It’s no secret that mice are pests that will come and take food from you. Many people deal with mice getting inside of their homes when they’re looking for food and shelter.
You might also have to worry about mice in your garden, though. Some people wind up having field mice feast on their crops and this can be rather frustrating.
Even if you understand the basics about how to get rid of mice, it’s possible that you might not have tried to get rid of them in an outdoor environment before. It’s also likely that you’ll want to use natural things to get rid of the mice due to not wanting to harm the plants in your garden.
Read on to learn about the various ways that you can get rid of mice in your garden naturally. Once you know what your options are, it’ll be simpler to form a plan of attack.
1 – Keep Access to Food and Water Sources Limited
While it’s likely that the mice are eating the food in your garden, it’s still going to be important to try to limit food and water access. Basically, if the mice have lots of different food sources and water sources around, they’re going to keep hanging out in the area.
Do your best to sweep your yard looking for water sources to try to get rid of them. There might be more spots where water has pooled up than you knew about.
You might also need to do a better job of keeping your yard clean. Many people have bushes and trees that drop nuts, seeds, and berries that mice will like to feast on.
If you go around cleaning these up instead of just leaving them on the ground, then that will reduce the amount of food in your yard. You could even consider not growing certain things any longer if they seem to be attracting mice.
As long as you’re paying attention and trying to keep your yard tidy, it’ll help to make the yard a bit less appealing to the mice. Keeping the lawn short is going to make a difference because the mice won’t have convenient spots to hide.
You should also try to pick up woodpiles and other things like that so mice won’t have the ability to hide from predators. Make your yard less convenient for the mice by doing the yard work that needs to be done.
2 – Avoid Using Certain Types of Mulch
You’re almost certainly going to want to use mulch in your garden. Mulch is great and it can help your plants out in many different ways.
When you’re choosing which type of mulch to use, it’s going to be imperative to avoid certain types. Some types of mulch are going to be more attractive to the mice in the area than others.
For instance, mice will be able to utilize hay, straw, and any other types of mulch that are too light. They’ll be able to grab these materials and use them to start building nests.
If you want to keep the area free of mice, then you should use heavier mulch types. The mice won’t like the heavier mulch and they’ll be less likely to easily find materials for their nests.
You should try not to mulch heavily when you’re concerned about mice either. Just use as much mulch as is necessary to get the job done.
Avoid placing mulch around trees as well. You want to make the garden area less convenient for the mice.
3 – Ensure That Your Home Is Sealed Off
Even though this article is about getting rid of mice in your garden, it’s also going to be important to keep your home sealed off. If mice can get inside of your home, then they can continue to go in and out looking for food in both places.
You should go around your house and try to find holes or cracks where mice might be able to enter. Mice can get into small holes and cracks easier than you might realize.
It’s smart to close up any of these holes to keep your home mouse-free. This will involve a little bit of work, but it’s going to be worth your time and effort.
Cut the mice off and don’t let them get inside your house. Try to keep this fight with the local mice in your garden area so that they won’t be able to access the food and water inside your home.
4 – Set Traps
The most common way that people deal with mice in the garden is by setting traps. You probably know about the standard mouse trap designs that exist, and they’re going to be capable of working out in the garden as well.
All you need to do is choose a type of bait that will work to entice the mouse to come to check it out. The mouse goes for the bait and then either gets caught by the trap or gets killed by it.
A standard mouse trap is designed to trip a spring that will bring a hunk of metal down very fast to kill mice. These traps are probably more commonly used indoors, but you could use this outdoors if you wanted to.
Many people will choose to go with the humane traps, but you’ll be presented with a problem if you catch a mouse alive. You’ll have to figure out what you’re going to do with it.
If you catch a mouse alive, then you can’t simply release it back into the yard because that will have done nothing for you. You’d at the very least need to drive it to a woodland area far away from your house.
This is probably not the most practical idea since you might be dealing with many different mice. This is why you might choose to try to kill the mice since it’ll be easier overall.
You could be worried about using spring traps for certain reasons, though. Spring traps do have the potential to harm other animals since they could come by and spring the traps.
Even if a spring trap that is used for mice wouldn’t kill a cat or a dog, it could still hurt them. Small animals such as chipmunks and squirrels could also get hurt by the traps.
There are people who choose to use poison that is designed to kill mice. This can be dangerous as well since you don’t want pets or children to eat the poison.
Overall, the simple snap trap design mouse traps are probably the best to use. They kill the mice but they won’t be likely to kill many other animals.
Set the traps in spots where mice would be likely to go. You don’t want to set the traps out in the open where your pets or your neighbor’s pets are going to be walking.
Hopefully, you’ll be able to kill the mice that have been messing around in your garden. This usually works out really well and it’s good to know that these standard traps are very inexpensive.
5 – Ultrasonic Repellent Devices
Another option that is well worth considering is using an ultrasonic repellent device. There are devices on the market that emit sounds that mice won’t like.
You can place an ultrasonic repellent device in your garden and have it constantly emit these sounds that cannot be heard by humans. They will likely bother other animals in the area, but it shouldn’t be a big deal if you don’t let your pets play in your garden.
These devices are designed to repel mice and make them want to go find some other place to be. If you place ultrasonic repellent devices on your property, then you should have far fewer problems with mice overall.
This is great because you can also use devices like this to keep other animals away. You’ll be able to keep stray cats from pooping in your mulch and rabbits from trying to eat your crops.
You’ll find that these ultrasonic repellent devices are inexpensive as well. They don’t cost too much money and you’ll be able to afford them in all likelihood.
It’s nice that these devices are made to be conveniently used outdoors, too. Most of the popular models are solar-powered, and you can just stake them right into the ground.
The device will stay powered so long as it gets enough sunlight each day. You can just place the device and let it scare the mice away from the area.
6 – Plants That Repel Mice
Did you know that there are even some plants that can help you to repel mice? You can actually have good luck repelling mice if you decide to plant certain things in your garden area.
Many people will plant these things in an effort to keep mice from trying to eat the other plants. The plants that mice don’t seem to like are particularly fragrant and they just can’t tolerate the powerful scents that these plants emit.
Try planting garlic in your garden if you want mice to stay away. You could also try planting onion plants, pennyroyal, and mint if you want to keep mice from coming around.
It might be a good idea to consider planting some of these plants near your home as well. You don’t want mice entering your home either, and the plants might make them want to go bother someone else instead of sticking around your property.
Most of the plants that repel mice are pretty easy to care for as well. Overall, this is an idea that is well worth your time since it won’t cost a lot of cash and it’s a good natural way to repel mice.
7 – Consider Getting a Cat
If you want to kill the mice, then you could try to get a cat to do the job for you. Cats love chasing mice and they will certainly kill the mice that they catch in most instances.
Those who have cats that like to roam outdoors from time to time will have to worry less about mice in their gardens. Your cat will be able to roam the property and look for mice.
Cats are really good at killing small rodents such as mice. This could be a solid solution to your pest problem that will keep your garden safe for many years to come.
The only issue is that many people don’t like letting their cats outside. This does indeed expose your cat to certain dangers, and the cat could also catch diseases if it happens to eat the mice that it catches.
Whether this is a good idea is for you to decide. Farmers have been using cats to hunt mice for years, but whether it’s practical in your situation will depend on various factors.
8 – Spray Ammonium-Based Repellents in Your Yard
Ammonium-based mouse repellent sprays have become very popular, too. You could go out and buy a commercial mouse repellent spray if you’d like to, but it’s also possible to just spray ammonia in your yard yourself.
If you spray ammonia in certain locations, then it could help to keep mice from coming near your garden. This is a pretty simple way to try to repel mice that can work wonderfully.
You’ll have to spray ammonia fairly often to keep getting consistent results, though. When it rains, you’re going to need to spray things again.
Some of the commercial sprays on the market will last longer than others. You’ll just want to make sure that you’re buying something that is safe to use around plants.
This is another option that makes it easy to keep mice off of your property. If your goal is to repel mice instead of killing them, then this is one thing that you need to look into.
Final Thoughts
Do your best to use the tips above to get rid of mice in your garden. All of these options are natural and safe to use in the garden so that you won’t harm your plants.
You will need to be careful when buying ammonium-based repellents to ensure that they don’t contain certain chemicals, though. Regardless, you have many things that you can do to repel mice or kill them now.
Make the best choices for your home and you’ll be able to solve this issue promptly. So long as you’re proactive, it’s going to be possible to get rid of the mice that have been bothering you.
Growing up with a mom who filled her home (inside and out) with all sorts of plants, Lisa got her start in gardening at a young age. Living now on her own with a home and yard full of plants (including an indoor greenhouse), she shares all the gardening tips she’s gained over the years.