Now is the time

[moonraker]

Well it is January and here in France and the UK All the leaves have fallen and if you failed to rake them up (leaf mold is good both to the soil and the compost)
It is also a great Favourable food for the worms And nature being nature "The worms are a Favourable food for the mole family !!!!!!! And as the worms try to pull the leaves down under ground the mole's start now in January to dig huge Mole hills all over the lawns /Orchards, And have a feast, So again now is a good time to start using the MOLE traps,
You can buy all kinds of man made traps (I use a device that is operated by batteries and an explosive charge)

But again as i keep on saying "By reading those old garden books" I can tell you a little story of how the Victorian folk got rid of their Mole problem,

The wealthy employed staff both to clean the house / cook / Do the washing etc etc And also all the Gardening, It was the norm in these huge houses for the bed room to have a chamber Pot & the young chamber maids job was to have these pot's emptied !!!!

The head gardener would send the youngest journey man (apprentice gardener) to go to the main house and collect all the chamber pots and empty each one into the water container on wheels and then this "Urine" would be used to both feed the plants and also watered over the compost heap (It help's rot the compost a little quicker) But it was found that the Mole did not like the smell of the urine and so not only was the house urine watered into the mole hole "But the garden staff we're encouraged to also feel free to urinate down the mole's freshly dug hole, Hence this was so good at deterring the mole's the normal country gardener could be seen often kneeling down and doing his bit down the mole's entrance,
Could you imagine your neighbors returning on a Sunday morning from church and catching the gardener on his knees , ( NO NO You have it wrong, I am getting rid of the Mole's "honest"
SO regarding pest and getting them in order, It is a very good thing to understand your garden and when to do things, Now is also a very good time to start to spread Garden Lime on top of the soil, Lime not only kills a lot of the insect you do not want in the garden "But it also does wonders to the soil and gives the soil a higher PH. reading, If you apply it now the rain /frost etc will help it soak down into the soil, (I use the powder sort of Lime as i find it soaks into the ground faster)
Well I think this is enough for the new to gardening to think about "But I'll leave you with a very true Irish saying and it's this

Good gardens are never made by lazing about in the shade !!!

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Badger crosses my garden, he used to come up into the veg bit and dig, plenty of worms there, but I found If I mark the border between his trodden path across the garden and the veg patch with urine he does not stray across it. I let him come down the house end and take the occasional scoop out of the lawn.
I remember a radio program in which they said people camping wild in the USA could prevent bears invading the camp if the men urinated around it. Seems like men and women smell different?

 

[roadrunner]

I see moles as a beneficial animal in my yard. They eat a few worms, but they also eat other types of grubs and they aerate the soil. I like moles.

As for other "pests" I don't like to use any pesticides, I like to control the pests by encouraging biodiversity and attracting beneficial insects and birds.

However, I do collect leaves and other yard waste from various yards around for composting. People don't know what they're throwing away -- it's Black Gold!!

 

[moonraker]

Hi roadrunner,
That was a good thread you did,
Your so right about waste, Even when getting the veg ready for dinners etc, I read an interesting write up by a French chief (but i can not remember his name) I know he turned his back on the star rating system as a load of rubbish
"Yet he had been rewarded 5 star's many times and he said so many people chuck the cabbage stalk in the waste bin when in fact that was the part of the cabbage most full of everything the cabbage had to offer, it is full of goodness and that's why the cabbage head was being fed (by the stalk) He stewed the stalk and used it,
The same went for peeling potato "His thought was wash the potato with the peel on and then cook/fry what ever way you wanted to use the Potato, When you think about it he may well be write !!! But we do waste a lot and to compost it a worth while thing to do.
Nice talking you road runner, talk to you soon, have a nice day.

 

[roadrunner]

Thanks, I just like using nature (biodiversity) instead of synthetic chemicals or even so-called "natural" chemicals to grow healthy plants. Living in the near-tropics of Florida, we have our fair share of bugs, but I totally rely on working with nature; I lost many plants in the beginning, but as they say, Build it and they will come... and they did arrive.

Now my plants do just fine.

 

[MiniOrchardDude]

I hate moles! They are my only enemy right now. Took care of the deer, skunks, raccoons and possums. Birds I am starting to accept them now that we have enough food for everyone.

Moles have killed a lot of my new bare root plantings. I have one spot I will have to put screen around. They killed my hazelnut 2 times in the same spot in 2 separate years. It would have had hazelnuts by now.

I have tried all sorts of traps. I have caught a few with each trap but nothing good enough to make a difference.

I love the explosion one and did something similar. Got ride of a groundhog with a bunch of bottle rockets down his burrow. The pop was a thud since it went down deep. Never saw him again. Beat another one with my garden water wand. Best garden weapon available I should holster one when I'm out there.

MOD