How do edible rooted plants do with voles

14 years ago

I'm considering adding a few plants to my garden with edible roots or with corms. Has anyone grown them who has a vole problem who would know if voles particularly eat them? I suppose I could try them in pots...

Aralia racemosa

Balsamorhiza sagittata

Dalea purpureum

Geum Urbanum

Liatris spp.

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Comments (3)

hemnancy
Original Author
14 years ago
I forgot Calochortus spp. Also if anyone has grown the listed plants, what do you think of their edibility and ease of growing. I don't know if I've seen some of them grown here at all. What conditions do they need to do well?

Thanks, Nancy
laceyvail 6A, WV
14 years ago
I'm not familiar with any of these plants, but I am, unfortunately very familiar with voles. They eat my white potatoes, my sweet potatoes, beets, carrots, and sometimes the roots of endives and chicories. Last winter they ate the roots of my strawberry plants. They eat the roots of roses and a great many other ornamentals.
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hemnancy
Original Author
14 years ago
laceyvail- I find them a terrible problem. They have eaten the roots off a few apple trees and caused a large tree loaded with apples to fall over from the base.:-(
I've had some success putting lava rock in the bottom and sides of daylily plantings, and haven't really seen any with eaten off roots since, but I tried the lava rock in rows of peas this year and they churned up the soil, ejected the lava rock, and ate the peas anyways. Then I tried planting beans by just digging small enough holes to put in the individual seed, and dumped cayenne pepper in. I did get some beans up. Then sometimes they come along and nip off the stem at the ground so the whole vine dies.

I was trying trapping with mouse and rat traps under a large inverted pot this year and did catch a few, but then either the trap smells bad or they get wise and I stop catching any.

Some people say to plant everything in hardware cloth baskets. That can get expensive. I think I may try some in the ground and some in pots.

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How do edible rooted plants do with voles

Comments (3)

hemnancy
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laceyvail 6A, WV

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How do edible rooted plants do with voles

Comments (3)

hemnancyOriginal Author

laceyvail 6A, WV

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hemnancyOriginal Author

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hemnancy
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