help!!...I'm so discouraged...something is eating my plants

last year I decided begin "flower" gardening , branching out from native plants. so after spending well over $300 (which was a lot to me!!) I planted many lovely plants. Some of them bloomed beautifully....for a few days...then dropped right over & I discovered roots had been a meal foe something that uses about a 1 1/2 in tunnel & comes up once in a while.
Well now some Asiatic Lillie's that were gifts from another DGer have also been munched...All the Roots..same sized tunnel leading to , from and sometimes around. I have seen little "hills" in my yard &last year my poodle caught the weirdest creature. barely any eyes, big webbed front feet snout & tiny tail...it sure squeaked up a storm as Elvis caught it as well as any cat.
What have I got & what can be done. I am broken hearted that much of my hard work & $'s r gone and wonder if I even should plant the things yet to arrive from the numerous coops I have ordered from.
2 summers I killed about a 6' black snake after it had eaten 3 young Carolina Wrens & about a week after it probably had eaten the Bluebird eggs, so...... I don't mind snakes but not after my birds... especially now that Bluebirds are nesting on my bk porch
what little varmint do you think I've got and what do i do. Poisons r not appealing to me due to my dog.

thanks,
SHeri
Ps..in case it helps....I can stick a couple fingers in the hole where they have surfaced and follow it for a distance

Sounds like you have moles invading your garden. I have a terrible problem with them. There are repellents available. Look them up and do some reading for the best method to rid your garden of these little critters. What happens in my garden when they are looking for grubs, is their tunnels dislodge the plants sometimes and then the roots dry out not being in contact with the soil. I would hate to kill anything but between them, the rabbits, the groundhogs and the deer I get so frustrated. They never seem to want to eat the things I don't care about and attack my favorites. I try methods to discourage them from hanging around, actually, without much luck. Still, I keep on trying. Check out the thread on ravenous rabbits and other pests just below this.

This message was edited Mar 7, 2009 8:42 PM

this is not a problem of dislodged , then dried p plants.
Oh whatefver this is is staait out eating my plants. last summer I had new plants ..lovely flowers blooming one day & then sudenly dead...looked and the roots had been eaten. now I'm finding lillies just planted last fall with nearly all of the root bulbs gomne chew marks even showing. One plant saved and the roots spanned appprox 6" around and 4" down...this is how much was eaten off of the other 2. I keep hearing "they dont eat plants, just disturb them". well what does eat them and what do I do. If its the varment that eats grubs, why is it eating my plants also...I cannot believe that that single black snake was keeping all this at bay..& am not sorry for killing it... dont want to lose anymore songbirds to snakes...if I can help it.
so very down about this.
feel like when my coop plants arrive, I should just give em away rather than take the time to plant if just gonna et eaten.

Birdie---

You either have Moles--or Voles......

We had quite a Thread going on all kinds of pests last year.
Here is the link. Please read all about Stormy's battles against the Voles.

It went to part #2--and the link is given at the end of part #1.

Go here--and read and weep!

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/865841/

Birdie, by now you've probably had a chance to read the threads where all of us have sympathized with each other's problems with these d#@*^)! pests! Sorry to hear that you've got the same problems we do. We've tried everything...except poison and are still losing the battle :(

I nearly feel like telling those soon to mail me my coop plants just to give them away. with my Fibro , back,knees, etc...the discomfort and work involved in planting all these potential lovelies...only as food for these varmints is just too much to bear.
Hopefully some of the things I've ordered are not yummy to these varmints.
SO...now I guess my next question is what types of plants seem to be their favorites and what is any do they ignore. I just refuse to spend any more money or work providing fine dining here for voles!!
In tears over what were plans for a lovely garden!!
Since Elvis caught 1 last year and does dig for them...I dare not use any of these suggestions as they all seem to hint of poisen.

Sorry I can't be more encouraging, but I don't think they're "selective" - they tunnel through anything :( You probably read where Stormyla made wire cages for a lot of her plants but here's another option you might want to try - one of our local gardeners swears by it! Cut away the bottom of the pot and plant them "in" their pots. Supposedly when they run into the edges of the pot they turn away. I'm with you regarding the poison, no one can convince me that there is 100% proof it won't hurt our cat, who is regularly on the prowl for them. Now that the dog has started digging for them as well, I'm not taking any chances!

Birdie, I am sorry for all your eaten plants. It is so frustrting. I have been out in the last couple mild days and finding extensive tunnels too. They have really made use of deep mulch spots, plants that caught debris, and boards edging the beds as places to hide their tunnels and entrances.
You saw a mole but you definitely have voles eating the roots. I think all the Amaryllis family is safe which includes daffodils and lycoris.
I have a several year old hardy Geranium macrophyllum with a large void under it. I don't know if they dislike these roots, or if the plant is just big enough to have survived thus far.
Groundcover areas make really good (bad) home grounds to foster voles.

I just don't understand why there is suddenly a problem. I've been here nearly 15 yrs and am just seeing this problem.
I did kill a large black snake last spring...but I cannot believe that single snake had been keeping all of these guys in check all those years...maybe so.....but is that is the case, given the choice between flowers and baby bird eating snakes or voles eating the flowers, I think I would still be for ridding the snakes to protect the baby birds....
thanks to everybody that has b=given good suggestions.
Last year I did use more mulch than ever before, but......awww heck!
some say...kill the grubs..well that takes poison too, so is out....Mercy!

Same frustration here :( We started these gardens in '94 and have never had problems like this until a few years ago. Seems like every time we expand the gardens more and more show up - of course where there was once hard clay, there is now fluffed soil and mulch for them to hide. I'll continue to battle them however frustrating it is because I'm not going to give up on the gardens!

Killing the grubs does not require poison, you can use milky spore or nematodes.

Well the poor snake has to eat too...^_^

^_^ not anymore ^_^

where does one obtain these "you can use milky spore or nematodes"??
I thought the spore was something bad and nematodes just another garden bug???

Birdie,

You can buy Milky Spore at HD. It comes in a can about the size of a Maxwell can of coffee. It is not cheap--but you only have to apply it once....

It is applied in a grid fashion all over the lawn about 3"- 4' apart. A tsp. at each corner.
It takes about 3-4 years to colonize all over and is effective for life...

It helps if your neighbors also apply, as beetles can fly your way from the neighbors as well. Make it a community project!

Google it--and you will find out all about it. G.