Mole Prevention - How to Keep Moles Away
How To Keep Moles Away - There are many problems that the gardener will encounter when they have a mole problem in the garden, but one of the biggest to consider is the harm that moles can do to open areas of the garden such as lawns. The best way to solve the issue is to prevent the animals from getting in to your garden altogether, but this is something that can take a little work, and in some cases moles can be particularly persistent little animals. In order to prevent the moles from coming to the garden or yard, it is important to know what attracts them, so you can understand how to keep them away.
Why Do Moles Come To The Domestic Garden?
The main reason that moles will be attracted to a particular area will be that there is a high level of food available to them in that garden, and it is worth noting that moles do not eat plants, rather they are insectivores that eat grubs, insects, but mainly earthworms. The difficulty is that earthworms are particularly fond of the soil that is found under the lawn, and it is these animals that usually draw the moles to the area. Moles can be beneficial in some ways as they eat the insects and larvae that later become a different type of garden pests, and it is normally in the spring or fall that a mole infestation becomes apparent, as this is when they are more likely to use burrows and tunnels near the surface.
Changing Your Garden To Be Less Attractive To Moles
There are certain types of changes that you can make in your garden that will help to make it an area that is less attractive to the moles, and these can take a variety of different methods, ranging from installing physical barriers to keep moles away through to planting particular types of plants. The main issue is that to really keep moles away it will often require a significant investment in order to really deliver the results you are looking for. There is also the option of using repellent devices to keep moles away from your garden, but in most cases there is little evidence to support how effective they are.
This is usually a measure that is best implemented when you are installing a new lawn, and generally involves placing a durable stainless steel mesh beneath the lawn to allow for ready movement of moisture, but to prevent moles from being able to dig in from underneath. As moles are underground creatures and rarely come to the surface, it is very rare to find a mole getting to a lawn from the surface. The key with this is that it needs to be placed first, before installing a layer of around two inches of soil on top of it, and then the sod and the turf for the lawn.
Plants That Moles Actively Avoid
One of the most interesting aspects of dealing with moles is that there are certain plants that moles simply don't like, and many people will have some success in using these plants to drive moles away. Bulb flowers such as daffodils and vegetables such as garlic, onions and leeks are also good ways of deterring moles from paying a visit to your garden. Marigolds are also known for being a repellent to moles, and if you are looking for something a little more exotic, the Mexican Marigold offers a splash of yellow. The final plant has taken its name because of its success at repelling moles, and the 'mole plant', or the caper spurge as it is otherwise known is another plant worth including in the garden.
Mole Repellents
There are a variety of different products on the market that are said to help drive away moles from your garden, and these include chemical repellents and audio repellents. The main issue with this type of product is that it really needs to be quite potent in order to make a mole want to leave an area that has so many attractions, and if these are your first option to try and deal with the problem, it will often give the moles time to establish themselves in the garden if they are unsuccessful.
Trapping Moles
Once you have a mole problem in a yard or garden, there is really only one way to deal with the issue effectively, and that is to trap the moles. There really aren't any effective live catching traps that can be used with moles, and relocating them would also be a problem even if such an option was available. The most common type of trap is a scissor trap, and in this type of trap there is a scissor mechanism which needs to be inserted from the surface into an active mole tunnel. Once this is triggered by the mole, the mechanism quickly and efficiently kills the animal.
Go back to the main Mole Removal page for more information about mole prevention, and more information about how to keep moles away.
