How to Keep Animals Out of Garden [Expert Tips]

Avoiding Structural Damage

Several animals, like squirrels and rabbits, dig holes. Similarly, several birds create nests that can disturb the soil structure and harm plant roots. By keeping such animals away from the garden, one can avoid unnecessary structural damage and save a lot of money on maintenance.

Maintaining Aesthetic Appeal

It takes a lot of hard work and resources to create a garden that is aesthetically pleasing to everyone. Most residents use different garden and landscape decorations to increase the value of their property. That said, a well-kept garden can easily be ruined by animals, as they tend to leave droppings and damage flowerbeds.

Reducing Human-Wildlife Conflict

Even if you are an animal lover, you will agree that an unwanted conflict with reptiles or other poisonous animals should be avoided at all costs. When we find ways to keep animals out of the garden, we not only ensure the protection of plants and their produce but also reduce the chances of them becoming pests or creating nuisances.

Types of Animals in The Garden

There are several animals that can visit the garden, but it depends on your demographic, the size of the garden area, and the surroundings. For instance, if you live in a suburb, then you might not have to face deer in your gardens. On the contrary, you might have to find ways to keep groundhogs away from your garden. That said, here's a comprehensive list of potential garden visitors that directly or indirectly ruin the aesthetic of your garden area:

Large Mammals

• Deer:Deers are known for eating flowers, shrubs, and vegetables.
• Raccoons:They dig up plants and eat fruits and vegetables.
• Skunks:In most of the North American cities, skunks can dig for grubs and insects that damage lawns and beds.
• Squirrels:Even though squirrels are not particularly harmful, they still eat fruits and nuts and dig up bulbs.

Small Mammals

• Rats and Mice:Rats and mice are carriers of rabies. Additionally, they eat seeds, fruits, and vegetables.
• Moles and Voles:Moles have the habit of tunneling through gardens, damaging roots and plants.
• Rabbits:Most children find rabbits adorable, but they consume leafy greens and young plants.
• Groundhogs:Groundhogs are responsible for eating a variety of vegetables and plants.

Reptiles and Amphibians

• Snakes:While snakes often control pests in the garden, they can be unwelcome to some gardeners.
• Frogs and Toads:Most frogs and toads are generally beneficial for the garden but can be seen as pests if they start breeding in the garden area.

Insects and Arthropods

• Beetles and Caterpillars:Beetles consume healthy leaves and full-grown vegetables.
• Aphids and Mites:Most of the mites and aphids suck sap from plants and reduce the overall lifespan of plants.

How to Keep Animals Out of Garden

Maintaining a garden can be a rewarding experience, but it often comes with challenges. One of the most common challenges that gardeners face is ensuring that the garden area looks aesthetically pleasing. For this, they need to find ways to keep animals out of the garden. As mentioned earlier, animals can wreak havoc on your garden by eating plants, digging up soil, and causing other damage.

Implementing effective strategies ensures the garden remains free from unwanted animals, reptiles, birds, and bugs. Some of the most common practices to keep the animals out of the garden are:

Fence Your Garden

Fencing the garden is one of the most common, trial and tested, and effective ways to keep almost all sorts of animals out of the area. You can start by installing a sturdy fence preventing larger animals like deer, rabbits, and raccoons from entering your garden.

For an even more effective barrier, you can go ahead with an electric fence that would provide a minor shock to anyone who touches it. For this, you can consider adding a Jackery Solar Generator that would provide a reliable energy source to keep your electric fence operational.

Try Animal Repellent

There are several animal repellents available in the market that can easily be installed at different locations in the garden. You can use these animal repellents to deter unwanted visitors from entering the garden area.

Some of the common electronic repellents are the ones that emit sound and light that scar the animals. Even for such animal repellents, you can use Jackery Solar Generators that would power these appliances and ensure they remain functional without adding to your electricity bill.

Try Scare Tactics

You can also use motion-activated sprinklers or noise makers to scare them away. Several electric devices, such as robotic owls or other predator-mimicking animals, can be installed in the garden to scare off unwanted animals. These electric noise makers can also be powered using Jackery Solar Generators, which provide a continuous deterrent without relying on traditional power sources.

Choose Less Tasty Plants

Opting for plants that are less appealing to animals can reduce the likelihood of your garden being targeted. For example, herbs like lavender, rosemary, and mint are generally avoided by many animals due to their strong scents. Even if you have to go ahead with high-fragrance plants, try conducting pest control every week. You can also opt for plants with prickly leaves or thorns that can easily deter animals from approaching.

Grow in Raised Beds

Raised beds can help protect your plants from ground-dwelling animals like rabbits and voles. You can opt for elevating your garden beds, making it more difficult for such animals to reach and harm your plants. Another benefit of using raised beds is that they can improve drainage and soil quality, directly benefiting your garden's look and feel.

Protect with Netting

Using netting or mesh covers can provide a physical barrier that prevents birds and small animals from accessing your plants. Netting is particularly useful for protecting fruiting plants, ensuring that birds do not peck at your produce before you can harvest it. You can get mesh covers of different sizes from supermarkets or online marketplace as per the size of your plants and fruits.

It is highly recommended to use reusable mesh covers so you will not have to buy a fresh net every time you need to cover the plants.

Provide an Alternative Source of Food

Offering an alternative food source can distract animals from your garden and is also helpful for animals looking for shelter and food during heat waves or extensive rains. You can set up a feeder with seeds, nuts, or fruits in another area of your yard and keep animals like squirrels and birds away from your plants.

Make Your Garden Less Attractive

Reducing the appeal of your garden can also help deter animals. Most animals are attracted to fallen fruits, vegetables, and debris. So, you can achieve this by regularly cleaning up all those items that might attract animals. Additionally, avoid compost or mulch, which has a strong odor and can make your garden less enticing to wildlife.

Use Motion-Activated Lights

Several affordable motion-activated lights can be placed in and around the garden area. These lights can startle and deter nocturnal animals such as raccoons and skunks. They can be strategically placed around your garden to surprise animals when they enter the area. If you aim for an eco-friendly solution, you can use Jackery Solar Generators to power up these motion-activated lights.

Install Wind Chimes or Reflective Objects

The sound and movement of wind chimes can scare animals away, while reflective objects like old CDs or aluminum foil strips can create visual disturbances that deter birds and other animals. Such items are easily available at home, or you can even get them from second-hand vendors. Try hanging these items around your garden to create an environment that animals find uncomfortable.

Jackery Solar Generators Explained

By harnessing the power of solar energy, you can not only reduce your monthly average electricity bill but also charge outdoor appliances to keep animals out of the garden. Solar generators provide a clean, renewable energy source and reduce reliance on traditional electricity.

Solar generators like Jackery Solar Generator 600 Plus can power an electric fence (250W) or electric animal repellent (30W), ensuring that these devices run efficiently without contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, such solar generators are designed to be portable and easy to use in the garden, making them ideal for a variety of outdoor applications.

In addition to being eco-friendly, solar generators can lead to significant cost savings. Once installed, they provide free energy from the sun, helping to lower utility bills.

For example, powering an electric outdoor speaker (60W) or electric fake animals with a solar generator eliminates the need for costly electricity consumption. Jackery Solar Generators are also reliable and can operate during power outages, which ensures that your garden remains well-protected even during extended power cuts.

Jackery is an internationally recognized brand that manufactures a wide range of solar generators, solar panels, and portable power stations. With multiple patents under its name, Jackery has been awarded multiple times by international media for its research and development in the field of solar energy.

Jackery SolarSaga Solar Panels have monocrystalline silicon cells that harness the sun's energy, which is later transferred and converted with the help of the pure sine wave inverter of Jackery Portable Power Stations. These portable power stations can then be used to charge household appliances, which helps keep animals away from the garden.

Jackery Solar Generators have a high battery capacity and are portable. These solar generators' lightweight and ergonomic design ensures that they can be placed easily in different corners of your garden. With the help of a pass-through charging feature, the Jackery Portable Power Stations will keep on charging garden appliances even when plugged into the Jackery SolarSaga Solar Panels.

Jackery Solar Generator 600 Plus

The Jackery Solar Generator 600 Plus weighs only 16.1 lbs and is ideal for outdoor settings, especially to power appliances that help keep animals out of the garden area. With a switch time of less than 20ms and high-level outdoor durability, these solar generators are ideal for powering outdoor appliances during sudden power outages.

Appliances Working Hour:

• Electric Hedge Trimmer (500W) = 1.0H
• Cordless Electric Scissors (300W)  = 1.7H
• Electric Fence (250W)  = 2.1H
• Electric Grass Trimmer (250W) = 2.1H
• Electric Animal Repellent (30W) = 17.9H

Jackery Solar Generator 300 Plus

If you are looking for a portable solar generator that is easy to set up, lightweight, and helps you keep animals out of your garden, check out the Jackery Solar Generator 300 Plus. This solar generator weighs only 11 lbs and offers ultra-fast charging, which ensures that your unit is always powered up when needed.

Appliances Working Hour:

• Automated Scarecrow (90W) = 2.7H
• Garden Lights (80W) = 3.0H
• Electric Outdoor Speaker (60W) = 4.0H
• Electric Animal Repellent (30W) = 8.1H
• Motion Activated Light (15W) = 16.3H

Customer Review

"The perfect power for my overall use. It comes with me everywhere and charges all my items. Love it!!!" -- Terry.

How to Keep Specific Animals Out of the Garden

Gardens often attract a variety of animals seeking food, shelter, or a place to play. While some wildlife can be beneficial, others can cause significant damage to plants and produce. Here's how to keep animals out of the garden by following an eco-friendly practice:

Raccoons

Raccoons are notorious for their curiosity and dexterity. In most of the places, they often raid gardens for fruits and vegetables. To deter raccoons, you can go ahead with a sturdy fence at least four feet high with a buried base to prevent digging. Additionally, you can install motion-activated sprinklers and lights that can startle and scare them away.

In order to power these electric lights and use electric repellents, you can use Jackery Solar Generators that emit extremely low noise when operational.

Squirrels

Young and adult squirrels can cause havoc in any garden or landscape by digging up bulbs and eating fruits and vegetables. To protect your garden, you can use netting or chicken wire to cover plants and prevent access. You can further install squirrel baffles on trees and bird feeders, which makes it harder for them to reach your garden.

If you constantly face squirrel attacks, consider using a motion-activated deterrent, such as an electric owl, to scare them away. If you have excess garden area, try providing an alternative food source, like a separate squirrel feeder, which diverts the squirrels from your garden.

Rabbits

Rabbits can quickly decimate young plants and leafy greens. To keep them out, you can install a fence at least two feet high, with the bottom buried six inches underground to prevent digging. Depending on your budget and resources, you can even plant rabbit-resistant plants like marigolds, lavender, or garlic around the garden's perimeter, which will work as a natural deterrent.

Use Jackery Solar Generator to power animal repellents that ensure your garden remains protected without harming the rabbits.

Cats

Cats may use gardens as litter boxes or hunting grounds, disrupting plant growth and reducing the area's aesthetic decors. In order to deter cats from the gardens, you can use citrus peels or coffee grounds. Studies have shown that cats do not like the scents of citrus peels and coffee grounds, which will work as a natural repellent.

You can further install a motion-activated sprinkler and power it with a Jackery Solar Generator. It can effectively startle and discourage cats from entering and automatically starts even when there is a power cut.

Rats & Mice

Rats and mice can cause significant damage by eating seeds, roots, and plants. To keep these rodents at bay, remove food sources and secure compost bins. You can also use snap traps or electronic rodent repellents to further deter these pests.

Dogs

Dogs love to play in the mud, and if a stray enters your garden, then it not only creates havoc but there are chances that it may litter at different places. At the same time, dogs may dig up plants or trample garden beds during play. To protect your garden, install a low fence or barrier around the garden beds. You can further train your dog to stay away from the garden area, and providing them with their own designated play area can also help.

Keep Animal Out of Garden FAQs

What size of solar generator do I need for my garden?

The size of the solar generator you will need for your garden depends on multiple factors, including the size of the garden, the number of appliances you plan to use, and their respective wattages.

For instance, let us suppose you have a 100 sq. ft. backyard area that you have transformed into a small garden. In order to keep animals out of the garden, you are using Jackery Solar Generator 600 Plus to power an electric animal repellent (30W) and motion-activated light (15W) simultaneously. Then, the working hours that you will get can be calculated using the following formula:

Working Hours = Battery Capacity in Wh * 0.85 / Wattage Consumption of the Appliances

= 632.3Wh x 0.85/45W = 11.9H

Note: The battery capacity of Jackery Solar Generator 600 Plus is multiplied by 0.85 to account for the power loss during charging.

What is the cheapest way to keep animals out of your garden?

The cheapest way to keep animals out of your garden is to use natural deterrents like garlic or hot pepper spray. You can also install simple barriers like chicken wire or try homemade scare tactics such as hanging old CDs or creating noise with wind chimes.

How do you keep animals out of raised garden beds?

To keep animals out of raised garden beds, install mesh or netting covers over the beds. You can further use chicken wire around the perimeter and consider planting strong-scented herbs like lavender or rosemary to repel certain animals that are prone to such fragrances.

How do I make my garden animal-proof?

To make your garden animal-proof, use a combination of physical barriers such as fences and netting. You can also go ahead with natural processes of making the garden animal-proof. For this, you can use natural repellents like strong-smelling plants and motion-activated deterrents and maintain a clean garden by removing food sources that invite visitors.

Do coffee grounds keep squirrels away?

Yes, it is often reported that coffee grounds can help keep squirrels away. Coffee grounds have a pungent smell that squirrels despise. You can even sprinkle used coffee grounds around your plants to deter them from digging and eating your fruits and vegetables.

Wrap up

Planning a garden is one thing, but maintaining and ensuring that animals stay out of it is a whole different part of it. There are several ways that help you understand how to keep animals out of the garden and by following these practices, you can ensure that you will have a beautiful garden without any droppings or litter. If you live in an area where power cuts are very often, you can go ahead with Jackery Solar Generators, which will help you power up your garden appliances and ensure that animals, including birds and reptiles, stay away from your plants and trees.