Hello,
please help. My rose bushes are getting attacked by squirrels.
I have tried a solution of water and cayenne pepper. However, I was only able to spray the bottom half of one rose bush, before my spray bottle got clogged, and I lost the tiny parts trying to clean it out. RIP spray bottle. And, to add salt to the wound, the squirrels just climbed up the thorny canes, and ate the top half of my plants! Me - 0 Squirrels - 1

I don't want to use any kind of -cide. I am trying to use mother nature. So if I can plant something else that squirrels eat, or something that attracts hawks, then that would be my perfect solution!

Thank you

I used hot sauce for mine so the chile wouldn't clog the hole. You can also sieve it out, but this solution (after try many others) worked best. They used to love my tomatoes!

IF (emphasis on IF) you don't mind the squirrels being around, you could always get some of that pre-packaged squirrel food and put it out for them in a specific spot or an area far enough away from your roses.
I had an issue with squirrels eating my roses (blooms, hips and foliage) when I stopped putting out the pkg'd food (which I get a pet store...it's a mix of seeds and nuts) because there were just too many of them. That's when they started chewing and eating the roses. Now I only put out the food in the morning and they go elsewhere for the rest of the day. My thinking is that they only go after the roses when there's nothing else for them to eat.
Someone down the street from me keeps the seed mix available for them all day long, so I think they spend more time there.
Feeding them CAN become a problem and lots of people don't do it because you end up with an army of them.

Wow, I never knew squirrels were a threat to roses. Guess I'm lucky so far they ignore mine. Every year they get all the almonds from two trees, though.

Thanks, I was wondering about that.
I was hoping I could plant something, short of a walnut tree, to get them to stop attacking my rose bushes.

And I definitely can't afford a pet food bill. I am thinking of getting the motion sensor halloween toys, to scare them.
Anyway tried that before???

The hot sauce works better than chili powder because ut's smooth and doesn't clog the nozzle. Or you can get animal repellent sprays. Either way you have to be diligent about reapplying them if it rains.

My scarecrow is OK for deer, but does zilch for squirrels. They do no like the chile spray. It totally kept them away from my tomatoes. Also, consider buying a little pump sprayer. They are quite cheap and much easier on your hands. Plus, they're useful for other stuff.

I too have squirrel problems. I call them rats with better clothing and a better press agent. They eat my roses and my fruit on my trees. They come along the fences behind and to the side of my property, So I cut up a scat mat and put that on top of my fence with those double sticky things. The clear plastic spikes don't hurt them (or cats) but it definitely keeps the cats out of the back yard (my neighbor refuses to fix them and they spray my house) and only one squirrel has feet made of rubber and seems to be able to tolerate crossing the thing but at an extremely slow pace. So far they have spared my roses and fruit trees and my doors no longer stink of cat urine. You might want to put some of that on the fence or around your roses to see if that will keep them away.

Our dogs keep the squirrels up in the trees - no threat to the roses or fruit. Now if they could just do something about the gophers...

OK,
yea, we just lost our husky, 13 years.
Now, we just have our chihuahua. Unless I fit her with armor and talons and magically train her to use them, I don't think she will stand a chance.

I am going to try my pump sprayer. I just remembered I have one. Hopefully it doesn't get clogged. Just have to clean it out, as it was used for pesticides, years ago.

I am thinking since the halloween motion toys move around and make noise when triggered, that it will scare the squirrels enough to stay away.

They gnawed on my canes again.

>:(

I've never seen squirrels eat roses, but the @#$%%$%$ creeps have chewed on epiphyllums here.

But we feed wild birds, and the squirrels chow down on wild bird seed. Maybe if you put out bird seed, they might prefer that? Also, SOMEONE around here, it seems, puts out peanuts, and the squirrels seem to love those ... because we find peanut shells here and there.

Coyote urine. Comes in a spray or a granule.
Or even cheaper - people urine - male is better than female.

- and more easily applied?

Very true....

here is a pic of squirrels demolishing my rose of sharon flowers. those on the ground were eaten yesterday.

they seem not to eat not the stamen or pistil but the ovaries


two doses of murphy's soap oil and cayene pepper hasn't stopped on squirrel this AM. we shall see.

i made the mistake of spraying into the open flower, they are eating below the petals on the sepal and receptical.

I had something eating/taking the new buds off of some of my potted Roses. Figured out it was a squirrel. He not only took the bud but then dug a hole in the flower pot to bury some for later. Wondered why the dirt was all messed up and found the buds. I offer peanuts and bird food also and have found many peanuts buried in my plants. He stripped one plant of every single bud.

I had a bottle of animal repellent that I had bought at a box store when I was having problems with Raccoons using my flower beds for their personal bathrooms. The bottle said that it also repelled squirrels so I sprayed the roses and have no problems since. Says you can spray up to every couple of weeks. The spray did not bother the roses at all. I was a little nervous about it at first, but no side effects to the roses at all. You can also search on Amazon and they have several sprays that say they repel squirrels.

My mom is using a scarecrow sprinkler that is motion sensored. Her squirrels were using her wall to eat the tree roses! This definitely scares away animals when a sprinkler goes off when it detects motion. It only stays on for a few seconds but that's all it takes to scare an animal away. She has not had any rose damage since installed.

this is what a rose of Sharon flower looks like after a squirrel ate it and spit it out.

well meaning as posters or even pro's are....the fact is the squirrel doesn't' eat the flower , it seek out the ovaries'.

u can dowse the petals in DDT and the squirrel will still eat the back of the flower on its way to the ovaries.

PS; the pros know this