Winter losses...

19 years ago

Here in Cincinnati it hit 79 degrees yesterday so I was outside cutting grasses and cleaning up the garden beds.

I've noticed I have quite a vole problem.

Two years ago we had a declining Silver Maple taken down. Overtop of the stump area I built a raised bed with dry stack stone walls, about 24". I limited myself to smaller hosta due to the depth issue. Last year I lost several Hosta that were planted here in this bed and they seemed to just "dissapear" to the great garden in the sky. couldn't put my finger on why I lossed them.

I planted a few more Hosta, along with a few ferns I picked up on sale, added a bit more soil thinking perhaps I wasn't planting the deep enough (some sat right ontop of the old stump) and hoped for the best.

OK. So yesterday I'm cleaning out the bed and start noticing the tell tale vole hole along the edge of stone where they had neen entering the raised bed. I started feeling around in the soil near my plant markers, and came up with four Hosta completely gone without any sign they were ever there (aside from my plant marker), but I was able to recover a small piece (1-2 eyes) of my Blue Cadet with a few roots still there. I potted it up by itself and hopefully there are enough roots left for it to rebound, tho it's likely a gonner too. It had definatly been eaten on, so I know it was the voles.

There are two ferns left here, I think I planted one more fern that seems to be MIA, but how should I proceed from here? I've used Mole Max in the past to repel the little buggers from another bed I had problmes with and that seemed to work. Any other suggestions?

My first thought was to plant items here in pots. They've been attacking one of my knock-out roses that's nearby as well and that I can't pot up, but I have been thinking about moving the shrubs anyhow, but not certain.

I also thought about planting bulbs like Caladiums and Elephant Ear's here that would be removed and stored in the winter, this dosn't protect anything during the growing season.

Any note of sympathy, suggestions, or vole torture devices would be greatly appreciated.

If it ain't the deer, it's the rodents!

Shannon

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Comments (7)

playinmud
19 years ago
Hi Shannon,

I have no suggestions other than there have been plenty of posts here in the past regarding home made vole traps. Try searching for it. I seem to remember one with an upside down flower pot and poison??

And I am soooo sorry you lost your babies to those rotten little rodents! I hope you can erradicate them before they do any more damage. It doesn't seem fair does it.

Donna :o(
lynnem
19 years ago
I suppose a cat is out of the question??
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roadtrip
Original Author
19 years ago
I don't know about poison as there are neighborhood dogs and cats around and I'd be afraid one of them would either get ahold of the poison or a vole that had injested poison. We do have strays around and the neighbor has a cat that is an indoor/outdoor fella.

I seem to have the problem in the winter when there is ample cover for them to do their work. Perhaps in addition to traps & repellent I should be better at keeping the beds free of clutter/cover.

Thanks for the words of condolences.
highjack
19 years ago
Planting in pots or making cages for your plants will keep the voles out. Sorry for your losses.
mary52zn8tx
19 years ago
I lost forty in the winter of 05. I know how sad it is to have to start over. I ended up potting my whole collection, and so far this spring, things are looking up. You have my heartfelt condolences.
Mary
hostanana
19 years ago
This may be helpful-it has been used for about 3 years now.
VOLE DETERRENT
This recipe comes from NEHS member Shirley Davis of R&S Hostas in Brooklyn (near Danielson), CT. She has used it for several years with good results, and has allowed me to share it with NEHS members . (And now the Hosta Forum)
Castor Oil Recipe. It is: 4 ounces of Castor Oil, l cup of a cheap dishwashing liquid, and 1/2 cup of
human urine. Put it all into a large jar, shake the devil out of it to form a creamy emulsion, then place the whole thing into a hose end sprayer and dial up 1 TBSP. per gallon (I actually use the 4 tsp. measure as I figure a little extra won't hurt but don't want to waste it) and then drench the ground around my lilies and whatever hosta I want to protect. I can't stress how important it is to do this atleast four times a year as once just won't cut it. I do my final drench in October after I have put everything to bed for the winter. I leave the emulsion in the sprayer all the time so it is easy to attach it and spray without any preparations. It also holds well over the winter,so just mark the sprayer Castor
Oil and keep it handy. So far, my lilies are still thriving, and the hosta I have sprayed when I see any
sign of vole damage are still living. We do have voles for I have seen signs of them, but we do not have a major infestation so far.
Remember, at least four times a year, spring, summer and fall. Drench the ground until you can smell the soap aroma and see the sudsiness forming. It will leach into the ground gradually and the rains will pull it down also, but you want the stuff to go to a depth of a foot or so, that is the reason for the multiple spray times. The voles don't like to get the Castor Oil on their fur and so
move to another spot. I can't guarantee that you will
never suffer any losses at all, but it sure will diminish the losses by quite a bit.
wildflower59
19 years ago
Had this happen to me several years ago and lost over 10 mature hosta. I was devastated. After much research, and trying several methods, I chose to plant in pots. I have also used cages but found that pots work as well as anything. I have now gotten use to planting in pots and the fun thing is that as they get bigger and you want to change their location....just pick up pot and go! Musical plants and change in scenery. Also, this method is great for dividing for trades or sales. Oh, I use the black nursery pots and just so you know ( i did plant them even with the ground only to have those (*&(^( critters go right in the top) so now i leave them elevated with the rim.
good luck
wild