Saturday, October 8, 2011
The various daylily and hosta listservs have had questions about controlling moles and voles in the garden. Here is a post I offered from my experience.
>As cold weather approaches, I always remember vole and mole control with a technique someone from the hosta list mentioned years ago. I take 2” diameter by 2 foot pieces of PVC pipe and shake a couple ounces of d-Con granular into the middle of the pipe. Then I lay these flat throughout the gardens and also among the potted plants at the nursery. By using granular instead of pieces of the bars, the critters can’t conveniently carry big pieces away and leave them someplace a dog, cat, kid, etc might pick them up. Tractor Supply sells Tomcat brand and it’s cheaper and can be purchased in buckets of 1 ounce packages which makes it easy. I use an assortment of leftover and recycled pipe but it’s not that expensive anyway. I wash the pipes clean each spring and let them dry and then bag them up for the next year.
>As cold weather approaches, I always remember vole and mole control with a technique someone from the hosta list mentioned years ago. I take 2” diameter by 2 foot pieces of PVC pipe and shake a couple ounces of d-Con granular into the middle of the pipe. Then I lay these flat throughout the gardens and also among the potted plants at the nursery. By using granular instead of pieces of the bars, the critters can’t conveniently carry big pieces away and leave them someplace a dog, cat, kid, etc might pick them up. Tractor Supply sells Tomcat brand and it’s cheaper and can be purchased in buckets of 1 ounce packages which makes it easy. I use an assortment of leftover and recycled pipe but it’s not that expensive anyway. I wash the pipes clean each spring and let them dry and then bag them up for the next year.
I am a strong advocate of milky spore to eliminate a food source of Japanese beetle grubs. Urban areas are often difficult because neighbors are often possessed to use beetle traps and the pheromones are so strong in those they draw in beetles from miles away so your work becomes less effective.
I have already notice way too many voles this fall and know we have a problem building. I am also finding some very long tailed mice I have never seen before. I have seen “pieces of mouse” in the morning so I figure we have one or more owls close by now that find them tasty.
George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
