What to do about MOLES, etc. this fall

Last year, someone tunnelled all over the yard here and ate many of my lily bulbs. I was very cool-did not go nuts-just replaced things I'm determined to have. Now I've planted more bulbs and several are pretty expensive ones or important to the design of the garden. So guys, what are your effective ways to prepare for the potential onslaught??

You are going to think I am nuts, but my MIL had a problem with Voles, and from this very DG site I had someone tell me to have a male urinate down the holes. Well, my 82 year ole MIL has rid her yard of the voles, perhaps moles will take the same hint.

boojum, I've got voles and they are horrible. They took out about 50 hostas and other perennials this past winter. Nothing I did worked. You could try to plant your bulbs in little wire baskets. I'm not motivated enough to do it. But I did sink many pots in the ground this season with my new hostas and perennials I'm hoping this will slow them down.

Haighr urine, huh? I'm going to give it a try. Wait, male urine? Darn the luck, there is NO way my husband will go along with this.

moles, voles and goffers are a problem in my area too. have you tried a thumper? you can get them battery powered for about $15.00 or solar powered for around $30. i'm a recycler and stuck a 3 foot piece of re-bar in the ground, duck taped an old vibrator to the re-bar and set it on a timer. i cover it with a 5 gallon bucket. yes there is an extension cord running across the garden, but ya know what? the critters have left my aspergras alone. before i rigged this up i was not able to keep a patch going long enuff to harvest anything. i did plant my oriental lilies in wire baskets. i can't afford to keep re-buying bulbs.
good luck, deidre

Actually, Ruth went in a cup and poured it down the hole on 2 occasions and then she got Brother John to do so also, but only via the cup.

A cup?? Goodness I thought my DH was, at last, going to get some fun out of my gardening.... lol lol lol

I've also heard the same process being used for ants and deer .... ants pour urine on the hill and deer outline the area with urine. So I poured a gallon of vinegar on an ant hill and it is gone, don't know if they just moved it elsewhere or if it killed them.

We've had a terrible time with moles/voles in our gardens. We've been in a constant battle with them tunneling around all the trees/perennials we've planted in the last 5 years. Most significant loss was a 10 yr old Dragon Eye Pine (about 15' tall)! We had no idea the damage had been done until it was too late. It seems with every tree or perennial planted, the moles will come 'visit' each plant within a day or two. Although they don't eat the roots of the plant, they create air pockets causing the plant to be 'suspended' in mid air. We then have to press down/stomp the soil again around each planting to collapse their tunnel. We have learned that moles have feeder tunnels that they only use once, so after collapsing these around the plant, they rarely return. If you can find their 'travel tunnels' then you can try inserting a rodenticide tablet in the tunnel. As for voles, because they eat the roots from below, we insert a rodenticide tablet as well as flushing the hole with a product, Mole B-Gone. It's the only product we have found that contains castor bean oil, a proven deterrent to moles and voles, and derived from the castor bean plant which is sometimes called Mole Bean Plant...Mole B-Gone is a systemic, and is effective for approximately 3 months. Recommended application is twice a year.

This sounds promising. Is Mole B-Gone organic and easy to find?

My best deterrent so far has been a cat.
Otherwise, avoid mulching or manuring until the ground freezes, the voles especially love mulch as it gives them a warmer place to hide.
I've also heard that interplanting daffodills with your other bulbs can deter them because they are fooled into thinking all the bulbs are daffs and they don't like them.

Huh! That's a good one. They not only have small bodies, but small brains to go in them!

boojum, we originally bought ours at Home Depot, but Walmart has a similar product and we bought it at a discount price this fall to save for next summer's onslought. Just look for any similar product that has castor bean oil as it's primary ingredient. The products we bought are like the fertilizers that attach to your hose, so it's easy to use, no mixing, etc. I can't say we've got rid of all them yet, but so far it's promising.

oceangirl - my cats are lazy, but my little Spitz hunts down everything!!

The little heifer likes to show moles and such off to the other "strays who've come to stay" then fuss at them when they look at it. lol lol Spitz have a tendency to be barkers when they hear strange noises at a distance but are very smart and she knows not to destroy the flower bed. I would highly recommend getting one to control moles.

PS She is a miniature weighing in at 14 lbs. She stays outside except in extremely cold weather, because that is what she wants. Fearless, she also runs off both rabbits and deer.

She's my kind of dog. Easy to lift and keeps the moles away! And she's so pretty.

LOL judy what a great dog! Moles beware!

A mole dog or cat is the best defense...I've got a mole dog too. Carly is a Sheltie that lives to destroy moles. You can ask her to find moles and she'll scratch the ground and bark no matter where she is...she knows what that means sooooo well.