The garden mistake that’s ‘like a neon sign inviting rats into your home’ & why a £1 supermarket buy repels them
RATS are rarely welcome in your garden and they are more likely to enter your home during the colder months as they seek shelter and food.
From traps to poison, there are numerous ways to get rid of them, but often prevention is a much better strategy than removal.
If you don’t properly deter the rodents from your property they can quickly breed and cause damage and even disease in some cases.
Experts at Storage Company Urban Locker have shared three quick and cheap ways of keeping the furry four-legged animals from your humble abode…
Pickled onions
Rats can smell food from just over a mile away so if you have overflowing bins or rubbish in your garden you may as well have a neon sign pointing at your home inviting them in.
While they have a strong sense of smell this can be used against them.
Often people will use expensive chemicals to keep rats away from their homes, but a lesser-known yet highly effective deterrent is using vinegar, specifically pickled onions.
Elizabeth Adams from Urban Locker said: “You can use expensive chemicals or you can use old rags soaked in pickled onion vinegar.
“While it sounds silly, the overpowering acidity of the vinegar in the pickled onion disrupts the rat’s ability to detect scents which makes your home and garden a no-go zone.
“You can soak old rags in pickled onion juice and place them near suspected entry points, bin areas and corners of the garden so you can discourage them from lingering in your garden.
“Your rags will need to be replaced every few days to maintain effectiveness.”
Oil deterrent
Beyond using rags you can also create your own rat-repellent spray by combining equal parts pickled onion vinegar and water in a spray bottle and spraying this at entry points to your home and near your bin areas too, this can eliminate food odours that can attract rodents.
Elizabeth added: “Other essential oils such as peppermint can deter rats, but they contain volatile organic compounds which are extremely flammable and are a fire hazard, so I would not recommend spraying them around your home.”
Rat repelling plants
Rats are a nuisance and can be difficult to get rid of but by using the pickled onion hack you can deter them, but other methods can help too, one of which is planting certain plants in your garden that rats hate.
The home expert shared: “Plants such as lavender, mint, marigolds, daffodils, rosemary, sage and several others can be planted in your garden to disrupt the smell of a rat.
“If a rat can’t smell inside of your home then it is far less likely to try.”
For best results, plant these plants along fences, around sheds, and near compost bins or generally anywhere that rodents might be tempted to settle.
Help! I have mice or rats in my garden...
WHETHER you can hear them they're scurrying around your house, or underneath your decking, there's one reason you have mice...
Fabulous’ Associate Editor, Rebecca Miller, is a gardening enthusiast. She explains why it’s not uncommon to have mice, but you should be concerned if you have rats.
“Our gardens are homes to various animals, from birds to hedgehogs to squirrels. But there’s one animal no one wants to find – mice or rats.
“Mice can be destructive, and rats are just downright scary, and send everyone into a panic.
“But mice are common all across the UK – and one or two in the garden is not cause for alarm.
“Wood mice and field mice will easily get in your home since they are small enough to squeeze in almost anywhere. However, they are more likely to shelter in garages, sheds, and outhouses because they provide easier access to the outside world.
“You’re also more likely to see mice inside during the autumn and winter months.
“As for rats, they are generally considered vermin and can spread potentially serious diseases. They tend to set up home beneath decking, in sheds or greenhouses, and compost heaps.
“Rats are mostly nocturnal so you may not see them when you’re in your garden, but there are some signs to look out for: tunnels or ‘runs’, droppings, gnawed wood, or teeth marks in crops.”