint oil, cinnamon oil, and white egg solids, and it is supposed to be safe for organic growing.)

Eventually they seem to leave me alone later in the summer when the soil is covered with plants, but for now it's a daily fight.

Any help would be appreciated!!

If you are just growing in containers take some river rock(on the larger side) and put them on top of the soil, should help cause they can't move them . That was the only thing that worked for me, squirrels here didn't even mind the hot pepper in the birdseed.... grrrrrr

I agree with Jen...cover the soil....the squirrels may actually be burying acorns, nuts or seeds for later use...but they are really forgetful...grin You could also place an pot with nothing but soil away from your plants....they may be so inclined to got to it first. A water blaster squirt gun also works...and is a lot of fun too...grin

I agree, they're probably burying nuts or acorns or something. I can't count the number of baby walnut seedlings I used to have come up in my containers thanks to them (there was a huge old walnut tree in the field behind my house so they used to get nuts from it and bury them everywhere). What I ended up doing was putting bird netting across the top of the soil and that stopped them digging (could also use chicken wire or something along those lines)

Great idea on the stones!!

I love the watergun idea, too! I've been slow to react and thrown things (shoes, cups, etc.) when I see them but never really been successful.

I have been doing some reading online and someone suggested cracking black pepper or growing marigolds??

Marigolds tend to repel some critters with their fragrance....and if planted with and around other plants, there is no room to dig.

If you stick some plastic forks in the pots with the tines sticking up about 1/4 - 1/2 inch, the squirrels won't dig in them anymore.

We get the sqirrels also and right now the birds are nesting so the squirrels are even higher in numbers as they steal the birds eggs from the nests, they are not the cute cuddley little disney friends we all loved as kids.
I use the chicken wire method, laid on top of the soil after planting, the squirrels cant dig or scrape the soil to bury their nut's or berries etc, I've tried other methods that worked for a day or two but the netting was best in my situation, also all my bulbs / plants etc grew through the wire netting without any ill efects, try one pot with the wire, another with some other method and see what is best, you should know within a week what is working best.
Good luck, WeeNel.

I'm sorry, I'm laughing, but yes squirrels are NOT the sweet cuddly little Cartoon critters, we have been brainwashed as children to emotionally connect with, Truly they are one of the spawns of Satan. (well sort of, along with yellow jackets)
We had a persistent pregnant female do over a thousand dollars worth of damage to our house 2 years ago. I don't even want to recount the nightmare we went through.
Me and squirrels are not simpatico anymore. Oh the loss of childlike innocence. :[
We have a black walnut tree in our yard. Yep, Stupid us.
I do have several recipes in my very Old WhiteHouse cookbook for various ways to prepare them. Squirrels, not walnuts.

Tree rats.
Get a dog :)

The forks really do work. Not for house damage, of course, but in pots. No reapplication or further action necessary.