Squirrel prevention tactics

This is a glorious shot of the Japanese maple I look at from my dining room all through the autumn.

But this Blog is about squirrels: will it ever end?

The squirrel brigade came up with the following: Tom from Oakville said that one of the reasons squirrels are so destructive is that they need water. If they can’t get it, they will be eating anything with water content (leaves, buds you name it), so try leaving some fresh water out for them. Change it every few days.

Hair was a big thing. Carole used freshly cut children’s hair, I went to my hairdresser and about two heads of hair did very well in my own garden. But I also took the Jack o’lantern from Hallowe’en, hacked it to bits and spread it around the planting areas. Well it worked they have been so distracted by the pumpkin, they’ve left the bulbs alone. Now all the bits and pieces have been consummed, I’ll spread some hair around. And you can always go back to Juliet’s suggestion of just feeding them.
I’ve been astounded by the activity. They use the heptacodium to slide down and they’ve been munching on the blooms.

I’ll have to get Derek Welsh, my arborist, to do some serious trimming on it. He was here today and I always think having a arborist in to work out how you plan to whack away at the garden is a great autumn chore.

I’m not saying this is a battle of wills, but he’s talked me out of moving a wonderful Lidiodendron (a narrow form of the tulip tree) and concentrating on moving smaller trees.

Sometimes when someone else tells you something, even the most hard-headed of gardeners can be moved to be sensible. The liriodendron looks great and there’s no great reason to move it except the size. I’m worried about it blocking off a lot of sunlight. But I have a whole winter to fuss about this.