3 Ways To Get Rid of Moles in Your Lawn
When it comes to moles, we have a real love-hate vibe going on. On one hand, we absolutely adore those stocky, brown, velvety, wedge-shaped, pink-nosed, squinty-eyed mammals. The moles that get a kick out of burrowing around underground with their spade-like paws and claws as they look for yummy earthworms to eat. But flip that coin over and there’s not a lot of things more annoying than seeing your lovely lawn covered in the Himalayan mountain range of mole hills.
That’s not to say there are no benefits to having a lawn full of moles because there are. In fact, moles are amazing at making your soil healthier by simply digging it up, which is nothing more than another method of aeration. Not only this, but their tunnels are actually great at fixing soil compaction and improving drainage. So, you won’t have to worry about great big puddles sitting on your lawn after every heavy rainfall. Basically, moles are one of the most unsung heroes when it comes to lawn care… but they can also cross a line.
Moles and their holes
You see, for a lot of home-owners that have dreamed of a lush, green, blemish-free lawn, moles can be an absolute nightmare. They burrow around beneath the surface, leaving a range of volcano-shaped mounds of soil across your once perfect lawn. And sure, they may not actively eat any of your lawn’s grass roots, but they still seriously disrupt said root system with their constant burrowing and searching for food. That’s what gives your mole-saturated lawn a spongy feel when you walk across it: the tunnels, of which there are two types.
Feeding tunnels: these sit just beneath the surface of your lawn and appear as raised ridges that run across your lawn.
Uniting tunnels: sitting a little deeper in the soil, these tunnels allow the moles to unite, linking their different feeding tunnels so they create a clever network system.
And it’s the soil from these uniting tunnels that tends to get piled up into the little Kilimanjaro’s you see when you look out of your window. So with that in mind, here are the top three ways to get rid of moles in your lawn.
Get Rid of Their Food Supply
Just like every other creature on the planet, moles need food to survive. And they love nothing more than eating grubs, beetles, larvae and worms. So if you want to get rid of moles from your lawn, your first move should be getting rid of grubs. Easy. If that doesn’t work, however, probably because the moles are loving the endless tasting menu of worms as opposed to beetles and grubs, you might want to find another way to eliminate them. There’s just too many benefits to having earthworms rooting around your lawn. So you don’t want to take them out just to deal with your mole problem. That won’t help you out in the long run at all.
Instead, focus on your battle with any bugs, beetles and larvae knowing that the less of these in your lawn, the less attractive your garden will be to moles. And if that doesn’t work, then move onto the next method: repellents.
Use Repellents To Get Rid of Moles
When we were growing up, our old man would stick a mole trap into every mole hill that popped up. This method always made us a little queasy, partly because it seemed like a pretty extreme first port of call. Luckily, there is another method you can try first that is all about repelling moles from your garden. With using different methods and ingredients. The trick is learning which ones work best for you:
Dog poo and fish scraps:
Not so surprisingly, given their great sense of smell, moles find the stench of dog excrement and rotting fish seriously repulsive. So try filling a few of their tunnels with the stuff.
Wind chimes:
Moles don’t like unfamiliar noises, even wind chimes rattling away, so putting a couple of these up around your garden could chase them away.
Ground coffee:
Like a lot of pests, moles are not a fan of strong smells, which is why you should scatter a few handfuls of ground coffee around their tunnel and the edge of your garden. What’s more, coffee is a great fertiliser, so your soil will be chuffed too.
Ultrasonic stakes:
Harnessing the power of sound pulses that vibrate through the ground, ultrasonic stakes are a great way to scare moles elsewhere.
Flower power:
Believe it or not, there are certain species of flowers that are thought to repel moles, such as daffodils, marigolds and alliums, so try planting these around your garden to get rid of your mole problem.
DIY solution:
For whatever reason, moles are not a fan of castor oil, so try mixing three-parts castor oil with one-part dish soap and water, and then soak any tunnels you can see.
Just be aware that each of these methods is used to simply chase any moles away from your lawn. Which could mean they just move a couple of gardens over before setting up camp again. It might make you a little unpopular with your neighbours. So make sure you do all of the above after sundown and in full camouflage gear (including face paints). JK-ing. Sort of.
Use Mole Traps
Despite the few benefits they add to your lawn, moles are typically seen as pests any time they infiltrate a residential lawn. Meaning lethal control methods are usually deployed. That’s where mole traps come in. Not only are they the most reliable method of getting rid of moles permanently. And they are designed to do so in the most humane way possible, unlike a lot of poisons.
From scissors traps to choker traps, harpoon traps to live traps, there is a wide range of traps to suit your mole problem. Almost all of them involve stamping down the soil of an “active” mound (read: tunnel) and then positioning your trap over that area. But it’s not so much the trap you use as to when you use it that will make it more effective. For instance, deploying your traps in early-spring will mean you deal with the problem before the offspring season gets underway. Therefore reducing the chance of a much bigger problem later on in the year.
In Conclusion
Like we said, most moles tend to love life where there’s a lot of beetles and grubs for them to feed on. But they also love lawns that have moist soil, so too much watering could see your lawn become an attractive resort to moles, especially if the areas around your lawn are pretty dry. Either way, there are a few methods you can deploy to get rid of them. These range from humane to lethal, all depending on what you prefer.
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