"Charlie Pridham" wrote after...
Bob Replied to
"Kathy" wrote
I've been lurking for a bit, but now I've got a question to ask please.

My friend and I took on an allotment in November. We have started
clearing it, but have been invaded by moles! Any ideas on non-harmful
ways of discouraging them? We've asked them nicely to go and burrow
through the bits we haven't dug yet but they wont play.
TIA

A friend of mine used to import a produce called "Mole Away" from the USA
which people said worked well, unfortunately DEFRA found out and told him
it
needed testing at enormous cost in order to be sold here. Uneconomic to
continue so he stopped importing it.
Thing is, it was basically Caster Oil, which you poured into the run and
the
smell drove the animals away.


Not having moles here, but is it possible to put barriers around? or do
they have to go too deep?
I had thought that there was too much fuss made about moles on this
newsgroup until I visited my cousin up near Cambridge, they can not
safely walk across their garden its so undermined!
I understand its a bit of a compliment to have moles as it means lots of
worms and good healthy soil :~)

We had them turn up right at the end of our tenure of our old allotment and
the little furry things dug right along a row of plants and undermined them.
The plants suffered badly.
We now have them on our "new" allotment, presumably because there are now
worms there, we having manured the ground well, and we now have a couple of
children's windmills stuck in the ground to try to discourage them. It's an
on old trick which has appeared to stop them coming onto the plot where the
windmills are. Will have to purchase some more to keep the whole plot mole
free and they need turning into the wind as it changes so they keep spinning
and vibrating.
I can only imagine what some of our "new" allotment gardeners think. :-)

--
Regards
Bob Hobden