If you live in the country or near the woods, your garden can be damaged by squirrels, deer and other creatures. It’s nice to have squirrels and deer around, but they can wreak havoc on the gardens and plants you’ve worked so hard to cultivate. But you don’t need to resort to cruel traps and harsh chemicals to keep the pesky creatures at bay. All you need is Irish Spring soap.
You’re probably thinking. Irish Spring Soap? You may be thinking, ‘I don’t know what that means’. But many people swear by this unprotected material around their gardens because animals absolutely hate the smell of it. And when it rains, the smell becomes even stronger.
To make your own deer and other critter repellents, you will need
- 12 bars of Irish spring soap
- Knives
- 6 mesh bags or cheesecloth
- 6 wooden stakes (at least 2-3 feet off the ground)
- a stapler
Using a knife, carefully cut the soap into small pieces. When finished, fill each mesh bag or cheesecloth piece with a piece of soap. Use staples to secure the bag to the stake. The stakes are used to form a kind of border or barrier to protect the garden and plants.
This completes the process. You can prevent pesky creatures from nibbling on your plants without spending any money or using cruel methods.
If the leaves and stems of your garden trees are damaged, pests may be the cause. Deer, rabbits, and other herbivores can cause significant damage to garden plants such as tender flowers, clover, fruits, and vegetables if left unchecked. Unlike insects, which leave jagged edges on leaves they are about to eat, rabbits and other mammals will either cut them clean off or eat up the leaves completely. To keep mammals at bay, place Irish Spring soap in your garden as an inexpensive insect repellent, and animals will find the stench unpleasant.
1. Cut the Irish Spring soap bar into 1/2-inch squares with a knife. It doesn’t have to be exact, but make sure you have plenty of small pieces to spread in your garden.
2. Place two pieces of soap in each drawstring bag, pull the string closed tightly, and tie the string to secure the soap inside.
3. Staple each drawstring bag to the end of the stake using a stapler 3. Insert the other end of each stake 6 inches into the ground at 5- to 10-foot intervals around the garden. Concentrate the stakes in areas where there is a lot of vegetation or frequent pest infestation. Drawstring bags can also be placed under and around the plants to make them more self-supporting.
4. Over the next week, observe the plants in your garden to see if they are damaged or eaten. How much Irish Spring Soap you need to get rid of pests depends on the size of your yard and the number of deer, rabbits, and other animals, so be prepared to add more stakes if you are targeting heavily contaminated areas. What you will need
- Knife
- Small (2″ x 2″) cloth drawstring bag
- Wooden stakes (e.g., 12 x 1 x 1 inches)
- Staples or adhesive tape
- Cheesecloth (optional)
- Rope (optional)
Tip : Irish Spring soap repels mammalian pests such as rats, rabbits, and deer. It does not repel pests. Irish Spring Soap does not necessarily eliminate pests completely, but it is an effective way to reduce the rate of attack on plants. If a cloth drawstring bag is not available, Irish Spring Soap can be wrapped in cheesecloth and secured with string to make a small bag.
