If you’ve tried everything you can to keep foxes and squirrels off your lawn and you’re fresh out of ideas, there’s one common kitchen ingredient you can turn to according to garden experts - chilli powder. The spicy orange mixture is a repellent for all manner of animal pests that would do harm to your perfectly maintained lawn. 

The main thing is that you need to watch the amount you use, and be sure to dilute it in water so as not to inadvertently kill off the good things in the ground like worms. According to HowtoCook, you can use chilli in water then spray it directly onto the lawn, as long as you don’t have dogs or cats that use the space as it can be an irritant to pets if used in large quantities.

It says: “If you want to use chilli powder to keep away critters, it’s a good idea not to use too much, but that’s just because you don’t want to kill the worms. Worms are actually good for your grass! Dilute the chilli powder by putting a couple of tablespoons into a gallon of water, then spray it on your lawn. 

“Just be sure to keep your pets away from the grass wherever you’ve sprayed, or else they’ll get a nasty, painful surprise when they start sniffing around.”

The other use for chilli powder is for bird tables. Birds need feeding all year round, and even in the peak of summer like June, they are busy searching for food for their young.

A key problem for birds is that squirrels often come along and pinch birds’ feed, including seeds left out for them. 

This is a big issue as invasive grey squirrels are not short of food or facing any population challenges - if anything, we’ve got too many of them - but birds are facing population declines in many species due to climate change and lack of food. 

That’s why you can sprinkle chilli powder onto your bird food. Birds can’t taste the spice, but squirrels hate it and will leave it all for the birds.