Voles in vegetable garden - revisited once again

Last year I continued the thread on this subject at http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/740278/. I thought we had finally found the solution, but what a surprise to find this critter this spring. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=4957797 . The claws on this small bug dig holes and tunnels the same as voles and eat the roots of the vegetables. Any suggestions for getting rid of this latest problem will be greatly appreciated!!!!

You are really having a rough time. I am so sorry to hear about your troubles. I hope you find your solution. I had voles last year but they didn't bother my garden. AND when I found out that voles (and moles) come around when there are grubs, I treated for grubs. No more grubs no more voles. So if you treat your lawn for grubs the vole/mole problem should also disappear. I use milky spore to get rid of the grubs. And it doesn't harm beneficial microorganisms.

I don't know how to treat for the insect though.

Mygardens---That is the ugliest thing I have ever seen!!!! Looks like something from a scary outer space movie. I pray they never come west. YUK

I was checking out DG yesterday and came across your sad saga. Then, coincidentally, I came across a new (to me) idea for preventing voles from getting into your garden. Its not a population control effort. It simply keeps them from getting into your root veges. Its a 'good fences make good neighbors' sort of thing. It comes from Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew.

It takes some work but having your harvest back may make it worthwhile.

Dig out your trench/row 6 - 12 inches depending on plant needs.
Line trench (or square) with up-side-down homemade cages made of hardware cloth .

see picture of hardware cloth:
http://post-oil-learning.blogspot.com/2008/04/composting-is-easy-and-cheap.html )

Refill will humusy, friable soil.

Let cage edges sit 1-2 inches above ground as it may thwart cut worms and slugs. The cloth is sharp so cover then with duct tape (yea! duct tape to the rescue, again!)

He must have a web site or blog somewhere. Search "Square Foot Gardening"

Good luck!

God bless your garden!

This message was edited May 20, 2008 11:53 AM

post_oil_living : Nice link, but we did the hardware cloth two years ago and it did not solve the problem. What the link does not mention is that if you go to the trouble and expense of hardware cloth, you should do it with 1/4 inch hardware cloth, not the standard 1/2". At any rate, what we are trying to keep out now is the Mole Cricket. I uploaded a photo to http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=4957797 , so what we are starting today is to build large "pots" with metal screening and plant some of our plants inside the screen pots to see if the plants can build a strong enough root system to produce a better crop before the roots start to grow through the screen. I'll take some photos as we do it.

THOSE ARE HIDEOUS! That's too bad my info can't help...should have qualified everything I said with an "I have no experience inthis...new gardener!"

When I saw the bug I assumed you lived somewhere far from me - like the South where insects can grow to man-eating dimensions - how awful to think these are my neighbors! Anything I can do to prevent them getting in to my neighborhood?

Makes my skin crawl.....