Moles are well known for being threats to environmental activities like farming, lawn maintenance, and gardening. So how do you get rid of moles in a garden? This is important to know that they often do not consume plant roots; they only directly cause damage because microorganisms and other small crustaceans are eaten in the soil.
However, while moles may be considered pests, they do have several significant contributions to the soil.
These animals mainly live underground and often throw up molehills on the earth. They dig out a series of mole tunnels and chambers and get rid of the soil that is excavated. Very rarely are moles seen as they often just remain below the surface of the soil.
How Can a Mole Be Found In Your Garden?
The easiest way to know if you have moles in your garden is when you start to notice little heaps of soil sample thrown up on the surface of grass and flower beds (mole hills). Heaps of excavated land thrown up on the surface of lawns and flower beds (mole hills) are the first symptom of mole presence. Getting rid of them, however, is not that easy.
Moles burrowing through the soil will disrupt the root of seedlings and other tiny plants in flower beds and vegetable plots.
With pointy muzzles, tiny eyes, and bodies shaped like Idaho potatoes, moles are garden pests that can best be described as ‘shocking little animals’. They swim underground in motion, using their large front flippers to separate the soil as they go. They also rely on the existence of loamy, moist soil and are most active in spring or fall in the morning or evening.
They also come out after hot rain showers.
How To Get Rid Of Moles In A Garden
Below is a list of some most effective pest control and ways to get moles out of your garden:
Trapping: Setting mole traps can be very effective. In some cases, people with more vengeance on their minds will take more time and properly seek out the mole tunnels and set the traps properly. To kill moles, tools for trapping moles are available at garden centres and hardware stores.
When deciding on whether this is a good idea, it really should be taken into consideration that empty tunnel networks can easily be taken out by just one mole in the vicinity, so you may not be free of moles in your garden after catching one. Using the tunnel or half-barrel trap may be better than other designs that are available.
These type of traps are considered a humane type of control if used properly, because death when induced, should be instantaneous.
Planting: For plant species such as Cacao beans, Marigold, or Fritillaria, there is no evidence supporting claims that they properly deter moles. It is worth the try, but also be sure to remove most of the flower heads before seeding occurs or the plant can become invasive.
Electronic devices: Very often, using a solar-powered mole deterrent works a treat. Research has shown that their buzzing tapping noise drives moles away, but this may be to another part of the garden.
Poison baits: Prior to the introduction of this poisoned bait, serious research on the types of soil that moles dig in was done. The Tomcat Mole Killer (Talpirid), seems to have been successful in most experiments carried out on mole hills. Talpirid looks very much like an earthworm, one of the moles’ favourite dishes.
Netting: In some cases, netting can be used to prevent moles from coming to the ground surface to grow molehills. The key thing is to lay this on the layer of top soil prior to laying your lawn.
Using mole repellents: Another humane type of mole-repellent is the use of smoke. This is often marketed as Pest-Stop Biofume Mole flames, and it generates castor oil fumes. This is then said to fill up the tunnels and prevent worms and other mole food from coming into the tunnels. This usually gets the hungry mole to move elsewhere. Then again it could just build new link tunnels and move around.
Ways of preventing mole from getting into a garden :
- Check how ofter pests show up in your soil. There’s a chance that you may have too many bugs, especially if you have several moles. You may help your yard by getting rid of earthworms with nematodes that are useful, but this does not necessarily mean that the moles will completely go away.
- Dig out a hole that is 2 to 3 feet deep with raised ridges. All along the sides and bottom of the hole then needs to be lined with wire mesh. This will help ensure that you care for and protect the individual plants. You then just need to cover the hole with soil and the vine.
Home Remedies for Eradicating Moles
- The moles could be forced to change their position for a little while at least if you practise tips such as reducing irrigation and practising insect control.
- Another option will be to make a concentrate solution, get two tablespoons of Murphy’s Oil Soap or dish soap and some castor oil in one gallon of water. Blend and add 1 ounce of concentrate to your lawn per each gallon of water. If you do have some rainfall afterwards, then you should reapply your homemade mole repellent.
- It may be helpful to eliminate their favourite sources of food. Search the grass for signals, such as grub worms and do your best to get rid of them.
- Reducing the amount of water used on your lawn or garden is also an option that is often overlooked.
