Outsmarting Garden Pests

Each year, homeowners across the UK are forced to contend with a host of creatures than can lay waste to an expensive and otherwise well-maintained landscape.

Pete Jameson, the owner of Dynamic Pest Control in Cheshire said his company has helped local residents combat insects and rodents for more than 50 years. Mr. Jameson said he gets called most often to eliminate populations of mosquitoes, ticks and fleas, but he said voles are the greatest concern for gardeners.

"It's a type of meadow mouse," he explained, describing the garden pest. He noted that voles feed above and below the ground, but they are different from moles. Moles burrow beneath the ground searching for earthworms and grubs, while voles feed on organic material.

A mole can disturb the surface of a lawn and hurt any root structures in its path. Voles specifically target stems and root systems and can severely damage or kill pricey plants as a result, according to the pest expert. "Some plants may even fall over because the root structure has been destroyed," Mr. Jameson said.

Voles eat all sorts of plants, including ornamentals, rose bushes and flowers, as well as tomatoes and other vegetables. Because the rodents can travel beneath the snow cover, voles operate year-round and they must be dealt with using a maintenance system rather than one-time treatments. "They’re very prevalent," Mr. Jameson said, noting that he's frequently called to manage vole problems.

Property owners can identify a vole problem by looking for subterranean plant damage and small, 1- to 1½-inch holes at the base of plants and trees. A person with a sharp eye can often spot the creatures skittering around the garden during the day, Mr. Jameson said, describing the animal as a "plump mouse with a short tail."

Exterminating voles is the only way to deal with the problem and there are a wide variety of contraptions on the market to kill them. It has been known for people to go so far as to attach a hose to the exhaust pipe of their car and blow carbon monoxide into a vole hole, but a mouse-trap baited with peanut butter or an apple is just as effective.

"There's no repellent," Mr. Jameson said, concurring that traps and poisoning via a 'bait station' are the best ways to deal with voles.

Though they do not affect plants, mosquitoes, fleas and ticks can also be a garden problem and often a danger to humans and pets.

Fleas have become less of an issue since the introduction of Frontline, an over-the-counter veterinary product that keeps the tiny bugs from surviving. The safest and most environmentally friendly way to deal with the various parasites is to spray the property with a botanical product rather than an insecticide. Mr. Jameson uses a mixture of oils, including rosemary, peppermint and wintergreen to repel all three species.

Article provided by Dynamic Pest Control