The Voles Are At It Again

Voles! Is there a worst scourge for the garden? I think not. Each year during the winter the voles are very busy. That's not to say they aren't busy other days of the year but the winter time is when I really find a lot of damage in my gardens. I'll be happily walking along inspecting the plants when I will stoop down and try to right an askew plant and lo and behold-the plant will fall into my hands. Such was the case with the above rose. I started this rose from a cutting in the fall and planted it out in the garden once it had roots. Well, as you can see it no longer has roots thanks to the voles. There is really no way to prevent this damage so I try to catch it when it is happening and will either pull the plants (as was the case with this rose) and put it in a pot so it can recover, or I stomp down the ground to ensure there is good root to soil contact and hope the voles will move along. For more information about these pesky rodents see my other post....


in the garden....

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Do You Really Want to See What a Vole Looks Like?

If the answer is yes to the title of this post, then you've come to the right place. Voles are similar to mice-kind of. They are both rodents and both pests in my opinion. I've lost more than one of my shrubs to the voles this year and I tell you these little rodents almost make me want to give up gardening-almost.

Let's discuss the voles because I can't tell you how many people don't know what a vole is and what it does to a garden. Voles and mice are not the same thing. Many people call voles field mice but voles are not mice at all, though they are both rodents. The major differences between field mice and the voles are these: on voles: the head is larger, eyes and ears smaller (actually both are not even really visible-just look at the photo), the tails are only about one inch long or shorter, they have very short legs (this helps them stay low and escape detection by predators like cats and birds), and the teeth are made differently, though I can't really tell what is different about a voles teeth. This particular vole is a brownish color on its back but I think their color is variable.

I do know voles will target plants more than any other rodent in the garden. When a plant is targeted the plant is most likely doomed. In the past I've only lost perennials and a few roses. This year the voles have moved up in the food chain and taken a few bigger specimens out of the garden with their chewing. Roots are chewed off at the base of the shrub and the shrub is not likely to recover.

Voles should not be mistaken for moles though voles will sometimes use the tunnels moles dig in order to move around the garden. In my garden I leave the moles alone and just kind of figure they are aerating the soil for me. The damage they do is not long lasting when compared to killing a tree or shrub and is not bad enough to warrant a mole's demise; that is simply my personal opinion, like all things on this blog. Voles on the other hand can seriously destroy a garden. Here are some interesting facts about voles (Courtesy of University of California):

1. Females reach sexual maturity in about 35 days and can have more than five litters per year!
2. Voles are not good climbers and usually don't enter homes.
3. Voles make their homes in areas with dense vegetation (gardens for sure!)
4. Voles are active day and night!
5. Vole populations fluctuate from year to year and under favorable conditions there may be a vole explosion.
6. It is best to use Integrated Pest Management tools to control voles before their population gets too large because damage to home and ornamental gardens can be severe.
7. Remove cover such as vegetation and leaves to make the area less favorable for voles.

Some tips I have personally learned that help to protect plants:

1. Limb up ground hugging shrubs such as magnolias and silverberry. They don't need to be limbed far, just enough so that the ground is visible and the voles can be seen so they are vulnerable.
2. Remove leaves from under shrubs and trees during the winter.
3. Periodically check for damage by stomping the ground around your shrubs and perennials. If there are voles present the soil will be gone and you will quite clearly feel a void. Backfill the area and take measures to get rid of the voles. Keep checking and back filling the area periodically.
4. Use hardware cloth around prized plants. Make sure it sticks up above the ground and leaves are moved away from the plant.
5. Get a couple of good mousing cats.
6. Try out the mole repellents as a last resort. They have worked for me but the extra expense and application make them not so ideal for long term use.

Good luck keeping the voles away now that you know what they are and what they look like....

in the garden....

Today is Flag Day, and also the Army's 235th birthday. Those of us associated with the Army get the day off. So Happy Birthday and Flag Day and thanks for the day off...in the garden...

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In the Garden

Voles Eat Japanese Maple

No one can say the voles around here don't have good taste when they decide to totally chew the roots off from one of my Japanese maples now can they? Grrrrrrr! I was wandering around a front garden when I came upon this maple laying on the ground. I immediately thought perhaps the wind knocked it over. No such luck. Upon investigating I discovered the roots had been chewed off. It had to have happened really quickly because this tree is in bud and still looked alive. Geez, what do you do when this happens? Drive on, gardening is like this sometimes.

In order to hopefully prevent anymore plants from suffering the same fate as the Japanese maple I went around to all the small trees and shrubs in the garden, moved all mulch away from the trunks, and stomped the ground down firmly. I found a few more shrubs with damage from voles as well as the Japanese maple. A prized fothergilla will most likely meet the same fate as the above Japanese maple but after packing dirt around it I am trying to be optimistic.

The population of voles in a garden is mind boggling and even with two cats outside, plenty of rodent eating birds and maybe a few snakes and rat poison, nothing seems to make a dent in the population here. The voles have to eat and they evidently spend the winter nibbling on roots all throughout the garden. This has been a bad year for them. Normally I don't lose any trees or shrubs and have only suffered major damage to perennials in the past. No such luck this year. But oh well, time to move on and forget all about it. Perhaps the voles didn't like the tree in its spot? Who knows. I guess they were very hungry. All I can do when I walk around the garden now is thank my lucky stars the voles didn't eat the very large trees because to see one of them fall might be a very bad thing....

in the garden....


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In the Garden