Capsaisin spray? Voles eat Hosta roots, not leaves. You could try that new Repellex product in which you put a pill or two in the root zone. It's supposed to systemically insert capsaisin throughout the roots, leaves, etc. But that will take some time to become active.

The fastest way is poison, but be careful around pets. Tomcat is the poison of choice around here. I can tell you that in the Connecticut gardens (CT is the vole capital of the Universe) we saw this summer, almost every plant had a basket or hardware wire barrier around it to deter voles. These had no bottom, but were inserted about 12 inches into the ground. Here's a picture of one.

Good luck in your battle with the critters.

Steve

If that's the same kind of basket I use on top of my plants for rabbits, it's about 6" deep and in no time, that hosta's rootball is going to extend thru its mesh.

For me cages are really not an option, I just have too many hostas to dig them all up and cage them. If I had 25 plants, well that may be different. Heck I added nearly 200 plants this year.

Last year my vole problem was growing so I befriended a stray cat. I do not use poison for fear of harming the cat. I have used with ok success a dark plastic box( so light cant get in )with a small entrance cut in the side and a removable lid. I put in a spring type mouse trap and pieces of apples and sometimes raisins. I do not set the trap until I see that the food is being eaten. Once they are regular diners I set the trap with bait. I keep these out all year long. Just seeing if the food disappears lets you know if a problem is starting. Rob

Peanut butter works great as a bait for mice, chipmunks & moles from my experience. Should work with voles, too.

I first tried the rat traps and finally resorted to poison. Someone on here told me to use Tomcat poison and it has worked like a dream. I got it at Home Depot I believe. I put some in the hole or around the uprooted plant and then replanted. If I poured it in a hole I would cover the hole to keep the doggies out. It has worked like a dream. I was told to use it in the spring at first activity and has hardly had anymore trouble. I did see another hole the other day and poured some more poison in it. I know how frustrating it can be. They hit me hard last year and I was so upset I was having nightmares about them. In my nightmares they were huge and talked. Now how bad is that. lol! My sister in law used the liquid stuff and said it helped at first but then they hit her hard so she resorted to poison too. Now when I plant a new plant I always put some poultry grit in with the dirt all around the plants and that has worked very good too. Was told by someone on here too that they couldn't chew through the grit and give up. Good luck. They are horrible creatures. Judy

Imagine a little girl dachshund who does not dig, but can find all sorts of critters in the garden. She grabs them, wags her head, and tosses them. They are dead when they hit the ground, and she wants nothing more to do with them. This is her technique with moles, voles, mice, and chipmunks. She tries with squirrels, but has yet to corner any on the ground.

See the link below. University studies (at the bottom) found that larger vole populations can not be controlled completely with traps, they multiply faster than you can trap them. Poison though works.

Here is a link that might be useful: voles link

We have had luck with Juicy Fruit gum. Doubted it at first but it seems to do the job...not a posion either and cheap.

Deb