Journal

How to keep squirrels off your balcony plants

Guide 24 September 2026 · 2 min read

Red mandevilla flowers bitten off a potted plant and scattered across a balcony floor — One morning on our balcony: flowers bitten off and left on the floor.

Why they dig

They’re usually doing one of three things:

Hiding food. In autumn they bury nuts and seeds, and loose potting mix is the easiest place to do it. Small, tidy holes are the giveaway.
Digging it back up. Later they come back for what they buried, and uproot whatever grew on top.
Following their nose. Bulbs, fresh seedlings, bone meal and spilled bird seed all say “food here”.

Three labelled cross-sections of disturbed potting soil: a tidy hole with a nut at the bottom, a wide messy hole with an uprooted seedling, and a shallow surface scrape — The shape of the hole tells you which habit you’re dealing with.

What works

1. Cover the soil

This is the one fix that works almost every time. Cut metal mesh (hardware cloth or chicken wire) to the shape of the pot, lay it flat on the soil and snip holes for the stems. Water goes through, paws don’t. Skip plastic netting: squirrels chew through it.

No mesh? A layer of stones too big to flick away (3 cm or more) does a similar job and looks good.

A hand holding open a hinged wire mesh lid on a wooden planter containing a tomato seedling.

2. Take away the snacks

Move bird feeders away from your planters and sweep up spilled seed.
Skip bone meal, blood meal and fish fertilizer in pots. To a squirrel they smell like dinner.
Don’t leave pet food or scraps outside.

3. Plant smarter

Squirrels love tulips and crocuses, and mostly leave daffodils, alliums, hyacinths and fritillaries alone. Can’t give up tulips? Put mesh over the bulbs.

Garden bulbs on a dark surface in two labelled groups: daffodil, allium, hyacinth and fritillaria on one side, tulip and crocus on the other — Left: bulbs squirrels ignore. Right: the two they dig up.

4. Make every visit unpleasant

Squirrels learn fast. If every visit ends with a fright, they soon decide your balcony isn’t worth it. Early on, shoo them away whenever you spot one. Being consistent matters more than being scary.

Automatic scares don’t choose. A sprinkler, a spray or an ultrasonic box goes off for your cat, your dog and you having coffee just as readily as for the squirrel. The scare worth having reacts to squirrels only, so the balcony stays yours.

Two planters side by side: disturbed uncovered soil on the left, wire mesh protecting the soil on the right. — Left: bare soil, dug up. Right: soil under a sheet of mesh.

What to skip

Fake owls and plastic snakes. Squirrels figure them out quickly.
Ultrasonic repellers. There’s little evidence they bother squirrels.
Mothballs and homemade sprays. Mothballs are a pesticide, and irritants can hurt pets and edible plants.
Trapping and moving them. Another squirrel moves in. In Quebec, capture is only allowed when you couldn’t scare the animal off first, and moving it far away is discouraged.

Want the full rundown? See squirrel repellents compared.

What to buy

Item	What it’s for	What to look for
Hardware cloth (1 cm mesh)	Laid flat over the soil, with holes snipped for stems	Galvanized metal, about 1 cm openings, cut with tin snips
River stones, 3 cm or larger	A mesh-free cover for pots, too heavy to flick away	Heavier than they look; check your balcony’s weight limit for big planters
Daffodil or allium bulbs	Spring flowers squirrels mostly leave alone	Plant in autumn, before the ground freezes

Sources

Ask Extension: squirrels digging in pots recommends metal barriers and notes that results from other deterrents vary.
Québec: wild animals on your property explains when capture is allowed and why relocation is discouraged.

Rules differ by province and city. Check yours before trapping or using any pesticide.