If you’ve put a lot of effort into perfecting or improving your garden, you may not be too happy at the thought of wild foxes roaming around your property. Luckily, there are ways that you can prevent this from happening. Here’s how to keep foxes out of your garden in the UK.

Block access

The best way to protect your garden from foxes is to block access to your property. This can be done by installing fencing and a driveway gate, as well as checking for gaps or holes in the border of your property. Your property doesn’t need to be a fortress, but having boundaries to protect access to your garden will help to keep foxes out. Foxes are able to jump fairly high, so if you really want to keep foxes out of your garden, it’s a safe bet to invest in tall fences and gates. This can also help to keep cats and other animals out of your garden.

Tidy up your garden

Overgrown areas in your garden are attractive to foxes, as they can provide shelter. A garden that’s neatly trimmed back and well-maintained will be less appealing to foxes looking for shelter. Try to keep grass short and hedges neat, as this will mean less places for a fox to hide out in your garden. However, try not to disturb other animals who may be resting there, such as hedgehogs.

Use certain smells to deter foxes

Foxes have a very strong sense of smell and will be attracted to your garden by the smell of food or crops. In the same way that certain scents may attract foxes, they can also be used to deter them. Commercial fox repellents are a simple solution, but caution should be exercised when reading the instructions, and you should try not to harm other wildlife. A homemade fox repellent is to infuse boiling water with chilli peppers and garlic. Spray this mixture around your garden, and foxes will be less likely to pay you a visit.

Remove food sources

Foxes will often come to your garden looking for food, and will keep returning if they find it. It’s important to keep any potential food sources out of reach from foxes. This could be animals, such as chickens and rabbits, bird food, or fruit and vegetables growing in your garden. Be sure to keep outdoor animals in secure enclosures that stop your pets from escaping and prevent foxes from getting in. Place bird feed in a high place that foxes won’t be able to reach, and create secure borders around any food that you’re growing.

Keep rubbish secured

Foxes love to rummage through bins, searching for yesterday’s dinner. You can prevent this by not leaving rubbish bags out in the open, and picking up any food waste on your property. Keep any rubbish in large containers, such as your waste and recycling bins, and keep these lids closed. If foxes are still managing to get into your rubbish, consider tying the lids shut so that they can’t be accessed by wild animals. If the bin is too difficult to get into, a fox will most likely give up and look elsewhere. 

Use motion sensors

Because foxes often visit during the night, it’s difficult to scare them away yourself. So, getting your hands on some motion sensors can be a helpful way of warding off curious foxes that you don’t want in your garden. Foxes don’t like to be disturbed, so sudden noises or lights will cause them to leave. Motion sensor lights are good for startling foxes, but make sure that they don’t disturb people sleeping in your home or surrounding houses. Another option is motion sensor sprinklers, which use sudden spurts of water to startle foxes and deter them away from your garden.
If you’d like to learn more about improving your garden security, we have helpful advice in our blog post. More than anything, a driveway gate is the best solution for keeping unwanted visitors out of your property. If you’d like to learn more about choosing the right driveway gate for your property, contact us.