Thanks for the response. How do voles indicate healthy soil?

The voles are finding things to eat.

MOLES might find worms and grubs, but my voles are just digging around aimlessly looking for roots. I have never seen an earthworm in my hydrophobic soil.

I was under the impression that actually mixing the compost into the soil would destroy it's natural structure and make the problem even worse. There have been demonstrations of this on some of the local gardening programs here, tilled beds have greater runoff, the water doesn't percolate down as well.

A 4-6 inch thick layer of mulch/compost, with the water supply under the mulch - drip irrigation - will give you the best results. Mulch is not a permanent thing - you have to keep topping it up.

And if the soil is badly water repellent, add a teaspoon of dishwashing liquid or baby shampoo to your warering can and sprinkle it on to break the surface tension.

You can kill the voles by (CAREFULLY with tongs and gloves) stuffing chunks of dry ice into every tunnel you see. It's heavier than air and fills the tunnels. They suffocate. And it's not dangerous after it evaporates.

I was under the impression that actually mixing the compost into the
soil would destroy it's natural structure and make the problem even
worse.

You don't have "natural structure" ... you have builder-packed clay.

Next spring, mulch heavily, plant some deep-rooted annuals like Okra (it grows in anything) and slice the plants off at the ground level in the fall. The roots will decay and make tiny microchannels in the clay for air and water.

I had silty clay desert dirt that was so hard I had to dig holes for the okra with a pick. After a few years of the thick mulch, drip tubing watering evenly under the mulch, and several crops of okra I could dig anywhere in the bed with a hand trowel.

Will try the okra trick - thanks for the tip.

<MOLES might find worms and grubs, but my voles are just digging around
aimlessly looking for roots. I have never seen an earthworm in my
hydrophobic soil.>

You haven't mentioned that you have any plants, so what do you think the voles are eating?

Plants growing? = healthy soil

I think they are eating roots, as I mentioned in my post, which was a response to the premise that if you have voles your probably have healthy soil. I didn't realize I needed to list the plants I was currently growing to get advice on my soil conditions.

<I think they are eating roots, as I mentioned in my post, which was a
response to the premise that if you have voles your probably have
healthy soil. I didn't realize I needed to list the plants I was
currently growing to get advice on my soil conditions.>

Well if there are no plants there is nothing for them to eat right?

Now explain why you are getting testy with someone trying to help you?

Get some sleep..

That Master Gardener gave you good advice but you have not added enough organic material to the soil. Your North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension Service people will tell you to add more organic material to the soil. In North Carolina soil testing is free (most of the year) because of a surcharge on commercial fertilizers.

Voles are primarily vegetarians, although they are known to eat already dead animals as well. They do not eat insects, however and do not have anything to do with indicating soil health.

Perhaps this video about "The dirt on healthy soil" from Growing a Greener World might be of some help.

http://www.growingagreenerworld.com/organic-matter-soil-testing/

kimmq is kimmsr

Our brand new neighbourhood has voles as it used to be farmland. I don't have a vole problem yet but my neighbours next door do. I am ready though if they decide to make my garden home. I havent had a chance to try these remedies yet but they are supposed to work well. Google Voles and Exlax and there is a video on YouTube that talks about Voles and Plaster of Paris. Good luck!

lazy_gardens is right about the clay. With bad soil like that you do need to till in compost probably for several years in a row to get things started. Taper off on the tilling as the tilth improves so as to preserve the microstructure that's forming. Eventually it can be almost no-till and you can amend it from the top by mulching with degradable material or compost + mulch layers.

Re: moles and voles, I had some fun experiences in my yard. I read you could put a moth ball down in their burrow so I did that. Next day there was a new mound of dirt at that spot with the moth ball sitting on top like a cherry on a sundae. The only thing missing was a little sign saying "BITE ME HOOMAN!" I tried the Juicy Fruit gum thing and didn't see any effect from that. ExLax, I have not heard about so I can't comment on its efficacy. What finally got moles and voles out of my yard was a furry purry 4-legged varmint killer.