Shirley: I feel your pain and extend my deepest sympathy. I also have lots of squirrels, and as I've said before on this forum, the only way I've found to keep them out of my gardens is to feed them. Yes, I have already put out containers of nuts along the fence - we usually have unshelled mixed nuts left over after Christmas - and they have left my containers alone. When we first arrived here, they used to come up on the back porch to our back door. Now they don't even come near the deck. Hope your new approach is successful.

A couple of years ago I winter sowed Carpathian Harebells. Later that summer, after the plants had grown into nice clumps, I noticed in one clump one little plant that had gold leaves with green specks. So I dug up the clump and very carefully removed that one little unique plant and potted it up by itself and set it with my other potted plants to grow on its own. The next morning I found the dirt from the pot scattered all over, and my special find chewed up on the ground. I was so angry! I have no idea what got into the pot, but all I could think of was, with all of the other plants around in pots that could have been easily replaced, why did this %$@# creature have to destroy this little campanula? When I think about it, it still makes me mad to this day.

Karen

Damn squirrels - I summer sowed quite a few things last August/Sept. and the squirrels got a few of the containers - no heliopsis or parsley for me this Spring. Grr. I'm sorry they got to you too! :(

Northerner - my neighbor feeds these squirrels, and when she forgets to, they come to my house. I wish I knew her well enough to tell her to QUIT IT!!
Karen - it seems strange to get angry at a dumb animal, but when I saw those pots today, I was furious! And if they don't sprout, I'm going to remember it forever!
Shady - Double damn these squirrels!
Shirley

I've been using pepper and cinnamon. This has been working. They were digging out my aluminun trays like crazy.

I have a neighbor who feeds the squirrels peanuts. She just dumps a bag of them in the driveway each day, and the critters take them and spread out throughout the block area to hide them. We have found peanuts in flower beds, tucked up under siding, in container pots, on the back porch, in the gutters. Ugh!

When I plant my seeds in pots I know they are vulnerable to the digging, so I try to group them together and then put a flat tray, upside down, on top of the batch. The pots still get warmed by the sun for germination, the rain can get through, the seedlings have room to grow, but the squirrels cannot get into them. When I direct sow into larger containers, especially bulbs that could be eaten, I put a circle of chicken wire on the top and hold it down with landscape pins. The foliage can grow through until it's large enough to remove the wire, if at all.

here's a tip:

Get an old laundry basket, or milk crate.
Put it over your containers, and put a big rock on top.

Good Morning, Everyone! Thanks for all the helpful hints-I'm sure I'l be using them!
I had a neighbor, lived in the other half of this duplex, she used to sit on the back porch with a bag of peanuts and feed the squirrels-she thought it was so cute-I wanted to scream-I am still finding peanuts buried everywhere! She also fed all the stray cats in Monroe!
Different strokes for different folks, I guess!
Have a great day!
Shirley!