There are a large number of plants that squirrels dislike and a good number of them are bulbous plants. That being said, let’s look at which specific bulb plants the squirrels dislike.
Do Squirrels Dislike All Bulbs?
Squirrels dislike a large number of bulbous plants, but that does not mean that they dislike all of them.
Gardeners have made the mistake of assuming squirrels dislike all bulb plants and have returned to find squirrels have dug up the ones they planted. It is important to know which ones will repel squirrels and which ones will attract them.
Which Bulb Plants do Squirrels Dislike?
It is not possible to list every bulbous plant that squirrels do not like. However, below is a list of a select few bulb plants that squirrels appear to hate and have been sited by may gardeners as great pest repellents.
Daffodils
In spring, new animals are born, and daffodils grow. And with that, these bright bulbous flowers also help to limit the number of squirrels that come into your garden.
Like many other plants they dislike, squirrels find daffodils off-putting due to their smell.
Fritillaria
Sometimes reaching heights of up to 5ft, these flowers are great at repelling squirrels. As well as this, they have a variety of unique blooms and colours that make them a lovely addition to your garden.
Hyacinths
As well as their repellent properties, they look fabulous when grown together in large sections and they can be found in a beautiful variety of colours.
Alliums
Relatives of the onion and garlic, these flowers actually smell very nice to humans, but they are greatly disliked by squirrels. There are many colour varieties of this plant and they look lovely when in bloom with their circular shaped flowers.
These four plants are just a select few when it comes to squirrels’ dislike of bulbs. There are other bulbs they dislike, but these plants are seemingly some of the most effective at repelling squirrels when it comes to flowering bulbs.
Do Squirrels Dislike Edible Bulbs?
Edible bulbs include plants such as garlic. Squirrels do not appear to be a fan of garlic, but what about other edible bulbs?
Squirrels will certainly try to eat them, as they will eat whatever food they can, but often be disappointed in the resulting taste. One bulb which they are willing to eat is the onion.
This root vegetable can provide a source of food and nutrition for squirrels and they will eat it if they are struggling for food.
However, many squirrels will not choose to eat onion as the flavour is very strong when raw and like it is for us humans, it isn’t particularly for the squirrels in that capacity.
What Bulbs do Squirrels Like?
Whilst most appear to deter the rodents, there are a small number of bulbs that squirrels seem to like and are not repelled by.
Their favourite type of bulb appears to be that of tulips. Tulips come in a variety of colours and squirrels seem to enjoy digging and eating at all of them.
They will often mess up areas around any planted bulbs but tulips are the ones which squirrels will eat and keep coming back for.
You can prevent this: One option is to use chicken wire to cover your plants. However, this doesn’t look very nice. A prettier alternative is to intersperse your tulip patch with flowers that squirrels dislike, such as daffodils.
The off-putting smell of other flowers should prevent your squirrels from digging up the lovely tulips in your garden.
Why do Squirrels Dig Up Bulbs?
From everything we’ve looked at, it doesn’t really seem like squirrels like bulbs at all. So, why do they dig them up? There is speculation amongst gardeners but here are some likely reasons why squirrels may be digging up your bulbs.
Desperation
If food sources are very low, squirrels will resort to eating certain bubs, such as onions, which are good for squirrels but are not tasty.
Foraging
After burying bulbs, the ground will show that something has been buried there. This has led people to believe that squirrels may dig up bulbs in hopes of finding nuts or other food previously buried by other squirrels.
Summary
To summarise, apart from tulips, squirrels appear to dislike almost all bulb plants.
They dislike flowering plants such as daffodils and hyacinths, as well as edible bulbs such as garlic. You can use these bulbs to repel squirrels. People believe that squirrels will often dig up bulbs regardless in hopes of finding food stored by another squirrel.
