There are lots of flowers and plants which can attract squirrels to your garden. There are also many with strong odours that deter squirrels and prevent them from being a pest problem. Which category does lavender fall into?
Do Squirrels Like Lavender’s Scent?
To humans, lavender is a lovely floral scent that many find calming. It’s why you find it in calming sleep sprays and candles.
However, to squirrels, lavender does not present the same attractive properties. They appear to dislike the smell of lavender and some people have recommended lavender as a deterrent for squirrels.
That being said, there is still debate within the garden community as to its effectiveness in keeping squirrels out.
Do Squirrels Eat Lavender?
Whilst flowers are not often their primary source of food, squirrels will eat flowers if they are nearby. However, there have not been reports of squirrels eating or destroying lavender plants in people’s gardens.
Perhaps this is due to their dislike of the smell. Although, it is possible that they would consume lavender if they had nothing else to eat.
What Other Animals Does Lavender Deter?
Squirrels are not the only pest that seem to be kept at bay by lavender. Below are a few animals that also appear to dislike the smell of lavender and can be deterred by planting the fragrant flower in your garden.
Fleas
Fleas greatly dislike the smell of lavender. As well as keeping your garden flea-free, lavender can also be tied in bouquets and kept inside your house to keep the little critters away from your home.
Mice
Lavender appears to be a good repellent for rodents because as well as squirrels, it can also deter mice. Lavender is evergreen so is very effective at keeping mice away from your garden throughout the whole year.
If you have a serious pest problem, you may need to take stronger and more effective measures. Despite how gardeners have praised lavender for its repellent properties, there is no guarantee that it will work on every individual pest.
But preventing is always easier than solving when it comes to pests, so it’s a good idea to plant lavender to make sure squirrels and other pests don’t come into your garden in the first place.
What Other Plants do Squirrels Dislike?
Despite being known for not being picky concerning their food, there are actually quite a few plants that squirrels dislike. The main reason for their dislike of certain plants is fragrance.
As sweet and strong smells are often off-putting for squirrels, they are more likely to avoid gardens where any of these flowers are planted.
Hyacinths
Hyacinths come in a variety of colours and they bloom in large numbers. They are very effective at deterring squirrels as when they bloom in a congregation, it makes their scent even stronger and more repellent for their squirrels.
Daffodils
Daffodils are great because they are early spring bloomers and are quite hardy making them easy to grow in a variety of climates. As well as squirrels, these bright flowers will also deter other pests such as rabbits.
Alliums
These ornamental flowers are closely related to many edible plants, including onions and garlic. As you may expect from their relatives, these plants also have a very strong and distinct odour that deters squirrels.
Other pests, such as aphids, are also often deterred by the garlic relative.
Galanthus
Another bulbous plant, there are many species that all appear to work well at deterring squirrels. They have a strong odour and some also produce stunning flowers. One example of a flowering Galanthus is the giant snowdrop.
Many of the flowers that squirrels seem to dislike are bulbous in nature. That being said, squirrels do not dislike every bulbed plant.
There have been many times where gardeners have said squirrels have dug up their planted bulbs. As well as deterring pests, the four flowers listed above are also very beautiful and highly recommended for gardeners to brighten up their land.
Summary
To summarise what we have learnt, squirrels do not like lavender.
However, there is still debate amongst gardeners as to its effectiveness in repelling squirrels. Other pests that can be repelled by lavender include fleas and mice.
Squirrels also dislike a great number of fragrant flowers that can be used as deterrents. Some of these flowers are hyacinths, daffodils, alliums and Galanthus. It is easier to prevent a pest problem than to solve it.
