A Delicious And Fragrant Plant That'll Keep Chipmunks Out Of Your Garden

Aromatic chives are just as helpful for your garden as they are for your cooking. These herbs make excellent companions for potato plants and add visual interest to any outdoor space they call home. Chives can also convince chipmunks to take a hike. This means fewer chipmunks taking bites out of your tomatoes, digging up your flower bulbs, and using your garden as a latrine. Other signs of chipmunk problems include stashes of seeds and collections of holes and tunnels in the soil.

Chipmunks scamper away from many plants with pungent aromas, and chives are a prime example of this effect. The wily little critters are repulsed by the scents of two types of chives – common chives, aka onion chives (Allium schoenoprasum), and garlic chives (Allium tuberosum) — as well as several related species from the Allium genus. The odors these plants give off have even been known to alter the creatures' sense of where they are. Considering how stressful this must be, it's no wonder that chipmunks don't want to spend time near them. 

Be aware that both types of chives can make cats, dogs, and some other animals sick if consumed in large quantities. Therefore, it's a good idea to keep pets away from them. Overconsumption of chives can also make some humans feel unwell, but this is unlikely to happen when chives are used as a seasoning. On a positive note, onion and garlic chives make flowers that attract pollinators and repel several types of insect pests.  Garlic chive flowers are white or yellow, while onion chive flowers are light purple.

Growing a hearty supply of chives and making sure they stay healthy can help keep chipmunks at bay. Plus, strategic placement of these plants may discourage chipmunks from exploring specific areas of your yard and garden. Chives are quite versatile, thriving in many styles of gardens and containers that can be moved to chipmunk-prone parts of your landscape. You can even plant chives in borders surrounding vulnerable flower bulbs and vegetable plants. For extra chipmunk-repelling power, grow chives with other strong-smelling plants such as lavender, mint, and marigolds. You can also run a sprinkler near your garden to make these sneaky snackers skedaddle.

Overall, chives are fuss-free plants suitable for gardening beginners. Both types of chives like well-drained soil and full sun, though they can also tolerate partially shady spots in your garden. They typically thrive in USDA hardiness zones 3 through 10, meaning they can grow almost anywhere in the United States. Chives are also good at handling environmental challenges such as droughts and high humidity. Onion chives can even tolerate the toxins black walnut trees secrete and soil that gets soggy from time to time. That said, try not to overwater your chives, as the underground parts of the plants are more susceptible to rot when their growing space is too wet.