The Simple Pine Cone Trick That Will Send Small Outdoor Animals Running From Your Garden

Maintaining a healthy garden certainly comes with challenges, one of which is managing the presence of small outdoor animals such as cats, raccoons, and possums. While these strays do help with ecosystem balance and help get rid of snakes, rodents, and insects, they can also pose a nuisance, particularly for those tending to vegetable and flower beds. They may chew on your plants, ruin your garden beds, or dig up your lawn if you're not careful.

If you're looking for a humane, safe, and budget-friendly way to keep outdoor animals from your garden, you can use pine cones as mulches. Mulching is the act of covering the soil surface with either organic or inorganic material. In gardening, mulching is done to retain the soil's moisture, provide nutrition, keep the soil cool, and prevent weeds from growing. You can use any organic material as a mulch, including leaves, wood chips, bark, and even pine cones. However, pine cones give you the added benefit of keeping small animals away from your plants. Here's how.

In addition to the benefits above, using pine cones as a mulch layer can be an effective strategy to deter unwanted outdoor animals and even indoor pets from your garden. The trick here doesn't rely on the taste or scent of pinecones, but rather their rough, jagged texture. Squirrels, for instance, don't like the feeling of walking across mulch, so covering your garden beds with them can act as a deterrent. Similarly, stray cats don't like touching their paws on anything sticky, noisy, or sharp. To repel them further, consider adding citrus peels to the mulch. The strong scent is anecdotally known to be another natural deterrent for strays. Animal control agencies and gardening forums alike recommend this pine cone mulch strategy. 

Plus, pine cones make excellent mulches because they're sturdy and will last years before breaking down. Their natural resin coating renders them water-resistant, ensuring they do not absorb moisture. This feature is especially beneficial in maintaining the soil's moisture balance. Adding pine cones to the garden soil can also prevent soil erosion.