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Beginner Flowers: Looking for plants to discourage critters

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Forum: Beginner FlowersReplies: 6, Views: 82
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MassToWy
Cheyenne, WY

November 23, 2008
12:43 AM

Post #5821559

I just moved to Cheyenne Wyoming from the East Coast.
We have 8 acres and share the land with moles, voles and ground squirrels.
Although I am willing to share most of the land with them, I would like to discourage their hole digging too close to the house. Is there anything - flowers, ground covers, plants - that these critters don't like and would move away from?
ecrane3
Dublin, CA
(Zone 9a)

November 23, 2008
01:32 AM

Post #5821662

Moles don't eat plants (although they do collateral damage to them as they tunnel around looking for grubs and things), one way to manage them is to use milky spore to control the grub population, if they don't have anything to eat then they will move on to someplace that does. I don't have any of your critters but I do have gophers and planting repellent plants has not helped--they don't eat those particular plants but they eat the other things in the area (and there's not a very good selection of attractive things that are not tasty for gophers so assuming that's true for voles and ground squirrels as well, you may not have a very pretty garden if you stick with planting things that aren't tasty). I'll check back in tomorrow and if nobody's given you any specific advice on voles and ground squirrels I can share what all I've tried for the gophers--not sure if the same things would work for your critters or not though.
dp72
Woodway, TX
(Zone 8a)

November 23, 2008
01:40 AM

Post #5821674

Please, what is a vole? I could use Google, but like 99% of Dave's folk, for some reason I ask here instead.
ecrane3
Dublin, CA
(Zone 9a)

November 23, 2008
01:47 AM

Post #5821683

They look kind of like mice, but they destroy your garden. They will munch on stuff above ground, but they also make burrows (or sometimes use old mole tunnels and things) and munch on the roots too.
duck_toller
Middleton, WI
(Zone 4b)

November 23, 2008
01:24 PM

Post #5822707

Decrease food they like (grubs) as much as possible. Make your habitat friendly to predators (snakes, fox, and hawks). Plant non-tasty items like onion family.
NCButterfly
Apex, NC

December 27, 2008
04:23 PM

Post #5933427

For the moles like someone else said get rid of the grubs and they will go.
Voles are a horse of a different color they love roots, bulbs of flowers.
You should be able in your area to find a product at your local garden store called Vole Block or Permatil, it is the same product
it is like fine gravel. It is made from expanded slate. When they bite into it, it is like us bitting into egg shell. yuk they do not like it
I use it here in NC for Root drainage because of our clay and Voles
lissa22

January 09, 2009
06:54 PM

Post #5986440

I've had really good luck using Imperial Lily bulbs planted at the edge of all of my flower beds. Locally here we call it a skunk lily because the bulbs STINK!...I live on a farm, so critters are a problem, but this really seems to work. Just plant the bulbs, like any other. Every couple of years I dig up the largest plants, cut it into 4 or so pieces and replant around my beds. It works for me

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