Okay, since you guys are all so knowledgeable I thought I would ask this and it is pertinent to this forum because all of the plants I have I bought for the butterflies. My sister's mother-in-law said that if you put citrus peels (lemon, orange, grapefruit, etc.) around the plants the dogs will stay away as they do not like the scent. So far my big dog that likes to dig up plants right after they have planted has only bothered them by urinating on them. I was just wondering if anyone has heard this and if it is true. I also read on another forum about putting pepper around plants to keep the squirrels away. Anyone done this and does this work also? Thanks again for all your help in advance.
Leslie
Trick to keeping dogs away from plants????
Don't know about the orange/citrus peels to discourage dogs, but the pepper definitely works!
I feed squirrels in my yard and they like to bury their food. To discourage them from digging in my seed beds, I sprinkle pepper all over those beds. The squirrels don't like pepper. I think it irritates their nose. It works for me! :-)
For some odd reason only one of my dogs is a digger...and then only digs to bury a bone...and to top it off, she won't bury it in the yard...but will hop up into one of the five gallon potted plants and dig a hole in that! UGH!!! She killed off a bunch of violets I had in one a few weeks ago. I started using regular black pepper and sprinkle that on top of the soil and voila! No more digging!
~ Cat
Thanks Becky and Cat. So it looks like it will be pepper around the plants. I went out today and one of my cannas was broken in half, I think by a squirrel perhaps because the dogs cannot get to where it is. So I am wanting something that works to keep the "animals" away from my plants. Thanks for the information.
Leslie
Leslie - Broken plants might not be solved using pepper. I find broken plants around my yard from the squirrels. They jump on the taller plants not realizing they aren't sturdy enough to hold their weight. But perhaps the pepper might discourage them from even going in that part of your garden. Good luck with the pepper. You have reapply it weekly as it doesn't stay for very long. Rain and wind tends to blow or wash it away.
Gosh you are right Becky. I had not thought of that. I am sure that is from him jumping on it trying to get to one of my bird feeders. I have the squirrels their own feeder and then a corn holder type and yet they still want to jump up with the birds and eat out of theirs. They are such piglets but I think they are so cute. So the pepper just keeps them from eating or destroying the plants from the ground, right? Okay, luckily this is not a very big space where they mostly hang out so I should be able to cover it with some pepper and redo once a week. Thanks for all the info.
Leslie