Epidemic

Many in New England have been made drunk and euphoric by the spring weather this week.  Alas, my poor garden must cope with the winter hangover before rejoicing can happen.

The maladies are many. 

My poor tree peonies suffered compound fractures in all extremities.  The carnage was complete.  A good doctor seeks to understand the mechanisms of injury.  Wet snow fell, ice storms covered the wet snow.  All further snow storms added weight to the bent arms and legs, until they screamed and broke.

I'm a terrible peony-mom.  I didn't hear the screams until it was far too late.

A whole host of plants didn't live through the winter. Consumption got 'em.  Dead stems keeled over.   Pull at the stems, and the gardener-doctor is confronted with this.

Voles ate every single root on many plants.  Plants that winter over without stems simply disappeared, their previous locations marked by shallow depressions in the soil. 

Winters without snow cover kill plants from dehydration, cold, and exposure.  Winters with protective snow cover give rodents their shot at all the best entrees, desserts and appetizers.

Castor oil doesn't work.  Volebloc slows them down.  Maybe.  I'm planting in wire cages for now.  It simply sucks.  I asked one of my patients, a landscaper, what to do about voles.

He laughed, without humor, replete with irony.  "Feed 'em," he advised.

So I either put out food to decoy them briefly and help them survive?  Or feed them expensive perennials?  I think I'll go sniff some wool fumes tomorrow.  No matter what I buy at Connecticut Sheep and Wool, it will be less expensive than feeding voles.

I do want to end on a positive note.  If you aren't reading Sheepgal, you should.  Her descriptions of lambing and lambs bring it all home.  It is funny, amazing, joyous, and sad as Barb Parry takes you through her spring on the farm.

Lantern Moon sent me replacement needles for the incorrectly sized #7s.  They sent me ten to replace two.  I will email the customer service representative to see if that really is what was supposed to happen.  Right now, I'm feeling the warm glow of excellent customer service in response to the problem. 

Comments

[--Deb]

See? The most we've got is some grass and some shrubbery . . . no gardening to worry about! (Not that any of us has the least talent for yardwork.)

[Marcia Cooke]

We've got moles/voles for the first time in decades. We're trying Milky Spore and I'll let you know. Sniff some wool for me.....and thanks for reminding me about Barb's blog. I lost all my Bloglines back when the computer was misbehaving and am still reconstructing.

[Chris]

When I first moved to this house, my immediate neighbors and I woke one morning to discover we all had a lot of dug up areas in our lawns. Turns out it was my cat going after the moles or voles (I never got a really good look at the remains). Within that first summer, that good kitty cleared pretty much all of our yards of those subterranean pests. Now if I could just interest her in the damn grubs!

[Julie]

Once upon a time I had a serious infestation of moles. One of my garden catalogs offered something called "mole plant", a member of the Euphorbiaceae which proved quite effective in repelling the critters. They were gone by summer's end, off to pester someone further down the street.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphorbia_lathyris

[margene]

So much destruction from winters force. You will have a busy gardening season. Enjoy the wool festival and all the knitbuds!

[Danielle]

I wish I could become a gardener. I love the look of a well-tended plant, but I just don't enjoy grubbing around in the dirt. (Yes, a bit of a princess here, why do you ask?) I was hoping I might marry someone with a green thumb and a desire to mulch, but alas, he is no more inclined than I am.

[Lynn]

I was having trouble with pine voles eating my hostas underground, so I asked the state mammalogist what to do - he suggested putting a moth ball by each plant. He wasn't sure that would work, but thought it worth a try. Well, I don't know if it was causation or correlation, but I've had no more troubles with hostas disappearing ftom the bottom up, since I tried the moth balls.

[Sylvia]

Moth balls might work, but they are carcinogenic so weigh your options...

If you can get a vole-catching cat, that is the best solution. I've had a few over the years and they were rather wonderful, though when they ran out of voles and moles they wiped out things like, oh, dozens of quail and cottontail rabbits.

[Teyani]

I wonder if its the voles that are breaking off and eating tops of my my flowers at night? (yes, literally - huge tulip heads gone, with only a partial crumb or two of petal left.)
I can already see the bulges where their tunnels are forming underground.
So the zen book I spoke of said to make an underground fence line at least 2 feet deep using hardware cloth (whatever that is)
hmmm. I think I'm going to try those little pinwheel things that blow 'round in the wind. Supposedly the thump thump that echos in the ground deters the voles & moles.

Great post btw- good thing there's a doctor in the house (grin) and those broken bones can be mended & consumption medicated !

[juno]

Not the tree peonies! Sniff....

[Lorette]

I have a rodent-catching cat I'll mail you. I'll warn you, you will need a strong stomach to put up with daily rodent remains that he brings to us in the house. Sometimes he just leaves the feet, sometimes entrails, sometimes he just sucks the brains out and leaves the rest. I'm sure it's all part of some bizarre kitty religious ritual.

[Marcy]

EVIL little fuckers! You needs you some kittycats.

[Dyepotgirl]

The one thing that I've had pretty good luck with for moles and voles around favorite plants is ground oyster shells. You put them in the holes when you are planting your plants and mix them in the dirt. What I was told is that the edges of the shells are really sharp and cut the moles/voles feet so they avoid the area. My lawn is LOUSY with the pesky creatures. It looks like Swiss cheese in the spring, but I manage to save my Japanese Iris etc by using oyster shells. If the nasty creature is eating your plant roots then it's a vole. Moles are carnivorous! Good luck on your mission!

[Kate/Massachusetts]

Hmmm...there is a sale on tree peonies on this website:
http://www.kvbwholesale.com/store/peonies/treepeonies/64679
I've never bought from them but the other knitters who have are happy with the product/service.

Would a cat help with the voles? I feed the birds but to keep the squirrels away from the birdseed, I buy Critter Food to feed them. It is in the birdseed section at Stop and Shop. They leave my feeders alone. Maybe feeding Critter food to the voles would keep them away from your peonies. Try calling Weston Nursery in Hopkinton and ask their advice. I seem to recall you are in Massachusetts or is my memory miswired? lol