Chipmunks prefer seeds and berries, but in the spring, when their preferred foods are in short supply, they will gladly eat flower bulbs and young shoots. To protect your garden from chipmunks:

• Avoid planting ground cover, flowers, and trees that connect wooded areas with the flower plantings and gardens
• If you are planting bulbs, use ¼-inch wire mesh hardware cloth to exclude chipmunks from flower beds
  
  • Cover both seeds and bulbs with the mesh, then cover the mesh with soil
  • Remove the mesh only after the bulbs germinate
  • You can also cover the flower bed with wire mesh large enough for the flowers to grow through
• Repellents containing capsaicin, Bitrex, thiram, or ammonium soaps of fatty acids may be used on bulbs, seeds and foliage of plants not intended for human consumption. Multiple applications are required.
• Eliminate cover by remove all nearby brush piles, stumps, and debris.