Dan West Garden Center

June 2008 Newsletter©

Moles and Voles

Think of a mole as a hummingbird underground.  They need lot’s of food, up to their weight each day, to burrow through the soil and they eat only insects and worms.  (That’s right, they are not eating your plants, that’s the other varmint above.)  So to find enough food, they have extensive feeding runs.  That’s the raised ridges you see in your yard.  They can dig up to 18 feet an hour in search of food and can scurry through existing runs at 80 feet per minute.  They are fast.  They’re also blind, but have a very sensitive nose and they are extremely sensitive to vibrations in the soil which helps them find food.  Yes sir, you have a question?

“I know I’ve got moles, I’ve got the ridges, but I’ve got some other creature that makes piles of soil in the yard.  What could it be?”

That’s the mole also.  Moles have two type of tunnels.  The feeding run at the surface is created by just shoving the soil upward.  They also have deeper tunnels for raising young, hiding and moving between feeding areas.  When they dig these deeper tunnels they shovel the soil out on the surface in piles. Another question?

“Yes, you say they don’t eat plants, but why does my grass die along the ridges, like they’ve eaten off the roots?

The grass dies from lack of water.  The process of lifting the grass causes the roots to no longer contact the soil, so the plant dries up.  You can prevent the grass damage by taking your daily walk along the mole runs each morning.

Actually moles are beneficial.  (I heard the collective moans.)  They eat insects that can damage your plants and they aerate your soil.  They just  make badminton impossible.

“So how do we get rid of them?”

First, it won’t happen fast and I’d use a combination of tactics for best results…

Trapping – There are several kinds available that either choke or spear them.  I believe the trick to successful trapping is not touching the trip mechanism unless you are wearing gloves, packing the soil (and only soil, no surface trash such as sticks or leaves) firmly around the trip mechansism and placing the trap in an active run.  They are suspicious little varmints and will avoid anything unusual. 

Late in the evening, press the runs flat in a few places and see which are back up in the morning.  Place your trap there and move it if you have no luck in 48 hours.

Repellents – We’ve seen good results with ferti-lome’s Mole-Go, a castor bean oil extract.  It should be watered in thoroughly, shortly after applying.  Focus especially on flower beds and areas that are frequently watered because that’s where most of the worms are.  This will be a repetative task.  At some point, we hope to chase them to your neighbor’s house and then we can spray a 15’ barrier around the property line and keep them there.

Baits – We have two poison baits that you might try.  One is Moletox, a gel that is injected into the feeding runs.  It apparently tastes like grubs.  One tube treats about ¼ acre. The other product is Tomcat Mole Killer, a worm shaped and flavored bait you insert into an active run.

Grub Control Granules – Eliminating some of their food source is an important part of the program.  If they can’t find enough to eat, they go to your neighbor’s house and that’s the goal.  I’d use a two part insecticide program.  Apply a quick kill product with Carbaryl (Hi-Yield Lawn Insect Killer Granules) and a season long control product with Imidicloprid (Hi-Yield Grub Free Zone).  This not only kills the grubs, but other insects they might eat as well. (Moles will eat beetles, spiders and have been known to eat mice and small birds in captivity.)

Using a combination of the above techniques should get you good results but remember that is will be an ongoing battle.  If you get them all today, there will be more, so maintain you program of mole control… it’s not permanent eradication.  Any questions?

“What about these electric thumpers you stick in the ground?”

You may have some success with thumpers but from testimonials I’ve heard from people that have used them, the success has been very limited.  I had a fellow in the other day who has about 100 of those spinning daisies in his yard, and he says it’s kept the moles from coming into his yard from the vacant house next door. (I suspect the daisies are the reason the house is vacant also!)

Moles seldom live past the ripe old age of 3.  They have 2-5 young in late March to early April and the young are independent at one month of age.  They tend to be solitary by nature, but runs may be shared by the mother and young, as well as with other unrelated adults from adjoining feeding areas.

Voles (field mice) will use the mole runs also.  Plus they dig their own underground tunnels and have above ground runways that are hid under a layer of grass, leaves or mulch.  These are the plant eaters.  They will pick out you most expensive hosta and work right down the price list!

Voles are very prolific.  Females are mature just 35 days after birth.  They live less than 12 months but can have up to 10 litters of 3-6 young during their short life. They eat just about anything.  Your annuals, perennials and bulbs are favorite targets, but they can also kill shrubs and mature trees by gnawing the bark off below ground level. Just today, I had a customer in with a 3’ tall azalea that had the roots gnawed off and half the trunk was gone.

Voles can be easily caught with mouse traps.  Use peanut butter sprinkled with wild bird seed.   The Mole-Go repellent we talked about earlier works very well for voles also.  Use it in combination with traps and you will significantly reduce the population.  Or if you’re looking for a natural repellent, we have a product called Mouse Magic for use in the garden or in the home.  It contains peppermint and spearmint oils and is safe to use around children and pets.

Another thing you might try are Revenge smoke bombs, which fill the runs and tunnels with a toxic gas and residue.  Or the Underground Exterminator, a gadget you hook to the exhaust of your car, attach up to 300’ of water hose to it and pump the runs full of carbon monoxide.  You need to seal as many openings as possible for these type products to work.

If you know you have voles, then here are some ways to help protect your plants:

1. You can plant many perennials in the pot they came in.  Cut the bottom out and leave the rim of the pot sticking up and inch or two above the soil surface.  Voles are not good climbers and will not usually climb over the rim.  You will need to lift and divide the perennials periodically.  For annuals, sink a bottomless 3 gal container into the ground and plant in it each year.

2. Keep mulch back a few inches from the base of plants.  They avoid being out in the open exposed to their natural predators.

3. Eliminate easy food sources such as bird feeders that spill seed.

4. Mix a significant amount of Soil Perfector (a type of lava rock) around bulbs when you plant them.

5. Wrap rootballs or bulbs with hardware cloth before planting.

6. Stick to container gardening.

7. Move to a high rise.

“What about poison baits for voles?”

They will take baits very well.  Pour the bait down the tunnel entrances or hide the bait where birds can’t get to it.  You can turn a large clay pot upside down and rest one edge on a thin rock so voles can get under it where the bait is, but birds can’t.

“What if my cat gets hold of a poisoned vole?”

I would suggest that you not use poison bait if you have a dog or cat that likes to hunt.  The vole will probably die underground, and it’s not likely your pet would get enough dead voles to be toxic, but better safe than sorry.

Any other vole/mole questions?

“Can I ask a weed question?

Yep!

“I’ve got the worst case of annual bluegrass ever.  What can I kill it with?!

It’s best to prevent annual bluegrass (Poa annua) with a pre-emerge in the fall.  (Read  the February 2008 newsletter and our “Warm Season Grass” care sheet on our website.) You could spray it now with Image, and take out your nutgrass at the same time, but it’s about to die from the heat.  If annual ryegrass is your only problem, I’d wait until fall and use the pre-emerge.  Another question?  You sir, in the blue shirt.

“Yes, years ago, there was a weed killer called Ansar 529 and it sure worked, do we have anything similar?”

Well you still have it, but it’s called Drexar 530.  Here’s the Ansar story…

Ansar 529 was a 4 lb. MSMA (monosodium acid methanearsonate, a little over 34% active if I remember correctly)  herbicide marketed by a Memphis company, Ansul Chemical.  They didn’t make it.  It was made by Drexel Chemical Co. at their Tunica, MS MSMA plant for Ansul.

Ansar 529 (the “529” was the surfactant added to it) was just a Memphis product.  Not much was sold elsewhere, but there were truckloads sold in Memphis.

Along comes Diamond Shamrock and gobbles up Ansul Chemical.  It was such an extremely small part of their business, they decided to stop making it.  At the time, I was working for the Charles Heckle, Co.  We were wholesale distributors and Ansar 529 was a big part of our business.  So the owner of the Charles Heckle, Co. met with the Drexel Chemical Co. people and they came up with a plan to keep the business.  They decided to change the name to Drexar 530 (to prevent any patent infringements) and raise the percentage of MSMA just a hair to 35.78%. Yes, in the brown hat.

“I’ve still have a bottle in the shed of something called Czar 529.  Is that the same?”

Here’s where the plot thickens.  The Charles Heckle Co. had a competitor here in Memphis (who shall remain nameless).  They wanted, but could not get, the Drexar business.  So they found another company to manufacture Czar 529, a 2 lb. active MSMA (about 16%) which they sold to the old Central Hardware stores.  (You’ve had that bottle a long time!) It was MSMA, just less than half as much active, and only a little cheaper, so not nearly as economical as Drexar 530 which we still sell today.  Drexar 530 is only available in ½ gallon bottles, but we have ferti-lome Bermuda Grass Weeder, a 33.97% MSMA product available in a pint.  The ferti-lome product also has sodium cacodylate added in for a really quick burn down.

“Will MSMA kill nutgrass?”

Yes, it will, with multiple applications.  If you want quicker results, try Sedgehammer (formally Manage).  It can be used in the lawn and in some landscaped areas.  Make sure you add a little spreader sticker to it.

“I heard at (some box store) that MSMA wasn’t available anymore!”

MSMA has some arsenic in it and a limit on the number of times it can be applied in a year.  It must be applied with a tank sprayer, not a hose end sprayer and at some point, it will probably go away for homeowner use.  But not yet. 

“Is there a replacement?”

Yes, we have a product by Bonide that kills crabgrass and broadleaf weeds.  It contains 2,4-D and Dicamba for broadleaf weeds and a new product, Quinclorac for crabgrass, foxtail and signalgrass.  Because this product has 2,4-D in it, you should not use it above 85°.  Use the MSMA products in really hot weather. Another question?

“I hope you can help me. I live on a couple of acres in Fayette County.  Several years ago, my wife  thought it would be pretty to sow wildflowers on the back acre.  So we killed off everything, we thought, and sowed wildflower seed and the first year it  was spectacular.  The next year I noticed a little bermudagrass had survived and some assorted grasses popped up here and there.  Now, four years later, it’s mostly grass.  Do I have to kill it all again and start over?”

No, I’ve got some good news for you.  You don’t have to start over. You can use Vantage to spray over the top of just about anything to kill bermuda and many other wild grasses.  It will not harm you wildflowers, liriope, mondo or other groundcovers, shrubs, perennials or annuals (other than some occasional leaf spotting).  The label lists just a couple of sensitive plants, but even those were only damaged when the label rate was exceeded.  The amount you use depends on the height of the grass, but if you use it early, when the grass is 6” tall or less, two pints will treat about an acre.  Read and follow the instructions.  The wildflowers need to have been growing at least a month and you shouldn’t spray when they are in bloom if a second application is needed.  Just so you know, it works slowly.  You may see some brown tips or yellowing fairly soon, but it can take 3 weeks or more for it to brown off.

“Will it kill the bermuda in my English ivy?”

Yes it will.

Last month’s mystery plant must have been too difficult or no one is reading this newsletter.  No one entered the contest.  The plant was Buttonbush – Cephalanthus occidentalis.  Great plant for wet areas.

So, let’s try it again. Here’s this month’s mystery plant…from my backyard!

I’d like to have the cultivar name…but I’ll settle for the correct genus.

A $25 Dan West Gift Certificate will go to one person drawn from all the correct entries…if there are any!

Remember folks, if you get this newsletter, you are a Very Special Friend of Dan West Garden Center.  You are set up in our computer system to get an additional 10% off most of your gardening needs!  Just give the cashier your name and the discount is yours.