I did a search and really didn't find anything that would help me, so I was wondering if I could get some advice from y'all. I'm cross posting this to the rose and container gardening forum.
I have an awful vole problem. We've caught 8 in less than a week in one bed alone. In this bed, I'd planted an 'Awakening' last summer to climb up lattice attached to a wall of my house. It did OK, but was dead this Spring--I figured it was winter killed. So, I ordered an 'Eden' and planted it in the same place. In less than a week it had been chewed off, so war was declared. I've since bought 'New Dawn' and plan to fashion a "pot" out of hardware cloth in which to plant it. This is just some vole background to show what a problem I have.
The advice I need is for another area. We have an arbor in front of a gate in the back yard. I want to plant a climber on either side of that arbor, but there's been vole activity there, too, and I don't want to waste any more roses if I can help it. Can I plant the two roses--I'm leaning towards 'Eden' but am open to better ideas (want rebloomers with strong scent) and love the English roses--in large containers? What sort of winter protection will I need? Any other hints/tips/warnings are appreciated.
Thanks for any help,
Barbara
Roses in containers
I don't have voles, Barbara, but I do have gophers and they probably do the same things to plants. Gophers love the roses with the strongest scents. Do voles? I have never been able to plant a Mr. Lincoln rose successfully. The gophers find them within days. I have roses in containers but they have to be really big and the roses never do as well as the ones in the ground. In one case, the gopher actually ate through the bottom of one of my containers to get to the rose roots, so they're not foolproof unless you set them on something the gopher can't travel through. I've grown so desperate that I now dig a really big hole, put in lots of gopher poison, cover that with a little bit of soil, and then plant the rose. It sounds terribly bloodthirsty, I know, but it seems to be working.
Thanks, Zuzu. I think gophers are probably larger than voles--they're more like mouse size. I don't know about the scent thing, but there are certain things they love to eat--lilies, iris, hostas, to name a few. So far, they haven't bothered my daylilies (probably shouldn't brag about that yet, LOL). I am going to plant the New Dawn in a hardware cloth "pot" but that won't be possible for the arbor. I ordered 2 Climbing James Galways today from Heirloom Roses and discussed my situation with them at length. The person I talked to seemed to think they would do fine in a large, deep pot. I guess I'll find out ;-)
Barbara
My MIL mentioned (and I think I've seen this somewhere recently as well) hearing that using "pumice stones" (aka lava rock, I think, probably the small gravel sized ones) around the roots of plants (line the planting hole with them) will protect them from voles. The sharp edges on the lava rock bothers their sensitive little snouts, and they decide to go elsewhere for an easier meal. Makes sense.