Rats in Your Roses? Tricks for Keeping Rodents Out of Your Garden

When most people think of rat infestations, they think about indoor spaces. In reality, though, rats can be just as damaging to your garden as they can be to your home. If you’re looking for a good way to keep your garden clear of rodents, you’ll absolutely want to follow the steps below.

Move the Garbage Cans

If you’re dealing with rats or mice, your number one priority needs to be moving your garbage cans as far away from your garden as possible. Your garbage cans are among the most attractive food sources out there for rodents, so putting them near your garden simply draws in more rodents. As they explore the area around the trash, they may find vegetables and other goodies to snack on in your garden. If you can move the trash cans to the other side of your home, you should be able to make your garden less of a target.

Keep the Grass Short

Now that you’ve gotten rid of a food source, you can get rid of the rodents’ shelter. Rodents of all sorts are naturally skittish because their primary predators are good at spotting them out in the open. If you can keep your lawn trimmed and the area around your garden free of cuttings, you’ll be able to eliminate the places where rodents can hide from predators.

Use Traps

Traps are also a good idea if the rodents are going after your plants. There are many different types of outdoor traps that you can use, ranging from those that kill rodents to those that will allow you to humanely transport them to another place. Regardless of what you choose, these traps will generally make rodents think twice about going back into your garden.

Get Professional Rodent Control Help

Finally, try to reach out to a professional if you continue to have problems. Though all of the steps above should help, there are some infestations that go beyond what an average person can do on their own. A rodent control service can figure out what’s attracting rodents to your garden and help you to devise a plan to keep the space rodent-free. Whether you don’t want to deal with the rodents yourself or you’re just looking for new ways to fight against them, a professional service is always going to be your best ally.

Don’t be afraid to tackle your rodent problem head on. Get rid of the things that attract rodents to your garden, make the space seem less safe, and reach out for help when you need it. If you can’t control the rodent problem, you’ll eventually be left without a garden to defend.

Author Bio

Anita Ginsburg is a freelance writer from Denver, CO. She studied at Colorado State University, and now writes articles about health, business, family and finance. A mother of two, she enjoys traveling with her family whenever she isn’t writing. You can follow her on Twitter @anitaginsburg.