Are Any Hosta Plants More Resistant To Moles/Voles
jmcdmd
10 years ago
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hostafreak
10 years agoUser
10 years agoRelated Discussions
organic mole/vole control? help!
Comments (21)People have been trying to keep moles out of the garden since at least the 16th century when a garden writer of that time described a "sure fire" method of control. "Place a straight sided bucket in a hole in the ground to its rim and trap a female mole and put her into the bucket. Her cries for help will attract males that will also fall into the bucket in an attempt to rescue the female" Moles are after food when they make those tunnels you see in your yard and that food is earthworms, although they will eat grubs also (or about any other insect they find). Traps may kill a mole but another will move into that vacancy as soon as possible after you have eliminated that one, so trapping will be continuous. I know people that have trapped 100 moles every year for the last 40, or so, years and still do. The mole population has not diminished one bit. Poisons may help some, but they are poisons and could be eaten by other animals and since the dose of poison is aimed at moles could cause a larger animal excruciating distress over a period of time until it too died. Most places that have tried to replicate the studies done at Michigan State University have not. What Joe Vargas turf grass students learned is that to be effective you must apply 1 pint of Castor Oil over 5,000 square feet and then water it in thoroughly. None of the commercial products I have looked at have that much Castor Oil in the mix and all have on the label that this is meant to cover 10,000 square feet and as those turf grass students found too little will not be effective, and more is simply a waste of money. Every time Castor Oil has failed to control moles it is because it has not been applied properly. An unfortunate fact for every organic gardener is that because you will build up the amount of organic matter in your soil, and earthworms love organic matter, you will have a mole, most often only one simply because of the amount of territory each mole needs to supply its needs, anbout 1/4 acre....See MoreVole, Moles, some kind of critter!
Comments (7)Actually, I think the dog holes are worse than the mole tunnels. An elderly neighbor helped me with a lawnmower problem not long ago and almost fell after stepping in one of those holes. If I hadn't been by his side, he really might have hurt himself. I'd have a fit if I found a dead mole in the center of my bed - loving gift of my dogs or not! One of my cats brings her toy stuffed mouse and dumps it on me in bed sometime during the night. I live in fear she finds a real one! At a Hosta society meeting a couple of years back a former county extension agent presented a program on moles and voles. He reported that though there are lots of products on the market that claim to repel moles, nothing really works except the spike trap. Also, even though the moles are only eating grubs, etc., voles will use the mole tunnels to get at the plant roots. If it's not one thing it's something else....See MoreMoles or Voles---HELP
Comments (2)I sure as heck wouldn't invest in sod until I figured out what the problem was! Moles excavate largish tunnels while voles are often seen above ground. Have you had any other plant damage other than the grass? Grass, by the way, can be killed by being exposed to the air in the mole's tunnels. So, just how ' little' are these hills, air holes, and tunnels? You are describing mole crickets to a T, you know. Size matters. Mole crickets are causing plenty of problems at this time of year. Just check out some of the other posts in this very forum....See Moregophers, moles, voles
Comments (12)I use a product that makes voles sick to their stomach(caastor oil pellets) and they move away, but I am tired of fighting them and the mountain beavers, so I'm learning what they like and what they don't and I don't replace the plants they go after. I have hostas, and late winter I'm going to move them into a whole that is surrounded by chicken wire. I heard this helps if they can't get to the bulb from below then the give up. I don't like killing anything, and making them sick isn't something I like to do either, so I try natural ways. Their tunnels I also fill back up with gravel as they don't seem to like to tunnel through it. It all helps slow them down, and maybe some year they will give up and move on to easier pickings *G*...See Moredon_in_colorado
10 years agoken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
10 years agoJennifer Radebaugh
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