.177 pellets work well and won't harm your flowers.

I don't believe Chipmunks eat roses.

We have chippys running around our roses all the time, i've never seen them eat or do damage to roses. Hummmm.
Did you see the chippy eating your roses? If so, can't think of anything off hand that would stop a chippy.
If not, rabbits maybe?

I have actually SEEN chipmunks up on a floribunda eating the roses and eating my pansies. Do you think a hot pepper spray will harm the roses?

shelleyh,

I have no idea what would repel chipmonks. I've never used hot pepper spray on rose leaves, so, I do not know.
Maybe someone else has info for you.

I think they do eat them and also chew the bark around the bottom of the plant.

nope! Hot wax pepper spray definitely do not! harm rose leaves. I used to use it all the time on my opening blooms last year! Very safe for roses!

Maybe this article will help:

http://www.bugspray.com/articles98/chipmunks.html

OOWWWW! Jim that is a horrible article, lol! I can't believe you put the article here! Much as I hate, hate, hate rabbits, I could never do the poisoning route to any rabbit, much less a cute little chipmunk! Yeah, I'd love to shoot a rabbit if I were a good shot, because it's a quick and fast way to go, for example, but POISON??? absolutely agonizing. Just reading this article is a terrible shocker, lol! My dad has tons of problems with chipmunks, but he does the humane trapping way and puts them into a walking trail park far away from other houses. OUCH!!!! poisoning a mammal is very painful to read about.

P.S. if you have snails and slugs infesting your garden, chipmunks are great "friends" in this aspect.

Another side note: Everyone, Jim is normally the super gentle gardener, lol! Last year he put up a super cute photo of a chipmunk being handfed. so hence the article I consider a "fluke", lol, lol! Jim probably didn't read far along in this article...

Thanks Jim for the info. I will probably make a pepper spray later and try that.

I really hate thinking of poisioning the chipmunks. Hey, put some peanuts out and maybe they will quit eating the roses!

If you read the article carefully it says the most humane way is to trap them and remove to another location.
The article states the dangers of using poisons. lol
Try the pepper spray and see what happens. Best of luck!

Peanuts or extra food laying around would just cause even more problems.
And you should know that you will need to spray quite often and esp after rains if you do find something that works in repelling.
If you fail in finding a effective repellent.
Maybe consider the trapping and removing approach.

shelleyh,

Please let us know what your results were in the future.
Thanks!

ShelleyH, I hope your strategy works real good! I called my Dad up about his chipmunks. He actually likes them and thinks that they are very cute! And yes, he does feed them with bird seeds too! hehe, the "Gentle Dad", lol, and he does what Zyperiris does in feeding and making the chipmunks FAT! The only thing he doesn't like is that they like to eat one particular vegetable of his which is doing terrible this year because of Kansas City's unending rains. so having the chipmunks eat that vegetable and the rains blasting away is not a fun thing. However, he says the only reason why he is trapping and removing them from his garden this year is because he thinks that their holes may be causing a lot of problems with the rain flooding into their basement. But I disagree! It's the unending rains which are causing all these problems with the flooding basement.

Also he noted another thing. Chipmunks sometimes like to eat small newborn mammals. Ever since the chipmunks went to his garden, there have been absolutely no baby bunnies and rabbits infesting his yard. He is thinking maybe the chipmunks took over and staked their claim. LOL! And his chipmunks never touch the roses, so Shelley is quite unlucky in this aspect. It's far better having chipmunks eating newborn baby rabbits than a rose! Rabbits are Kansas' roses number one enemy, lol! The only roses that rabbits won't touch are knockouts, lol! Everything else is eaten to the ground. Little wonder that you can hardly see any roses except for knockouts here! Plant a nice hybrid tea and expect to guard it with an ugly wire mesh fence, lol!

Cats. Cats are the only thing that keeps the chipsters away. I have 3 lazy, indoor/outdoor cats. Their main activities are sleeping & sleeping. I have no chipmunks in my garden (no bunnies either). One of my neighbors (two doors down) has more chipmunks than she can count.

I have lots of lil' chipmunks in my multiple rose gardens, with bunnies galore. The chipmunks are quite fun to watch, always running around with their antics...I wish I had their energy! They do not chew on any of my roses, daylilies, or iris, but they do make lots of little tunnels.

I also have a pampered cat....who only likes to chase birds. She came face to face with a chipster the other day and merely looked at it. Who knew you could have a picky cat when it came to chasing prey?

Chipmunks are without a doubt the cutest of all rodents. It is their cuteness which saves them fro being exterminated like rats, their ugly cousins.

I have a long ancient stone wall with climbing roses draped over them. I have observed a chipmunk picking a bloom off my Leverkusen, and just standing on the wall nibbling this beautiful yellow flower. Cutest thing to watch.

Soon, however, my yard became overrun with chipmunks and their tunnels. The roots of plants were beeing eaten, and I lost a spectacular ten-foot tall Ramblin' Red climber due to chomping and gnawing at the base.

The easiest, most humane, and most effective is Hav-A-Hart traps baited with Trappers' Choice Pecan Surprise (available from U-Spray). They can't resist the stuff. I caught over 30 chipmunks one summer and they all were taken for a ride.

U-Spray also sells a device that electrocutes the rodent, killing them instantly, no suffering.

We do have maybe 1 or 2 resident Chippies. I have never seen them eating my roses. That surprized me. I love the life in my garden. We also have an owl we can sometimes hear..I suspect that's why we don't have very many

You could try hardware cloth around the roses. I make 5 foot circumference cylinders wired together. Use stakes to keep in place.

I know this question is a few years old, but this morning I happened to notice a chipmunk stripping all the petals off a Bill Reid rose bush and this is one of the few specific pages I found. I also found these recommendations which seemed quite helpful, so thought I'd repost the link here: http://www.gardensalive.com/product/when-chipmunks-go-bad/you_bet_your_garden

Happy gardening and I always hope our little friends will be treated with kindness.

Actually it is coincidence that you mentioned this because I have accused the squirrels of damaging my rose but it could well be chipmunks. It targeted mostly Austins. It has stop now, I guess because there are a lot of other things to eat.

It's hard to believe, sometimes, what eats roses, until you see it with your own eyes. My double delight rose is setting buds and some are open. I couldn't figure out what was chewing rounded holes in a still developing bud, but then found the culprit a few days ago. Large black ants. Couldn't believe it. They must smell the rose and figure there is food up there.

Does anyone know how to make the pepper spray? I have been using cayenne pepper powder on my petunias, as we have groundhogs that are decimating them and also my lettuce plants. I am at wits end with them-they eat a ton. When it rains, you have to reapply it-that's the downside of the powder.

Hi Tammy, I ABSOLUTELY agree. Using a rodenticide is inhumane, but the risk of secondary poisoning is almost certain if one is used. The risk is not only for wildlife, but possibly for pets, not only when they put the dead animals in their mouths, but also if they find and consume the rodenticide, which has an attractant added. It causes the blood not to clot, which causes suffering and is often irreversibly fatal.

I had chipmunks nibble some of the flowers off my newly planted roses and I discovered something that has happened unfailingly since! They only test the flowers for a day or two when the rose is newly planted! I'm not sure why they do it (testing for palatability?), but the behaviour has passed quickly and they haven't shown any more interest.

Thank you, so much, for your kind & wise comment, Tammy Arnold!

You're welcome, other Tammy! I worked in wildlife rehab for many years, and I work with birds now, so I know all about poisons. These chippies, however, are driving me crazy! They've gotten into my garage (chewed the weather stripping) and I believe chewed a wire under the hood of my summer car as it was parked outside this winter. I'm still awaiting the mechanic's bill.

I heard that Irish Spring soap deters all kinds of critters

What about those electronic devices for repelling pests? If your garden isn't too big, one of them might be worth a try.

I don't know if this would work for voles, but apparently the mere presence of raptor birds flying around has a deterrent effect on squirrels and other rodents, causing them to alter their behavior. I think what might really be needed are weasels, though these are really vicious little creatures.
Excerpt: [In Arizona,] Phoenix erected "raptor poles" as part of a pilot program to help get rid of rodents damaging levees and dams. The idea is to use birds of prey — red-tailed hawks, barn owls and kestrels — for pest removal in flood-control areas, rather than environmentally-harmful poison.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2016/10/25/rodent-buffet-phoenix-uses-birds-prey-kill-pests/91236994/

Yes I had them eat my 2 climbers which are likely now dead forever...that was when I decided on letting my cats in the yard...between the both of them I think they caught 23 chipmunks in 1 day!!! And they’re still running a muck out there...so I’ve decided to let my cats out at the times they seem to be out and they’ve definitely made a huge difference and it’s only been 2 weeks...so if possible I suggest getting a kitty...but if you live in an area where kitty can get run over or killed by other bigger animals, then try to train it to stay in the yard and only while you’re outside...

I am against killing creatures in any way as I feel it is inhumane. We don't treat our pets that way because we know them and sense it isn't right. Study a chipmunk and you will see they also have thoughts & feelings. If we got to know them better, we'd see that each one is unique with a personality, memories, etc. One of the things that may be attracting so many chippy-doos is the surroundings. For instance, bird seed or other attractants. Definitely better and more humane to find more natural ways to deter them. Life is so much better & in tune when we walk in kindness.

I have read that the mere presence of predators causes rodents to change their behavior and stick closer to the nest. Voles (don't know about chipmunks) are vectors of Lyme disease. If they don't get out as much then the ticks don't either and their presence is reduced. A bit win for humans and other animals, such as dogs, that can come down with Lyme, a serious disease.