That is great news! We have traps in the garage baited with peanut butter-every now and then we catch a vole.

Good job! I'm so glad you could save your rose. Now you will have three.
Renee

Voles are the main culprits in my garden (now that we have an 8' high deer fence). They only damage my roses during the winter when they burrow under the snow and girdle the canes and roots. I don't like to use poison because of the neighbor's cats (I'm afraid they will eat a poisoned mouse and get sick too.) Before I mound the roses I place several mothballs at the base of the rose (I collect them in a jar in the spring and use them over and over for several years). I also tuck in one or two Bounce fabric softener sheets. This combination seems to discourage most voles, but if it is a really difficult winter sometimes even that isn't enough. Anyone out there have any other ideas? It breaks my heart to find one or more roses devastated by voles in the spring when the snow melts.

If roots have been chewed back almost to the crown, they will sprout fine roots quickly because it's already root tissue--whereas cuttings have to convert from stem tissue to root tissue.

Step 1-- immediately defoliate the rootless plant to stop moisture loss. Cut back as much as you think appropriate.

Step 2-- pot up and keep in the shade until leaves appear, then gradually expose to sun.

Good work by the kitten.

Michael - thanks for the great tips. I was able to save a Prairie Joy by cutting it back to almost nothing, potting it up and pampering it all summer. It's doing well and I think I'll be able to place it back in the garden bed come spring. My other 'vole victims" didn't fare as well, alas.

Michael,

Cutting it back very severely is what I did to my Pink Garnette. The plant has this lovely new growth.

Karen, someone on the cottage garden forum said she had used a product called Plant Skydd, and it had eliminated her vole problem. This is a product that is produced from blood. (hog blood is one component.) Supposedly, the burrowing pests do not like digging where it has been used. It is a dry product that is in an ingenious package, You pull a strip off of one end of the package to reveal a netting covering it, then you turn the package upside down (a handle is built in to the opposite end) and just shake to sprinkle the product around...you never have to touch it. It isn't cheap, but usually when another gardener uses a product and says it works I tend to believe them much more than an advertiser. One big advantage of Pet Skydd is it will not harm any pet or critter. (Your neighbor's cats would be safe)

I have put out a bait station (made by vole control.) The poison is in an inverted "T" shaped station. The ends of the cross bar of the inverted "T" are open to allow voles access to the poison. The end of the vertical part of the "T" has a screw cap that you open, pour a measured amount of poison into, then re-screw the cap. You anchor the bait station with an metal stake(included) so it can't be knocked about to spill poison. This deterred (killed) the voles in my roses, but I then ordered some of the Plant Skydd and have used it too.

In truth, I also take a pitch fork and puncture any vole runs I find, followed by stomping them flat. I'm not sure I accomplish much that way, but it makes me feel better to take a more active part and I do seem to have discouraged the little devils. (Can't you imagine when the neighbors see this, they think I've lost it? "Look at that crazy woman, what is she doing now?" but that's another story.)

And once again, I thank all of you for the information you so freely share. I am a newbie at growing antique roses, but I love them.

kay

Kay, thanks for the head's up on Plant Skydd - I'll try some and see how it works!

Pocket gophers kill roses the same way in my garden. Last year they almost killed a large, established 'Leander'. I cut it back very hard and rooted cuttings. The original plant recovered. I now have a second 'Leander' growing vigorously on the back fence, and had a couple of extras to give away.

BTW, my new 'Leander' is planted in a wire root-guard cage.

Rosefolly

I just plant in cages now, too. We have so many voles and moles, I'm just more comfortable with the cages. I'm still hoping our big black snakes will come up more to the front yard! I've planted some clever cover for them here and there. Muahaha!

Good to hear about the Plant Skydd. I am dealing with rabbits and moles (I think). I have interplanted with daffodils, marigolds, lavender, and rosemary. Then i have actively poured a castor oil granule product (Molemax) down any new appearing holes and liberally in any new planting holes follwed by watering. I just started using NitroOrganic biosolids 4-3-0 fertilizer that is supposed to deter rabbits and deer (looks like it could be used similar to Plant Skydd).