Rats tend to become a big problem in autumn as they enter gardens looking for somewhere warm to burrow such as sheds or compost heaps, but there is a simple way to deter them.

Rodents are likely to stay in a garden where they have access to food, which means they often steal fallen fruit from trees, nibble on plants or even eat away at your crop harvest. 

It can be devastating spending all year caring for your garden only for it to be destroyed by hungry rats, but it turns out there is a simple way to keep these pests away naturally.

Juanita Schulze, a gardening expert from Davids Garden Seeds, said that the best way to stop rats entering your garden is either growing garlic or turning it into a homemade repellent spray. 

She explained: “Rodents hate the strong smell of garlic. Garlic does not come from seeds, but get some garlic bulbs and plant those in your garden to keep rodents away.” 

It may seem strange, but rats rely on their sense of smell for survival as it helps them search for food and sniff out predators. 

Garlic has an overpowering scent that marks other smells in the garden and rats will find the area disorienting as they will not be able to detect food or danger nearby. 

What makes it such a great repellant is that garlic also contains sulfur compounds which rats have will naturally avoid as they associate the smell with toxic substances that they believe could be harmful. 

Plant garlic near borders in your garden or near openings in fences to create a natural barrier that rats will not want to cross. 

It is also a good idea to plant plenty of garlic alongside any root crops growing in your garden such as carrots or potatoes as it can stop rats from trying to dig them up.

However, if you do not want autumn growing more plants then you can also turn garlic into a spray that will also keep rats away.

Juanita said: “Another garlic tip is to chop garlic finely and boil in water. Then strain the garlic pieces out and put the garlic water in a spray bottle. 

“Spray the bottoms of your plants to keep the rodents away. Spread chopped garlic around the outside of your garden.”

You will need to reapply the garlic homemade repellent every few days or after it has rained to keep the scents around your garden. 

This is an easy and quick way to prevent rats from becoming an infestation this autumn without having to use chemicals, but you can also try planting strongly scented herbs or using essential oils as they are also known to keep rats away.