You just bought some beautiful hibiscus plants that you planted in your yard. One morning you go to water them and you notice that someone has been munching on your hibiscus plants. You wonder “who’s been eating my hibiscus plants?” The answer. Squirrels!
How To Keep Squirrels From Eating Hibiscus Plant?
To prevent squirrels from eating your hibiscus plants, create a galvanized poultry wire cage over the plants, use blood meal for newly planted bulbs, and create an easier food source for them.
Squirrels eat several plants, (check out which ones they eat) but hibiscus plants have tender stems and plenty of green material that squirrels gravitate towards. In this article, we’re going to share some tips you can use to protect your plants from squirrels.
But first let’s take a slower look at the plants that squirrels love.
What Are Hibiscus Plants?
The hibiscus (genus Hibiscus) genus consists of several species of herbs, trees, and shrubs and is a member of the mallow family (Malvaceae). They grow best in warm and tropical regions.
Hibiscus flowers are typically trumpet shaped that can be found in several stunning colors from red, pink, orange, yellow and multicolor.
Do Squirrels Eat Hibiscus Plants
Yes, squirrels love eating the hibiscus plants because they have dark green stems that attract squirrels. Squirrels are attracted to bright-colored vegetables and flowers.
For instance, if you have a vegetable garden, you’ll notice that squirrels are more likely to mess with the broccoli, peas, carrots and yellow squash. However, they won’t mess with your garlic or onions.
Hibiscus are some of the most beautiful plants and bloom colorful flowers that will attract squirrels to your backyard.
Are Hibiscus Plants Dangerous To Squirrels?
No, unless you’ve used some type of pesticide in your flower garden, they are not toxic to squirrels. That being said, squirrels have a great sense of smell, so they most likely won’t mess with the plants that have pesticides on it.
Their sense of smell makes it easy for them to smell food they’ve buried under a foot of snow.
Do Squirrels Eat Hibiscus Flowers?
Yes, grey squirrels love eating the flowers. In fact, you can find several YouTube videos that show red and grey squirrels feasting on eating the flowers.
Here’s a video I found of a grey squirrel stealing a yellow hibiscus flower and eating it.
If they don’t eat them, they will tear the down and leave them on the ground.
Do Squirrels Eat Hibiscus Leaves?
Yes, although grey squirrels prefer seeds like sunflower seeds, acorns, pine cone seeds, walnuts and etc. However, they will gravitate towards foods that are readily available, which means they will gladly eat your vegetables, fruits, and flowering plants.
Do Squirrels Eat Hibiscus Blooms?
Yes, they will eat every part of the flower, even the bulbs. When squirrels eat or destroy the blooms, it will prevent the flowers from blossoming into beautiful flowers.
Now that you know a squirrel will eat every part of the hibiscus, let’s look at how you can stop them using humane methods that don’t harm the squirrels.
What Animals Eat Hibiscus Plants?
There are many animals that are attracted to the flowers, nectar, and pollen of hibiscus plants. While some animals, like hummingbirds and certain types of bees, help pollinate the plant, others, like deer, rabbits, and groundhogs, can cause serious damage by eating the leaves, stems, and flowers.
The tips below will help you keep squirrels and other animals from eating your hibiscus plants.
How to Keep Squirrels Off Hibiscus Plants?
Squirrels love hibiscus flowers and are naturally attracted to these beautiful flowers. These tips can help you deter them using humane methods.
Just remember, squirrels are persistent little critters and it’s going to take some time to get them to stop harassing your flowers. Don’t forget to check out these tips to keep them off your sunflowers.
Related: How To Keep Squirrels From Eating Rhododendrons
Cage the Plants
One of the best ways to protect your plants from squirrels and other critters is to create a cylindrical fence out of chicken wire. You’ll want to create a cage around the hibiscus plants to ensure they are properly protected.
You’ll want to place some wood or metal stakes and place them 4-6 inches away from the plant, so they won’t harm the roots. If you put them too close to the plants, the squirrels may be able to stick their paw in the cage and pull out a flower.
Wrap the chicken wire around the posts to form a cage. You may also want to create a screen door, that will allow you to enter the cage to care for your plants.
Don’t forget to enclose the top of the cage, otherwise, the squirrels will climb the fence and access the plants from the top. They are excellent climbers and jumpers.
Take The Containers Inside
If your hibiscus plants are in containers, the easiest thing to do is to take them inside. You can either bring them out every morning and put them on a deck that squirrels won’t climb because their are always people on it.
Or you can leave them inside and just place the plant near a window that gets good sun.
When your plants are in the house, you don’t have anything to worry about, unless you have squirrels in your house.
Dried Blood
Squirrels have a great sense of smell, which helps keep them safe from predators. Bloodmeal is a waste product of slaughterhouses that is used as a natural fertilizer. The smell has been proven to keep moles, squirrels, and deer away.
These animals can’t stand the strong smells of ammonia and nitrogen.
When choosing bloodmeal, opt for the organic type as it is the least toxic variety for your plants. It’s a great way to keep squirrels away while fertilizing your plants while providing them sufficient nitrogen, other nutrients your plants require.
Spread four ounces of bloodmeal per square yard of soil or follow the instructions on the back of the bag.
You can purchase bloodmeal at a nursery, or home improvement store that has a gardening section.
Plant Among Thorny Plants
You can try plants that have sharp thorns to prevent squirrels from getting to your hibiscus plants. For instance, roses have sharp thorns and can help protect your hibiscus plants from critters.
Other plants with thorns you can consider planting are firethorns, honey locus, bougainvillea, Barbary fig and etc. Make sure you do your due diligence to make sure those plants won’t attack your hibiscus plants.
You can also plant some of the plants that naturally repel squirrels.
Feed Them
After you’ve depleted all the options above, you may want to just consider creating a squirrel friendly area in your yard. Choose an area away from your hibiscus plants and veggies, so the squirrels won’t be tempted to stray.
You can either buy or make a squirrel feeder and fill it with some of the best food for squirrels we rounded up on our recommended products page. It may take a while, but once the squirrels realize they have their own place, there’s a good chance that they will leave your hibiscus plants alone.
Before you know it, you won’t mind having the squirrels visit your backyard!
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, these tips will help you keep squirrels away from your hibiscus plants and flowers. Just because you have squirrels doesn’t mean you can’t grow a beautiful garden.
You may need to try one or more of these techniques to get them to finally leave your plants alone.
Related Articles
- Do Squirrels Eat Geraniums?
- Do Squirrels Eat Zinnias?
- Do Squirrels Eat Cilantro?
