Groundhogs have notoriously big appetites and a penchant for several of our favorite garden flowers.
Despite being very cute, they are one of those vexing garden pests that destroy plants. It's important not to harm them, but simply make your garden a place they won't want to stick around in.
Whilst they eat pretty much all plant material in their wake, there are plants that they cannot abide. Here are five plants that groundhogs will hate and steer well clear of.
1. Catmint (Nepeta spp.)
Groundhogs despise catmint. They can't stand its intensely fragrant foliage.
Happily, catmint is very beautiful and looks great when planted in great swathes, so it's an easy plant to incorporate. In terms of where to grow catmint, for this purpose, it is best to plant around the perimeter of flower beds to prevent groundhogs from wandering in.
Catmint is low-maintenance and self-sufficient. While it will slightly depend on the species, most can be grown somewhere from zone 3 to zone 9.
Nepeta x faassenii 'Walker's Low' is a remarkable plant, it grows in pretty much all conditions and spreads very fast. Perfect for underplanting roses and in among salvia.
2. Alliums
Groundhogs rely heavily on their sense of smell to detect their next meal. Allium plants, including onions, garlic, and chives, contain high volumes of sulfur compounds that give them a very pungent smell, and this is not to groundhogs' liking one bit.
Our advice is to plant as many allium varieties as you can, and come spring, you will be rewarded with showy, nectar-rich flowers.
Best grown in USDA hardiness zones 3-8, alliums are best planted from September through to late October.
Despite their ubiquity, purple sensations will never, ever be boring. They are enormous, and always teeming with pollinators. A must grow in every garden scheme.
3. Foxgloves (Digitalis)
Digitalis is probably best known as the original, number one cottage garden staple. Suitable in hardiness zones 3-9, these are easy, fuss-free plants that are a doddle to grow.
Foxgloves are toxic to groundhogs, and this toxicity can be detected by them, making them thoroughly unappealing and dangerous for these critters.
Happy in sun or shade, these creamy white blooms have pretty dappled throats make a striking statement.
4. Lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis)
A terrific spring-flowering perennial that serves as one of the very best and most beautiful best ground cover plants, Lily of the valley's looks belie her character, since the plants are highly toxic to mammals.
If you have dogs and cats, they just be cautious about planting this, though my dogs tend to leave it well alone as soon as they smell it. This very same behaviours is mimicked in rabbits, deer and groundhogs, for that matter.
Happy in hardiness zones 2-9, this is a super easy grower.
The small white cupped blooms are bell-shaped and hang their heads. Planted in a shady area amongst hostas, they look truly staggering.
5. French marigolds (Tagetes patula)
If you are having a particular issue with groundhogs and squirrels totally decimating your veg patch, then you simply must grow marigolds in your vegetable garden.
In short, they are one of the best pest-repellent plants you can add to a vegetable garden, and you will only regret not having planted them sooner. They deter aphids, snails, rabbits, groundhogs, squirrels, and deer.
The key to success? Plant marigolds around the edge of your flower or veg beds. Their very intense peppery smell has a profound effect on the sensitive nostrils of a groundhog. They are so easy to grow it's almost miraculous, and they will tolerate pretty much any soil type in zones 2-10.
If you're suffering from a hungry groundhog invasion, then plant these truly beautiful French marigolds with pastel pink, rose and yellow blooms.
Shop groundhog deterrents
This powerful stuff repels, as the name would suggest, all unwanted visitors from entering your garden. It is totally pet safe and won't actually harm the animals you are trying to remove.
These nifty little devices emit a sound wave vibration frequency every 25 seconds and it will send groundhogs running in the opposite direction. They use sonic waves that act on the underground, so they do not affect the daily life of humans and pets.
As well as planting the aforementioned five plants, I would also use some of this natural deterrent, which is extremely strong but not dangerous to wildlife. Double whammy.
If groundhogs really are a menace, I would also use cayenne pepper, which you can buy for less when you buy it in bulk, and tap this around you vulnerable plants. You can buy a huge 5lb tub of cayenne pepper at Amazon.
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