The Curious Case of the Chipmunk Gardener

Chipmunk Planted Sunflowers Sprouting

Chipmunks live in burrows. They seem to build them in places where the underground chambers will be protected by a water impermeable surface like a porch or a concrete sidewalk.

They store seeds and nuts in their burrow, but they also bury them in hiding spots close to the surface of the ground. The seeds will frequently sprout in the spring. Chipmunks will also eat plant roots and bulbs--thwarting many gardeners' plans. Do the chipmunks plant seeds to eat the roots later?

Squirrels have similar patterns of behavior. They carry seeds and nuts to caches in trees or other dry places, but they also bury them, either to collect later, or possibly so the plants will grow and they'll have more nuts and seeds to consume in the late summer or fall.

The gardening behavior of these animals is probably more improvisational than planned. It provides a pretty good model, though, and parallels what Masanobu Fukuoka did when he packed seeds into dirt-balls and threw them around his gardens.

Nature is a better gardener than any human. This is apparent during the spring when wildflowers are blooming all over the woods. The flowers grow in clusters all over the forest floor and bloom in succession throughout the growing season. Fukuoka's method sort of mimics nature or the chipmunk's way. It creates conditions for growth, but is ultimately opportunistic: the plants that grow are the ones that will do the best in the environment they were chucked into.

Compare that approach to the gardener or farmer that attempts to realize his simplistic symbol based plan--clear the land, stick particular seeds in a particular place at a particular time--and attempt to husband them through until the harvest. That approach is fraught with peril and prone to failure and requires significant expenditure of energy and worry.