Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
gardenerzone4

Voles and deep mulching

gardenerzone4
12 years ago

Last year, I put a deep mulch of shredded leaves on all my perennial beds and veggie garden in the fall. This summer, we started having a vole problem, which we've never had before. Rather than burrowing under the mulched areas, however, the voles seem to have concentrated their activity in and around the sweet potatoes and carrots, which were not mulched.

After harvest, I tilled the beds where the voles had been active and filled in the tunnels, hoping that removing their habitat will encourage them to go elsewhere. I don't want to poison or trap them, because in time, I believe that the predator population (neighborhood cats, birds of prey, etc.) will catch up and exert control. But I'm not sure what to do about mulching now.

This fall, I was planning to shred a lot of other people's bagged leaves as a topdressing to replenish my mulched beds. But with voles in the vicinity (my neighbor's got them too in his mulched berms), should I still mulch? I've read that waiting until the ground freezes to add more mulch is an option because supposedly the voles would have tunneled elsewhere by then. But does that really work?

I believe in deep mulching and have started all my beds using sheet composting. In fact, I'm planning to start another bed using the lasagna method this year. But my faith in sheet composting and deep mulching have been shaken by the vole invasion.

Was the deep mulching to blame for attracting voles? Should I still mulch this year? Has you been successful at avoiding voles by mulching after the ground freezes? What can I do to still mulch but not create a habitat for voles? What can I use to repel the voles from my yard (dog/cat fur/urine)?

(Please don't suggest that I kill the voles, because I would rather let nature take its course. And poisoning voles might mean poisoning the neighborhood cats who prey on them, which I definitely don't want to do.)

Comments (4)