You Can Design Your Garden to Repel Snakes
Snakes often help control pests like mice in our gardens, but you probably don’t like the idea of encountering a venomous snake in your yard while weeding either. As a general rule, we prefer them to help from a distance , which we can encourage with what we plant and how we maintain the space so it doesn’t have extra places for them to hide and scare them both away from their food sources. Here’s what you can do to make your garden less snake friendly.
Add to these plants that snakes don’t like to sniff
Snakes sniff with their tongue through an organ called Jacobsen’s organ, which allows them to test outside environmental molecules, so they tend to be more sensitive to the smells of certain plants than we mammals are. This means that strong smelling plants can help keep snakes out of your garden. Some good options include:
- Herbs, especially lavender and related species
- Yucca
- Marigold
- Mother-in-law language
- Onions such as onions and garlic
If you’re looking for more ornamental varieties, lemongrass and mugwort will also help repel snakes.
Do not create an environment in which snakes can hide.
Another thing to consider when you are trying to repel snakes is the environment your garden creates. If you live in an area where snakes (especially venomous ones) can be a problem, you should avoid creating an environment in which they may want to hide. Keep the area clear of debris, low shrubs; in particular, heaps of rocks and heaps of bushes on top of rocks provide a warm refuge for these cold-blooded reptiles.
Plants that attract snakes are low creepers and shrubs, as well as creepers such as morning glory , creeping thyme , and clover . While some of these plants are popular for gardening, it would be a good idea to keep their numbers to a minimum in climates where rattlesnakes or copperheads are common.
Avoid attracting snake prey
Another thing to consider when planting to avoid snakes is their main food source. Since rodents such as mice and rats also like low ground cover, keeping it to a minimum will keep the snake food source out of the yard and make it less of an attractive hunting ground. Tall grass, corn stalks, and seed heads such as sunflowers attract mice and chipmunks and provide a food source for snakes.
If you have some of these plants in your garden, keep the area around them clear of soil so that the snakes don’t have a good place to hunt. Mice are also not fans of onion , mint , sage , and lavender , and neither are snakes, so they are great for repelling snakes because they are a two-to-one deterrent.
Be aware that snakes can sometimes appear anyway
Common species that are food for snakes include mice, chipmunks, slugs, grasshoppers, and occasionally birds. This means they will be attracted to a healthy garden almost no matter what you do to keep them away. Keeping sights to a minimum will reduce their numbers and make your yard less attractive to them than other denser hunting grounds. But until the snakes settle in, it’s not so bad if they wander into the garden to eat.
If you find a snake that you cannot identify, avoid it. For the most part, snakes aren’t interested in humans because we’re too big to eat them, but it’s best not to risk it. However, the occasional visitation of a snake should not be a cause for concern, unless it is a venomous snake that wants to move in.