Some moles are a problem though. Here in the Northwest where I live a common mole is the Townsend’s mole (I believe the largest mole in North America) and this guy does eat quite a lot of garden goods and vegetation along with bugs.

Other problems moles may cause include eating up your beneficial earthworms, pulling up little seedlings, disfiguring your lawn – although make sure that a mole is your actual problem. Sometimes gophers and /or field mice cause damage and it looks like a mole did it.

To fix your mole problems:

First make sure you need to get rid of your mole. If he’s not being a problem – i.e not munching on your plants badly you may want him around. Mole damage is only really noticeable if you have a lawn so having only garden plots and no lawn is one way around this. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has an excellent piece on Practicing Mole Tolerance that I highly suggest reading.

If you like your lawn better than the mole though you can try planting hyacinths and castor oil plants which moles don’t like or try a castor oil repellent. Castor oil repellents only have a so-so success level, but it’s a non-toxic way to go so try it first. After that you can try wire mesh or let your dog cruise the garden. If using wire mesh (1/4-inch mesh) bury it about 20 inches deep around the perimeter of your garden plot or lawn. My local Oregon extension notes that people with dogs report fewer mole issues, so maybe dogs scare them off.

Lethal mole trapping, poisoning and stunning all seem extreme in my opinion plus in some states you need a permit from the Department of Wildlife and Fish to do so. PLUS you could catch an innocent animal or even a family pet. Lethal is lethal to all small animals not just moles so I’d think long and hard before going that route.

Do you have useful garden moles or pesky ones?

[image via wiki commons]

Post from: Blisstree

Deal with garden moles

To control slugs naturally:

• Prevention is your first step. Keep a clean garden, get rid of excessive garden pots (slugs like to hide under them), and make sure that foliage doesn’t become overgrown. Also choose plants that are naturally slug un-friendly. Slugs won’t eat everything, so plant what they don’t like to eat.
• Become a slug hunter. Nighttime is a good time to hunt slugs with a flashlight. You can remove them from your garden manually. If you’re not collecting and dropping slugs off elsewhere you can drop them in a bucket of soapy water to kill them.
• Use natural methods such as traps filled with beer or water mixed with yeast.
• Copper barriers can be used around at risk plants and some people note that a layer of gravel or ground oyster shell will halt slugs as well, although copper works best and doesn’t cost that much.

[image via stock.xchng]

Post from: Blisstree

Control slugs naturally without chemicals

This is a problem that almost everyone who gardens faces. Snails and slugs can put an end to some of your best plants overnight. It is really irritating to have your eye on an almost ripe strawberry, allow it to ripen for one more night, and have it half eaten in the morning.

There are several things you can do that have nothing to do with chemicals or poisons.

First is to change the way you water. You see, snails like moisture. If you water at night the area around the plant will hold more moisture and the snails will thrive. If you water in the morning it will dry up a bit by night time.

Next…Beer. Bury a wide mouth jar up to it’s neck in the dirt, and add about 1/ inch of beer on the bottom. Snails and slugs witll be drawn to it and fall in and drown. But they will die happy.

Seaweed is a natural snail deterrent. I am not sure why but it works.

Diatomaceous Earth is good for everything.  It kills snails and slugs because of the sharpness of the particles. They dehydrate.

You can also sprinkle coarse cornmeal around the plants.  Slugs have very sensitive skin and dislike the feel of the cornmeal.

Keep your garden clean from debris, and things cause moist areas. Keep in mind that snails and slugs like dark, damp places so keep your garden light and dry.

Image:Morguefile 

Post from: Blisstree

Natural Snail/Slug Control