How to Keep Groundhogs Out of a Garden

Here is easy to follow advice on how to keep groundhogs out of a garden. While the burrowing groundhog is one of the cuter mammals, they can be destructive in a vegetable or flower garden. The groundhog can eat a surprisingly large amount of vegetables, flowers, and other plants and can quickly devastate a garden.

Keeping groundhogs out of a garden entirely is quite difficult. The use of a woven wire fence that is buried into the ground and extends above it a few feet is a pretty foolproof way of keeping groundhogs out of a garden. Another way is by using electric fence with at least two wires one almost on the ground and another at about 8 inches above the ground. Obviously there are problems with both of these methods from cost to convenience. However, by making your garden less attractive to groundhogs they may simply choose to eat elsewhere where there is less hassle.

The best way to harass groundhogs away from your garden is through the use of predators, in particular a dog. While tying a dog up in a garden is not a good option, providing the impression that there is a dog nearby will help. The simplest way to do this is by placing fresh dog hair around the garden on a regular basis. Groundhogs will smell the dog scent and assume that a predator is nearby.
If you have a dog(s), brush the dog at least once a week and place its hair around the garden. If you don't have a dog, get some hair from friends, neighbors, or possibly even a pet groomer. Allowing a dog to marks its territory near the garden will also provide scent that may help to repel groundhogs.

Coyote and other predator urine is available from sporting goods stores and will work as a repellant to groundhogs as well. Commercially made repellants (make sure they are safe to apply to food producing plants) are another option as well as homemade potions. The application of pepper or hot sauce to the plants is a common way to discourage groundhogs from dining in your garden.
Scarecrows, particularly those with parts that move in the wind, are another option for repelling groundhogs and other critters from your garden.

By using a few of these methods a home gardener should be able to repel groundhogs from their garden.