No bueno, IMO. Harbors plant bugs that jump aboard the fruit trees and uses a lot of water. Also often blooms when trees need to be sprayed with bee killing compounds so you will have to spread a tarp to protect bees.

What did you do to control voles? Commercial growers seem to manage it fine and I've been able to for my mulched trees in my acres of nursery and orchards with plastic coils and cheap bait stations.

The best alternative, IMO, is just to keep lawn scalped with a weed whacker under trees until about mid-july, then let things grow until things flower and whack again so no seeds are made- seeds encourage voles- especially high protein legume seeds, I bet.

I'm more interested in edible living mulch, as opposed to nitrogen fixing. Edibles play right into the food forest concept. I allow nasturtiums, chives, cilantro, arugula (and whatever else) to grow and reseed outside and along the drip line of my trees. Works great in fairly fertile soil and in a less manicured type of landscape. The potential is pretty much limitless.

Harvestman I thought about the bees too...that is the biggest drawback. Thing is the "lawn" aspect of my orchard is mainly all dutch white clover also. DW clover doesn't really grow all that tall, so I'm unclear on how it would harbor any more insects than a grass lawn. As far as commercial orchards, most of the ones around here are on mountaintops for frost reasons. You will never find deep (36") of dark fertile loam on any mountain top anywhere. In fact this soil is pretty rare anywhere around here other than deep valleys. Voles love the loam because it holds the organic material that the different larvae feed on and the voles feed on the larvae. Basically what I'm saying is I seriously doubt those orchards have the vole pressure I do. From what I've read many commercial orchards do indeed have serious vole issues anyway.
Isn't there some sort of solution? I want easy maintenance...I can turn a quick tight turn with the tractor and be done if I don't have to get in under the tree to mow.
What have I done for voles? Remember that movie Caddyshack?

Moles feed on larvae. Voles feed on plant matter. Do you have moles or voles?

Rhizo is correct. Moles feed on grubs, voles feed on seeds/plants/trees.

Fruit specialists recommend a product like Stinger to get rid of blooming crops like clover in the orchard for the sake of protecting bees from sprays, and to reduce plant bug populations. I plan to start using it next year. For anyone interested, it is available on the internet in quart sized bottles.

Wow...didn't know that. Last year I even looked up the difference in photos, but didn't catch that. So Voles it is then. That explains why they tore thru the peach tree roots like they did. I guess they feed on the roots too? I've heard just the other day you could kill them by placing a mouse trap baited with peanut butter over a active tunnel and placing an upside down weighted bucket over top. I wonder if that was for moles or voles? I wonder if it works?
Either way I suspect the nice soil encourages them because tunneling is so ridiculously easy for them. Digging a hole here isn't even like work, it's as easy as digging sand at the beach.

I used to always trap my voles with baited mechanical traps over a couple of acres. I used about 50 traps and trays (one for every 3 traps or so) usually used for mixing up small batches of cement and would begin trapping in mid-fall.

At that time of the year I could also get pine voles which are the subteranian voles that eat roots instead of just collars. Just would keep moving the traps and trays until I covered the whole property and it worked until a couple of years ago when skunks and other animals would flip the trays to get the peanuts in the traps.

Now I use small locking bait stations which can hold a single mouse trap or poison bait- or both.

Harvestman,

Are you concerned about secondary poisoning with the bait?

We had vole and rabbit damage over the winter this year. It is the first time its really been a problem for me.

We also have the 2nd batch of Great Horned Owl young in 3 years and often see raptors overhead.

I'm already a bit concerned using poison in the house and have not done it out in the field.

The common poisons used nowadays in fruit orchards cause very little risk of secondary poisonings. They take a while to kill the voles and more than one feeding so the amount of poison in them when they die is not lethal to predators. My sister is a vet and told me this is also true of most over the counter rodent poisons now.

Tell me more about these locking bait stations. I'm only concerned with killing the voles. There are a few grey squirrels here and although they have stole a plum or two, I'm willing to put up with them. My little girl would be awfully mad at Daddy if he was killing squirrels. This is one of the reasons I quit with the poison pellets. I really don't want to hurt the rabbits either or God forbid a dog...I'd never forgive myself.

Appleseed, Doityourself pest control has a number of bait stations for sale, including a type that can lock a baited trap so you don't need to use poison.

The problem with trying to create a world to a child's liking is that sooner or later she must live in the real world. That's just a throw away comment. Like most parents, I know nothing about parenting.

I'm gonna go check it out right now Harvestman...thanx.
As far as "the real world" and little kids go...you're right on that, but being an older father of a girl 3 and a boy 4, I'm cool with them being ignorant of the real world at least for a little while anyway. Mainly because I'm not so fond of it myself.

I'm kind of fond of killing vermin- well, at least squirrels- coons are a little tough, but that's not the real world for most people. I have to show people that I can be successful at harvesting fruit- if I fail at that, why should they trust me to work for them.

Yeah...I understand. For me...killing is overrated.

Yeah...I understand. For me...killing is overrated.

I use anything that wont grow too tall. There are a number of plants that you can use to help build soil like comfrey, alfalfa and sages. You can also plant things like onions and chives, which can help detur some pests. Im finding strawberries do pretty good in some of the shade they get. Same with black eye susan. Ive been thinking of using hosta, since they can spread quite well, stay low and choke out grass. Some people even toss in a few small fruiting shrubs.

It seems that you already have clover which is a great soil builder/necter source for bees. Im trying to use it as my primary "filler" and ground cover.

Sounds good Canadian. What do you think about that real low growing purple phlox? I've seen the wild white version of it growing from cracks in solid rock cliffs here so I know it cannot be a heavy feeder. That stuff always looks so nice with no disease issues etc...even where growing with total neglect.

TO: Appleseed70

FROM: Eric Koperek = erickoperek@gmail.com

SUBJECT: Pine Vole Control in Apple Orchards

DATE: PM 4:34 Wednesday 24 February 2016

TEXT:

1. First, make sure that you are dealing with pine voles vs. ordinary moles. Voles eat apple tree roots. Moles don't.
2. Encourage natural predators, especially snakes, owls, foxes, and coyotes. All eat substantial numbers of voles and other rodents.
3. Most folks don't realize that pigs are major predators of voles and other rodents. Graze pigs in your orchards; they will dig up voles, rabbits, and anything else they can eat. Do not put rings in hog's noses or they will not be able to root. Sow Dutch White Clover <i>\= Trifolium repens</i> in your orchard. White clover is sweet and makes good pig food. Hogs like to graze Dutch White Clover.
4. My father's family have been growing apples and other orchard fruits for 800 years. We've learned a few things over the centuries. Take advantage of our experience. Plant buckwheat, hairy vetch \= winter vetch, and turnips in your orchards. This multiple\-species cover crop has many small flowers that provide food and shelter for beneficial predatory and parasitic insects. The good bugs eat the bad bugs so you won't have to spray your trees. Dill, Caraway, Fennel, Coriander, and other small\-flowered plants are also good to seed among trees and field crops. Remember: The good bugs have small mouth parts so they need small flowers in order to feed on pollen and nectar. Big flowers don't work. Always plant small flowers to attract beneficial insects.
5. If your vole problem is so severe that your trees are dying, consider using "armored planting holes". You will need a back hoe, dump truck, heavy chain, an old oil barrel, and great piles of limestone <i>rip\-rap</i> \= lemon to orange sized stones. Dig a really big hole large enough to hold a 55 gallon barrel with 8 inches of clearance around top, sides, and bottom. Fill hole bottom with 8 inches of rocks. Center 55 gallon barrel (with both ends removed) in hole. Carefully fill 8 inches of rocks between barrel and side of hole. Next, fill barrel with topsoil or planting mix. Gently remove barrel by pulling straight up with backhoe and chain. Plant fruit tree in topsoil. Cover exposed topsoil with 8 inches of rocks. Rock encased hole prevents voles from eating enough roots to kill fruit trees. Fruit trees will push roots through rocks.

Nota Bene: You can also use old sections of concrete sewer pipe if these are free or cheap in your area. Dig hole, line bottom with 8 inches of rocks, insert sewer pipe, fill pipe with topsoil, plant tree in topsoil, then cover topsoil with 8 inches of rocks. Back-fill around sewer pipe with dirt or rocks as needed.

1. If your subsoil is rocky or hard, consider using dynamite to fracture ground before planting fruit trees. Use 1/4 stick of dynamite for each planting hole. Fruit tree roots follow fractures deep into subsoil (well below feeding depths of voles).
2. Plant mint \= <i>Mentha species</i> underneath your fruit trees out to the <i>drip line </i>\= the end of the farthest reaching branch . Field mint, peppermint, and spearmint are the most common species used for rodent control. All mint plants have extensive networks of tough wiry roots containing high concentrations (about 5%) of bad\-tasting mint oil. Rats, mice, and voles will NOT burrow or nest where mint grows because the flavor and aroma of mint are highly repellent. Note: Mint must be irrigated in order to thrive. Apply 1 inch of water weekly. We plant 2 to 3 foot wide beds of mint around all of our summer kitchens, granaries, gardens, out buildings, and house foundations. Mint keeps rodents away without resort to traps and poisons.
3. I hope this information helps you to protect your fruit trees. Pine voles can be highly expensive pests. I have a friend in Virginia who lost an entire orchard to pine voles before he out\-smarted the vermin.
4. For more information on old\-fashioned biological agriculture please visit: www.agriculturesolutions.wordpress.com \-\- or \-\- www.worldagriculturesolutions.wordpress.com \-\- or \-\- send your questions to: Agriculture Solutions, 413 Cedar Drive, Moon Township, Pennsylvania, 15108 USA \-\- or \-\- send an e\-mail to: erickoperek@gmail.com