by Danielle L. Hunter

Created on: July 28, 2009   Last Updated: February 22, 2011

Groundhogs, also known as woodchucks or whistle pigs, are one of the top garden destroyers. Flowers, vegetables, fruits and grass are only some of the things that groundhogs munch on to gain energy to burrow through your yard.

Weighing in at five to ten pounds, groundhogs will not be scared away by your typical outdoor cat. Dogs, on the other hand, are a great control method since they can chase pesky critters away. The only downside is that dogs are unable to kill groundhogs when they are underground.

In order to get below ground level, put on a pair of rubber gloves, open up your cat’s litter box and scoop out several stinky clumps. Take the waste outside and drop a clumps down each burrow entrance. The smell of ammonia will make the groundhogs move on to another yard.

Another trick is to spray the groundhog tunnels and other problem areas with a hot pepper solution.  To create the spray, puree and strain a few hot peppers, add a couple drops of soap and then pour in a little cayenne and black pepper. Next, add enough water to thin out the solution to make it easy to spray.

If the cat waste and hot pepper don’t interest you, sprinkle baby powder or dried blood meal around your flower gardens and food crops. The powdery solutions will deter groundhogs from munching on your blooms, vegetables and fruit.

When groundhogs show up early in the growing season, you can fumigate the groundhog burrows with gas cartridges before the critters decide to mate and have babies. Use the carbon dioxide gas with caution and be sure to read the directions.

To keep the groundhogs away all season long, add mulch to your landscape and plants from the allium family throughout your yard. Groundhogs do not like garlic, onions and chives and they will also avoid crops like tomatoes, eggplant and peppers.

If all else fails and you have tried everything to get rid of the groundhogs, rent a trap. Try using peanut butter on a piece of bread as bait and once you catch one avoid getting bit since groundhogs can carry rabies. Report your caught critter to the local wildlife authorities to find out how to properly release it.

Once groundhogs are no longer a problem or to avoid them all together, put up a fence. The fence should be buried at least one foot under the ground and stand approximately three feet above the surface. When the groundhogs reside elsewhere, you can sit back and enjoy your garden again. Try the above ideas for controlling other lawn and garden pests as well.

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