When Vinegar Isn't Working, Use This Bathroom Staple To Repel Rats From Your Garden

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Rodents can destroy your garden if you don't take proper measures to repel them. Sometimes, they are attracted to the compost pile, or perhaps they are just looking for shelter among discarded cornstalks. Beyond simply eating crops, garden rodents can also spread diseases. A rat could bite you as you're reaching to pluck a tomato, or they could transfer diseases to ticks and mites, which can end up on your pets and eventually spread those diseases to you or a family member. Vinegar is a popular home remedy for this problem because it irritates rats' noses. While you shouldn't spray vinegar on leaves, you can spray it around your crops. But if those incorrigible rats continue their onslaught, try Vaseline.

That's correct; Vaseline isn't just good for healing dry skin and removing makeup. The petroleum jelly product can slicken fences to keep rodents from climbing into your garden. This solution may sound a bit cartoonish, but rest assured, you won't have to rub Vaseline on any rodents — just the fence posts around your garden. This hack is affordable, easy to apply, and only requires a few minutes of work if you already have a fence around your garden. For this hack, you'll just need a container of Vaseline, which you can purchase for about $6. Perhaps the best part of this solution is that, like vinegar, it isn't harmful to animals and people like pesticides. This allows you to get rid of rats humanely while protecting yourself and your community's water supply. 

In addition, ask yourself why they're showing up in the first place. Rodents could be entering your garden because of the contents of your compost, such as meat or bones. You can also limit food sources by storing your garbage differently or moving food bowls inside.

Pest-exclusion fencing often has a mesh cover to prevent rats from getting through, like they can with regular fences that have spaced boards. But even if you have pest-exclusion fencing, you might find that rats are still getting into your garden. Rats can either burrow under this fencing or climb over it. Their tiny claws allow them to latch onto the fence and scurry their way up. You might find claw marks on your fence if this is happening. However, if you can coat the vertical wooden parts of your fence with Vaseline, it should make the surface much more slippery and harder to cling to.

You might not already have a fence. If this is the case, you can install one rather quickly and affordably. The Greenes Fence Critterguard Fence sells for about $4 a square foot. You can simply stab the segments into the ground along your garden's border. If you want something a little more permanent that deer can't step over, you can build a fence using chicken wire. You will have to dig holes, plant stakes, and nail the wire to your stakes. To prevent rodents from slipping through or climbing an existing fence, you can hang a mesh privacy screen over your fence to block them. You can also plant herbs like basil and lavender to keep rats away.

If you have any Vaseline left over after you finish this project, there are plenty of other handy ways to use it around your house. For instance, you can use it to remove water stains from your furniture and to keep ants away from your pets' food bowls.