I thought moles were under ground and voles were like mice?

Voles also tunnel…they love roots.

tj

I like to employ trained professionals* for this sort of job. For voles, it would be hawks, owls, and maybe the occasional fox. I believe the hawks can find voles hiding in perennials, but mulch is a problem. So I haven't mulched in 15 years. Bare ground gets covered with a living mulch. With this approach, I have very little vole damage during the summer, and lose about a plant a year during the winter when they can tunnel through the snow. Last year's victim was a spreading rose, so they could only get about half of it. I'm still upset that they completely exterminated one of my favorite Siberian iris a few years ago, and puzzled about the year they took out a geranium. Who eats geraniums?

Seriously consider mowing down the garden this fall. It isn't something I can really do because I have too many shrubs mixed in.

*My cat barely makes it up to amateur on a good day.

LOL, my cat is an indoor cat but I don't think she'd be very helpful anyway!

I'm actually surprised that this year of all years is when I'm having problems, as there seems to be an increased number of hawks this year. Too bad I can't train a hawk lol.

MG, what kind of "living mulch" do you use. Are you referring to a groundcover? Because that was one of the things "they" say to get rid of as well, so I'm curious as to what you are referring to specifically. Thanks!

:)

Dee

i catch voles with mousetraps baited with peanut butter. i put them in small boxes so i won’t find a robin as i recall floral once did!

'Scorched earth' is the ideal, but not practical. I don't have trouble in the pachysandra beds, or the liriope beds, or anywhere there are growing plants. It may just be coincidence, but where I have the most trouble are places where I haven't cleared out dead material before winter. I still leave the ornamental grasses, but most things have to go in the fall.

BTW, the problem with mousetraps is that they only work on animals the same size and shape as house mice. Other things they can injure, but not kill. Since I have at least 2 species of mice, voles, chipmunks, squirrels, and who knows what else running around, snap traps are not something I use.

Yeah, I can't do traps. I don't think it would be practical in my area - kind of like swatting flies at the dump lol. There's always more!

Well, I'm getting the sinking feeling there's not much I can do other than try the castor oil. Trapping isn't feasible, I can't control the predator population, I can't not mulch (that was very evident after this year's heat and drought), and I just can't dig up my entire garden to replant everything in chicken wire (nor do I want to deal with that stuff!)

I guess I'll try the castor oil, and perhaps when I plant I'll try mixing in oyster shells. Perhaps that roughness will deter the little critters. I'll have to do a better job of cleaning up this fall too, although my usual procedure is to put down shredded leaf mulch after the ground freezes. A different mulch might be better but the leaf mulch is free lol.

Thanks everyone!

:)

Dee

You can wait to mulch until after ground freeze.

No mulch this fall. It doesn't matter when you put it down since they are after dinner, not a home. If we get snow cover, you can see the runs when the snow melts, and snow certainly doesn't come down until it is frozen.

The last time I mulched, it was in the fall with chopped leaves. Never again. It is inviting voles for dinner. I've piled the leaves with the idea that I'll spread them as mulch in the spring, but that never seems to happen.

LOL kitasei that's exactly what I said - I mulch after the ground freezes. Usually December but the last few years it's getting later, into January. I also wait to put down the mulch that late to deter moles and other critters.

I've been mulching with shredded leaves for 25 years, and this is the first time I've had a serious vole problem. It all seems to be a balancing act - mulch to conserve, feed, and protect the soil? Or not mulch to deter voles?

Actually, MG, it's funny you mention about piling the leaves. That's exactly what I did this past year, not on purpose but because I just didn't get around to it in the fall. This spring it was like the mole hotel lol. I had mole tunnels everywhere and I figured it was that nice big cozy pile of leaves, since all the activity was in the pile's vicinity. I also saw runs but didn't realize at the time it was voles - thought it was moles as well. So now I'm not sure which is worse - the leaves spread out on the beds, or the big pile (and I do mean big lol). Ah well, guess I have to decide which course to take....

:)

Dee

Fedco recommends planting garlic and daffodils to prevent vole damage. I tend to plant alliums.

There have been a lot of discussions in the Hosta Forum on getting rid of voles. Hope that link helps.

Thanks guys. IDK... maybe I'll try some alliums or daffs in the beds. It seems like that would only deter voles in the immediate area (like a foot around the bulbs). It's so discouraging. And even if I wait till spring to mulch, I have to either have the shredded leaves outdoors in piles, which invites too many critters, or in my garage in bags, and the mice and voles will find them there.

I'm looking into spin-out bags - still trying to figure out exactly what they are and how expensive they are.

:)

Dee

I've read an article about a gardener who grew a lot of garlic in their perennial beds and had good luck against voles. And more daffs...who doesn't love that?! [g] 'Music' was the variety she used in her garden, I bought some of that and they are more attractive than the usual garlic.

I don’t want to be a negative nancy but i have daffs and multiple types of allium all over and I don’t think it had deterred voles, moles or mice at all. Maybe if you have a very small yard?

Yeah, oursteelers, I think that's my problem. My yard is almost an acre, most yards in the neighborhood are about half to a full acre, and there are lots of fields and woods, so there's always going to be voles. I just wish they would stay in the woods and eat all the invasives there lol.

:)

Dee

Yes Dee your property sounds a lot like mine! The only thing thats helps to ”contain” our problem is the gopher hawk and the cats-they are amazing hunters….but then I have to worry about them so it’s always something!

It IS always something lol! My cat is an indoor cat but my neighbor has wayyyy too many cats (beautiful calicos but she really needs to get them neutered!). But apparently they are not very good hunters lol. They're always in my yard and I hope they catch some voles but alas, I think they're vegetarians. I just saw one yesterday eating one of my plants...

:)

Dee

Dee, I've lived in my house for 13 years. Never had problems with voles until two years ago when I started mulching. I took my daughter's two cats. We only let them out after dark and they come in before light. This has helped a lot. The other thing I found that has helped, but not eliminated them is planting chives, lavender, and salvias around the plants I am trying to protect. They seem to have an aversion to aromatic plants.

My voles seem to have a penchant for my favorite phlox. David and Flame Purple. I didn't protect them and I lost several this year alone. So, I will be transplanting the lavender and chives around those areas this fall.

"...Never had problems with voles until two years ago when I started mulching..."

See, wow, this is what I don't get - I've always mulched, and I've always mulched with shredded leaves - I had about 50 trees on my lot when I moved in and still have a good 40, so I certainly have the leaves! So for 27 years I've mulched, fall and spring, and never really had an issue. Then two seasons ago I lost a rose in one bed, which HAD had some MOLE activity in previous years, but no previous vole damage, and then this spring I lost two hostas. It's just odd to me that after all those years now I'm having issues. I'm hoping maybe it's just an isolated incident or two - I mean, after all, three plants in almost 30 years isn't bad - and that it's not a growing issue.

I think any planting I do this fall, I will throw in crushed oyster shells again, and lay on the mole max pretty heavily (although I'm still trying to figure out how that helps underground - maybe I'll mix it in when planting??) and then perhaps try planting aromatic plants in spring - although I have a lot of shade so I'm not sure what I can plant. Guess that will be my winter project!

Thanks!

:)

Dee

My first reaction to your title was hysterical laughter.

I have tried solar ground vibrators, traps, castor oil, urine, etc etc., but 1/4” wire or plastic mesh barriers around their favorite plants that go at least 1” above and 6” below the ground is the only thing I have found that works. They don’t eat some plants like daffodils, though they have eaten both ornamental and food alliums in my gardens, just not as enthusiastically as clematis and pieris.

Based on your advice, babs, i planted roses in cages of hardware cloth but the roots grew too thick to get through. Do you make cylinders so roots can go under?

Lol I figured there would be a range of mirth, going from pitying chuckles to howls of laughter! But hey, you never know - there might be something out there to at least help deter them.

I too would like more info on these barriers you use please Babs. Do they completely surround the roots, and are the roots capable of growing out of them? I'm assuming that once the roots grow out they are mature enough to withstand some nibbling, while the main roots are still in the bag. And I'm guessing spin out bags are just that - mesh bags? Or do you just encircle the roots with the mesh, leaving the bottom open? And if so, the little varmints don't crawl up inside the barrier?

I once used hardware cloth to plant and as I said in my original post, it was not a pleasant experience. Blood was shed. My blood lol. But I can handle plastic mesh I think lol.

:)

Dee