How do I protect my bulbs from squirrels & chipmunks?

Last year I lost a lot of bulbs to deer and squirrels. I've been spraying something that smells really disgusting (when you 1st put it on--- it dries to be odorless) for the deer, but the squirrels & chipmunks are still outside trolling around for goodies. I have a tulip tree outside my window, & this afternoon I had to get my squirt gun out to dissuade one squirrel from eating all the late summer buds. Has anyone tried landscape fabric or weedblock fabric to keep the critters out?

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who has resorted to a squirt gun! BTW they also love to eat camellia blooms, I've watched them pull the blooms off, eat the back, and throw the petals on the ground. All of this while watching me through the window.

I'll be watching this thread- at our last house the little boogers would follow me around, then dig up what I planted.

This is my second fall at this house and last year I hadn't planted anything yet....I'll be watching. I've been trying to discourage my cat from hunting them (we had to take them away from him a couple of times in the past ) but that may be why there aren't any in my main garden area, he likes to be my garden helper.

Since we've moved here the squirrels seem to have migrated to our neighbors yard to live (no cat), they still spend lots of time raiding my one bird feeder and eating what the birds drop out of the other, but I have noticed that they always come into the yard from the one side. I've been planting bulbs on the other side.

The birds, on the other hand, have found plenty of places to hang out in the yard- the cat has become much more of a watcher than a stalker this year. Frankly I'm glad.

plantntga

Squirrels and voles really tunnel around and eat my tulip bulbs. I have heard of a number of remedies, but here are 2. For the voles and moles, fill lthe bottom of the hole with some pea gravel and also put some on top of the planting. But for the squirrels I used some early daffodils planted with them which are a great deterrant. The daffys came up and bloomed, and I cut off the dead bloom stalk. Then the tulips were coming up and bloomed later without clashing with the daffodils' color or the tulips' color impact.
Another possible deterrant that worked was a layer of hardware cloth about 2" deep, above the tulips. You have to get the wide kind so the tulip plant can come up through the soil.

I use red pepper flakes and moth balls. works great!

Theresa and woodspirit1, I hate to be dumb, but pretend you're speaking to someone who needs a "Bulbs for the simple minded" approach. Do you use the red pepper flakes on top of the soil or by the bulb as you plant it? Mothballs-- the same question.
And what kind of hardware cloth are we talking about? I have ordered a bunch of daffodils this year. Are they repellent to the critters, or just not as tasty?
Many, many thanks for your suggestions!

I used a combination of moth balls and my dogs' poops. It works great against Squirrels digging up my bulbs. I just simply put a couple moth balls and dog poopie on the surface.

Or you can try this recipe I found from Google - Backyard Magazine:

Beat together 1 egg and 1/2 cup of milk. Add 1 tablespoon of cooking oil, and 1 tablespoon of dish soap. Add 1 galloon of water and shake or still well.

Spray or sprinkle plants every two weeks or after a heavy rain. Store in a covered container. DO NOT SPRAY ON EDIBLES.

NOTE: I blended 1 large clove of garlic and 3 teaspoons of Cayenne pepper powder into the mix. I have had no further trouble with deer, but I put the mix into a sprinkling can and applied it where I had trouble with deer eating. Maybe I was just plain lucky.

Also you may want to check out this Crown Imperials. They are gorgeous but have SKUNKY smell. :-)

Fritillaria imperialis is known as the Crown Imperial after the pineapple-like crown of leaves at the top of each stem. These large bulbs are a delight in practically any setting, and their unusual profile draws the eye like a magnet. Give them full sun and a rich, well-drained soil that stays dry in summer. The bulbs have a faint skunky odor, which has the salutary effect of repelling pests, including voles.

more information about this plant can be found at http://www.whiteflowerfarm.com/240324-product.html.

I've heard if you throw soil sulphur on the top of the soil they don't like that. I've never had to use it for that purpose...

Thanks for all the suggestions! I have a lot of stinky stuff on my list for the next shopping trip, & I've added more daffodils to my fall bulb order. BTW, our local paper had an article on getting rid of moles recently. ( Moles are abt the only critter I don't have trouble with, because my cats take care of them.) In any case, most of the mole problem solvers started with
1. Locate the end of the mole run.
2. Place a lawn chair & your weapon of choice at the site.
3. Get a cooler filled with beer, sit down & drink & wait...

All the solutions ended up in whacking the mole with a heavy object. Apparently, for the faint of heart, the beer prepares you to relax enough to do the deed!

By far the easiest way to protect your bulbs from digging critters is to put a piece of chicken wire over the bulbs. Just plant the bulbs, put down the chicken wire and then cover with dirt.

If they're already planted, you could just lay the chicken wire down and cover with a little dirt once any perennials growing there die down.

The squirrels and voles can't dig through it and you'll never lose another bulb to a hungry tree rat. The bulbs and perennials will grow up through the wire.

goshmom

That sounds like how they get rid of armadillos down here, except it would involve a flashlight and a shotgun...............

I think they are cute as heck but they can do incredible damage in their search for grubs. I haven't encountered them in my yard yet.

I'm just glad that I haven't had any mole "gifts" in about a year, we had quite a few when we moved here but most of them ended up at my back door.

If your problem is mainly critters digging from the top and not the bottom, I would think hart's suggestion would be perfect.

I agree that the chicken wire is a great solution for my new beds. But I plan on adding bulbs to some already established beds that might require some creative wire work to protect the plants already in there.
You know, I don't think I know how big an armadillo is --- is it possum sized? Bigger or smaller? I don't cope too well with possums--- ewwwwwww is my general reaction to them.
goshsmom

Squirrels! These $#@! rodents eat the magnolia buds, they eat the bark of the branches of the weeping pussy willow in the winter. They dig up the daffodils unless they are 8" deep. The ate the bark off a tender magnolia at the base and killed it. They, they they driiiiiiiiiiveeee me crazy! They sit on the oak branches over the deck and scold and taunt my dogs. They caused me to run out in my nighty and yellow slicker boots (all I could get on in a hurry) with a folded umbrella as a weapon and in full view of the paperboy to chase them off the newly planted hydrangea petiolaris trying to climb up an oak. They ripped every bud off. Does anything work short of a double barrell?

They dig up the daffodils? I thought critters stayed away from daffodils?

I have the same problem. They dig in my vegetable bed. They dig in my iris bed. They dig holes in the yard that I trip on.

I wish I could convince the neighbor cat to go after them.

They dig them up when they plant whatever it is that they are storing for the winter. Acorns I guess. But they don't eat them. I forgot about the iris. If you leave iris out to dry the cut ends off after dividing them they will eat them. I had a big old cat for a long time. No help.

Our squrrels have actually become pretty well behaved but as I mentioned before, we have a hunter cat who keeps them in line.

they graze under the one bird feeder, there is so much seed scattered there (those finches are pigs!) that they don't even need to bother with the feeder itself. The other feeder is supposedly squirrel proof (HA!) but when they get too annoying my LH sprays the roof with Pam. Now that's a sight worth seeing- one of those little guys doing a double somersault with a half twist!

I'm still suprised to see the one squirrel- it's missing a strip of fur and a couple of weeks ago you could see 2 marks on it. I had just been watching it through the window when I reached down, petted my cat, and he yawned- I realized that the marks were exactly the same spacing as his teeth. I guess he hasn't been as reformed lately as I thought.......

As an amateur genealogist, I keep thinking back to my ancestors & wondering how on earth they kept their subsistence gardens clear of critters. Of course, they did live in the Appalachian mountains where a gun was always near at hand, but even if I could shoot (which I can't), I'd end up shootin' up every flower, tree, tomato, and blade of grass before I could get rid of the squirrels! I'd have to end up gardening in a firing range!

I'm going to hit the hardware store SOON and get a lot of chicken wire. Maybe next year I can afford deer fencing.

they used to hunt them in S. Georgia- no lie. The old timers remember eating them.

They eat squirries up here too. Once a year they have a wildlife dinner and eat all kinds of stuff that I consider roadkill. It's pretty popular. (We used to have a big problem with stray cats too until the Mom & Pop chinese resturant moved in!?) Me I just want to garden in peace. The winter I am going to spray, spray, spray with repellant.

Hart: How big are the openings in the chicken wire you use to repel rodents?