How do I keep animals out of my outside pot plants?

Hi Sue, chicken wire cut and placed around the base of the plants and then covered with soil will stop critters from digging.

Cayenne pepper, Chili powder. May need to reapply.

chicken wire either on top of dirt for plants to grow up/thru it or cut pieces to go around base of plants in pots.

Thanks for answering...it's been a battle keeping the squirrel's from digging in the pots and throwing the plant out.. I tried foil and paper plates but they only play with them. Will try this as soon as I put them out for the summer. Some of my plants are really old and I don't want to lose them..like over 25 yrs. Have a blessed day.

My grandmother is a firm believer in grated Irish Spring soap in her flower beds to keep deer and rabbits away.

Mothballs

Use some essential oils on a cotton ball or use those cedar pieces of wood for closets & drawers. Had some old ones that didn't smell any more, soaked them in a (Carrier) oil like (coconut, olive, cooking oil) nothing real expensive. Wal-Mart sells a really good essential oils (Gurunanda) not real expensive. Citionella,Geranium or the best so far, but any type of strong citrus flavor lemon,lime,orange,grapefruit. (1tsp) of carrier oil & (1drop) of essential oil. Shake essential oil before use, mix the 2 oils together (stir or shake) according to what it was put in. Let sit for 5mins shake an use. Put a drop or 2 on a cotton ball or wood chunks. Place on top of plant dirt, water beads off when watering. Going to try popcicle sticks & Bamboo skews this year, soaking the ends of sticks in mixture. You can also wipe the rim of pot with mixture. This really works, have 5 animals (2) indoor porch cats, (3) dogs different age range. They have all been trained by this method, (1) sniff they sneeze & give dirty look to plant. Few days later attempt to try again, they don't have to get as close to catch a sniff and it stops there, until they decide check it again just to see. According to animal how long & how much smell you think you need. If you make a larger mixture to keep on hand, store in a dark colored glass out direct light in cool place. Cabinet is good. Added some essential Cedar Wood oil & Carrier oil to some of the old cedar chunks and refurbish them.

By the way those same oils will help keep bugs away when sitting on porch.

River rocks. They are too heavy for them to move. Easy, quick, cheap and non toxic.

We put mulch over the top of the pots and we add some pepper flakes.