Yard and Garden Snake Repellent Tips

 Not all snakes are poisonous but if you are not a snake expert then it’s a good idea to take steps to repel the snakes from your yard and garden.  Here are some solutions that I have tried and found all of them to be effective snake-repellent

Copperhead snake Public Domain 

 

My home resides directly next to a densely wooded area and this area has its share of copperheads, garden snakes, and other snakes.  All of these snakes assumed that my yard was their habitat. Since my home is too close to a wooded area I knew I needed to take steps to keep my yard snake free.

My side yard heavily wooded with dense brush

 

If you live close to a park or a wooded area then I recommend that you take steps to make your yard and gardens unappealing to snakes before March.  Snakes typically come out of brumation (Brumation is specific to reptiles and amphibians where they sleep deeply during the cold season) in March or April depending on the weather.  If your temperature is an average of 60 degrees then snakes will be out and about.  The snakes in my area are most active from May through October.  

The best way to repel snakes from your yard and garden is to make it unwelcoming and uncomfortable. 

The first thing that we did was clean up the clutter.   We removed the down trees that were in the side yard and moved the firewood, logs away from the house.  Stacked logs provide snakes a safe place to hide. 

Firewood provides hiding places for snakes 

 

The leaf debris in the side yard that was on the limestone rocks was blown off and the rocks then we bought pea gravel from Lowes and added this rock to this area.  Snakes don’t like crossing rock so the smaller rock created a barrier for us to keep the snakes in the woods and out of our yard.  

Another way to keep your yard snake-free is to clear all brush and avoid growing dense gardens like daylilies or irises grown in masses. A manicured garden with good airflow between plants rather than dense vegetation is a great way to eliminate places for snakes to hide.

 

My Iris garden with lilies growing behind. too dense needed to thin out 

Because snakes eat small animals like mice, lizards, and birds you would want to remove your bird feeders as they are attracting the snakes to your yard. 

The best way to keep snakes out of your yard is to install a fence that the snake cannot penetrate.  An aluminum or a metal mesh would be best.  They are strong enough to keep the snakes out of your yard. It's like chicken wire, but stronger with a small opening.   It's best to install the fence so that it's 30 inches above the soil line to prevent the snake from climbing over.  Higher than 30 inches would be better.  

You also want to dig a ditch in the soil to put the bottom of the fence into the ditch then add quick-drying cement to secure the bottom of the fence in the ditch.  By cementing the bottom of the fence, you will prevent the snake from getting into your yard from the soil line.  

Keep the snakes out of your yard with natural cedarwood, clove, and cinnamon bark or oil.  A few years ago, I had a snake in my garden and put down highly aromatic natural cedar mulch and the snakes left my yard and garden.   

Cedarwood has a strong smell that snakes dislike

 

Here is a snake repellent product that I found online at Amazon Exterminators Choice - Snake Defense Spray - Non-Toxic Repellent for Pest Control - Repels Most Common Type Snakes - Safe for Kids and Pets - Cinnamon Scented 

Fertilizing Spring Bulb Flowers

 Spring will be a glorious season with many flower blooms provided you fertilize.  Fertilization will make sure that the flowers grow strong and thrive in your gardens. 

 

AI created by Sgolis / spring gardening 

My spring bulbs are established in my garden with no new plantings in the fall.  However, I always fertilize in the fall after the flower beds are cut back to the soil line and all weeds are removed from the bed.  I will fertilize with bonemeal. And apply it to the soil where I have planted my spring bulbs. I will top the fertilizer with a layer of soil and water. Then before winter comes I will add a layer of mulch.

 

Then in the spring when I remove the winter season debris and any remaining leaves, and mulch/ If I see that the spring bulbs have broken the soil line I will give the flowers a spring growing boost by fertilizing them with bonemeal topped with soil and replace the mulch around the spring bulb stems to help retain hydration and to prevent weed growth. 

 

Care for your spring flowers by letting the foliage die back naturally.  Do not prune the leaves as the leaves are a way for the plant to replenish energy and nutrients for next spring's blooming season.

 

I use Espoma Organic Bone Meal Fertilizer 4-12-0. An All-Natural Plant Food Source of Nitrogen and Phosphorus and I bought it at Amazon.  bone meal is a slow-release fertilizer that takes 4-6 weeks to start working so apply it as soon as you see new spring growth in early winter so the mid-spring blooms will be beautiful. 

Mid-Season Flower Bed Clean Up

Today the temperature was warm and since the snow had melted my husband and I took advantage of the weather and worked to clean up the yard and gardens.   Normally our flower bed clean-up begins in March but this year we got a break in the weather and were able to get many garden chores accomplished.

In the fall we had removed the leaves and sticks from the lawn and gardens but since then the leaves from our maple tree finally fell and the yard and gardens were covered again.

  My husband raked all of the backyard gardens and to our surprise, we saw that the spring flower had broken the soil line.   I am so thankful that we were able to rake and remove the leaves because now the flowers will be able to get sun and better hydration when it rains.

Snowdrops and crocus are blooming and soon the daffodils and tulips will emerge.  I felt excitement when I saw all the greenery in the garden when we removed the leaves.  Spring is coming soon.

We had some topsoil in the shed so I added that to the gardens to fill where there was runoff.  And I took note as to where I will need to add mulch.  Tomorrow we will be pruning the dead branches and plan to remove any weed growth in the garden beds.   After weeds are removed I will fertilize.