skip to main content

New to Gardening

Hole in my garden

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

I built a raised garden bed 3 weeks ago in my backyard. I've noticed
something was digging a hole between my cucumbers and tomatoes. I tried
a diluted hot sauce spray, but this did not work. I eventually built a
chicken wire cage to go around the entire bed to protect it from
rodents and animals. The hole is still there about every other day!
It's always in the same spot, and the dirt is usually wet in that area.
I've tried researching holes and can't pin it down to anything
particular. There is no loose soil around the hole, there is no
burrowing, it's just a dead end hole. It's typically around 1-2 inches
in diameter, but the soil surrounding it that is wet is around 6
inches. The soil surrounding the hole is smooth, so it makes me thing
it is a slug or a snake. After doing some research I tried a beer trap
for slugs but the creature just dug around the cup! This week I laid
out mouse traps and a big fake owl. This morning when I checked the
garden the owl was knocked over and the hole was there! I'm at a loss
for ideas. The creature that is doing this must be smaller than a
quarter (the size of the chicken wire) but I can't figure out what it is
or how to stop it from happening. A few weeks ago whatever is digging ate the leaves off of my spinach and kale crops as they were sprouting.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (6)

lisanti07028
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
It sounds like a mole/shrew/vole type animal. If you can, please post a picture of the hole(s) and tell us where you are - state and zone.

You will probably get more responses if you post this query in the Garden Clinic forum here.
Kari F
Original Author
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I'm in Clearwater, FL. I thought it may be a vole, based on the reading I did, but the dirt around the hole isn't ever loosely thrown around. There's kind of a smooth packing around the perimeter. My boyfriend thinks it may be a sprinkler head underneath the garden, but there's no set pattern of days/time this happens. It's typically overnight but there have been 2 times it happened during the day while I was at work. I also doubt the sprinkler would eat my spinach and kale leaves, lol! I will take some pictures when I get home tonight.
Related Discussions
Searching for 'Garden Zen'
Q
Comments (4)
i feel your pain. last year i had serious vole problems.. between the voles and the dogs digging for them, i lost60 plants.. my garden is only 30x30 but i plant heavy knowing the hazards.. this year, i planted about 4 weeks ago. has been raining like crazy here in northern california and the water just stop leaching out of the ground long enough for me to plant. then, it has rained 7 of the last 10 days. poor plants are drowning. havent grown an inch. finally sunshine/clouds today. saw a lot of new growth ready to take off as i was brushing all the mud off the leaves from the last inch of rain yesterday. my zen is increasing.. :)
...See More
skunks are digging holes all over my garden
Q
Comments (3)
The skunks are looking for food and you probably have a source they like, grubs. What the store tried to sell you was a poison that would kill the grubs, and if they told you it would disolve the grubs I would tend to not go there again because of that misinformation. You could use the sprinkler, but the skunk may not like getting wet and might leave a calling card that is not pleasant. Check your garden for grub population by digging a hole 1 foot square and about 4 inches deep and count the number of grubs you find. 5 or less is not much of a problem that really would need control while 10 will indicate the need to use some means of control. Bacillus popilliae, Milky Spore Disease, is one means of control specific to those grubs. Parasitic nematodes are another means of control. Both should be applied in mid July to early August so the are inplace when the eggs that Ma Beetle lays hatch out.
...See More
Help-Squirrels Chewed Through My Garden Gourmet
Q
Comments (3)
I have a similar situation (compost pile is between two townhouse end units, scared two rats away when turning the pile recently). I decided that the pile could only have yard waste henceforth, otherwise I would be extremely embarrassed if people fingered my pile as the source of rat problems. So I figured, either stop composting kitchen waste, or find some rat-proof way to handle it. Couldn't bear the thought of throwing out all that wonderful organic matter, and I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a rat-proof tumbler or bin, so I went with worms for the kitchen waste and kept the compost pile (I use a ring composter) for yard waste. I'm using terra cotta planters (3 of them) for the worms, with anti-weed cloth stretched over them and held down tight (like a drum) with bungee cords. They are in a paved area, so I can keep a close eye on them and I can pull the plug if I see any signs of rat infestation.
...See More
Animals in my garden
Q
Comments (8)
I still need help badly. I know the animals in my garden are skunks because I smell them very often at night. Also the holes are not covered up so they are probably not cats in those instances. About 5 years ago I used traps and caught skunks and possums. At that time they were after my rear lawn. I suspect that the man who laid the traps were letting the animals go down the street. I was probably getting the same animals back. Now they are primarily after my new garden of azaleas, gardenias and camellias out front with two holes in my front lawn. Wouldn't nematodes create another problem? Is there a deterrent contraption or whatever that you would recommend? Everyone I read about seems to have serious problems. I am getting desperate.
...See More
Kari F
Original Author
8 years ago

That ring in the lower left corner is from the mouse trap I set last night. There was a big bobble head owl where that hole was last night too, whatever is causing it knocked it over and dug underneath. I just filled it again and put some bricks on top of that area, so hopefully that helps.
lisanti07028
8 years ago
Your boyfriend may be right, but the big question is do you have in-ground sprinklers to begin with? I saw something like that in my garden when I put a hole in the sprinkler connecting hose when I was digging; so, could you have done that when putting up the raised bed?
Kari F
Original Author
8 years ago
we do have in ground sprinklers but not many as our yard isn't very big. I dug out the hole when I got home and there're isn't a sprinkler head underneath it. There isnt a pattern to when it is happening (like there would be with a sprinkler system) so I'm no sure what else it could be. I even checked the roof, but there is a gap in the gutters and no roof fall off there so it's not coming from there.
lisanti07028
8 years ago
Does the sprinkler line go under that part of the bed? If there is a hole in the line, even a little pinhole, the water will shoot out of there with amazing force.

Related Stories

GARDENING GUIDES Great Design Plant: Knock Out Roses

By J. Peterson Garden Design

As glorious as their high-maintenance kin for a fraction of the work, Knock Out roses make even beginners look like garden stars

GARDENING GUIDES Great Design Plant: Coreopsis 'Redshift'

By Gardening with Confidence®

Breaking with its pure-yellow past, 'Redshift' tickseed will change up a bland garden with its hot new color combo

NATIVE PLANTS Great Design Plant: Wild Bergamot, Friend of Foragers

By Pollination Press LLC

Nourish butterflies and other winged creatures with the tubular flowers of Monarda fistulosa, a pretty pink native

SPRING GARDENING Great Design Plant: Russian Sage

By Annie Thornton

Silvery stems in winter and a haze of purple blooms in spring and summer make this spiky plant a year-round performer in the garden

GARDENING GUIDES Great Design Plant: Butterfly Milkweed, a Beacon in the Prairie

By Pollination Press LLC

Vivacious orange flowers for you, nectar for the butterflies and bees. Asclepias tuberosa is worth planting for more reasons than one

FLOWERS AND PLANTS Roll Out the Welcome Mat for Hummingbirds With Red Columbine

By Pollination Press LLC

Grow Aquilegia canadensis in eastern perennial gardens or informal woodland plantings for its delicate foliage and uncommon red flowers

GARDENING GUIDES Great Design Plant: Paperbark Maple

With fall foliage like a sunset and bark the color of cinnamon, this tree is a highlight of the landscape

GARDENING GUIDES Great Design Plant: Woodland Garden Beauty Polystichum Acrostichoides

By Jay Sifford Garden Design

Eastern U.S. native Christmas fern is a living decoration in the winter woodland garden

LANDSCAPE DESIGN Great Design Plant: Sun-Loving Bougainvillea Showers Yards With Color

By Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting

Bring unbeatable vibrancy to a garden or wall with this unfussy and trainable shrub packed with colorful bracts

GARDENING GUIDES Great Design Plant: Northern Maidenhair Fern Softens Shade Gardens

By Jay Sifford Garden Design

Stir up some romance in dark corners with the billowy fronds of native Adiantum pedatum

Sponsored

Peabody Landscape Group

8 Reviews

Franklin County's Reliable Landscape Design & Contracting

More Discussions

Graduation project survey

2