Q. Because I have very limited areas of ample sunlight in my yard, I plan to do some container (vegetable/herb) gardening this year. The concern I have is about how to keep the critters (squirrels especially) away from my young sprouts. The last time I did container gardening, those guys ate up everything. I don’t want to have to shoot them. Pam Duncan-Pierce – Federal Way, WA
A. Since I don’t want to see you walking around your yard wearing a squirrel skin cap like a Davy Crockett wannabe let’s see what we can do. The reason squirrels dig in containers is to store away food for a later date. This is where the majority of the damage comes from. A way to stop this digging behavior is to use chicken wire or hardware cloth. In your case you would need to cut it out into a circle and place it on the top of the soil in the container. You can seed right over this. If you are planting a transplant make a hole in the center large enough to fit the it through. Now although the nibbling could be the squirrels or it could also be rabbits (scwewy wabbits). In either case you can find repellents with natural ingredients that can be used on herbs and vegetables like Shake-Away Squirrel Repellent or Hot Pepper Wax.