Hello All,

Have you ever met a vole, not the water vole but the more common bank vole ?

It's not that I dislike voles, but an old friend of my wife gave her 1,200
daffodil bulbs. Over a period of 3 - 4 years they have all vanished.

We can only assume that our plague of voles have done the damage.

Not having come across massed hordes of these creatures before, I looked at
them with mild interest. I am a great animal lover, you see.

However, we began to notice their holes everywhere and they got quite
cheeky, peeking at us during the day !

When our daffodils began diminishing rapidly, I happened to notice that,
over our acre or so, there were neat holes drilled in the ground about every
2 ft.

No vole hills or anything like that, just masses and masses of holes and
under and overground tunnels where the grass in the field had been a bit
long over winter.

What to do about them ? They are not considered to be pests, and we were
quoted 60 uk pounds per hole !! Without doing an exact calculation I think
that it would cost us a cool 500,000 or so.

Nor do I really want to harm them too much. Anyway, we do have a kestrel and
an owl about, and a bombardment of buzzards.

Jeyes fluid is a comparatively simple and "natural" chemical - phenols, that
break down in the soil - I am thinking of stopping up each hole with soil
and pouring in diluted Jeyes fluid in the hope that it will drive them away.

Any other ideas ? They will all be welcome.

John N.

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We can only assume that our plague of voles have done the damage

Most likely not, daffodils are somewhat toxic.

The message
from (IntarsiaCo) contains these words:

We can only assume that our plague of voles have done the damage

Most likely not, daffodils are somewhat toxic.

I agree. Our last garden had zillions of both voles and multiplying
daffodils, and I never saw a chewed bulb, so I don't think it's the
voles killing yours. Diseases and infestations such as narcissus fly can
ruin daffodil plantings; if you bought a cheap job-lot from a market,
that might be the answer.

Janet.

Hello Janet,
Many thanks for your contribution.

In article , Janet Baraclough
wrote:

The message
from (IntarsiaCo) contains these words:

We can only assume that our plague of voles have done the damage

Most likely not, daffodils are somewhat toxic.
I agree. Our last garden had zillions of both voles

I wonder. Have you done anything about your voles ? Ours looks as thought
they are about to take off and multiply further this year. I am sure that it
will not help our vegetables, seedlings etc.

A few voles, OK, but a plague. No !

and multiplying
daffodils, and I never saw a chewed bulb, so I don't think it's the
voles killing yours.

On the toxicity of daffodils, things that are toxic to some mammals may not
be so toxic to others. But, obviously, if you had a plague of voles, also,
that would not explain why your experiences were so different.

I am just wondering if depth of planting could have had an effect.

Diseases and infestations such as narcissus fly can
ruin daffodil plantings;

Well, we certainly did not noaice anything except holes nearby. Does the
narcissus fly over winter I wonder.

At present, it is a sad mysetery.

if you bought a cheap job-lot from a market,
that might be the answer.

These were from Parkers of Manchester, who I think, are some of the most
reputable of suppliers.

They were a gift to my wife, from an old lady, Elsie Widdowson, who was a
top scientist and unlikely to go in for job lots.

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The message
from John Nolan contains these words:


In article , Janet Baraclough
wrote:

Our last garden had zillions of both voles

I wonder. Have you done anything about your voles ? Ours looks as thought
they are about to take off and multiply further this year. I am sure that it
will not help our vegetables, seedlings etc.

It was a large garden surrounded by miles of moorland; so there was
nothing to be done about vole numbers :-), despite the constant efforts
of birds of prey and one of our cats. I only once had vole trouble in
the veg garden, when I'd planted leeks in a block hoping they would
shelter each other in cold winters. Voles took advantage of the cosy
shelter to eat the lot from the inside out. They could also be a
nuisance ring-barking young trees in snowy weather, but that can be
prevented by keeping long sheltering grass cleared away from trees, and
using a plastic stem protector.

I am just wondering if depth of planting could have had an effect.

Hmmmm...I was growing daffodils there for over 18 years, so there was
a wide range of bulb-depths from new ones just planted by me (deep), to
old ones which had multiplied and forced themselves up to the soil
surface, and self-seeded ones also near the surface.

Diseases and infestations such as narcissus fly can
ruin daffodil plantings;

Well, we certainly did not noaice anything except holes nearby. Does the
narcissus fly over winter I wonder.

Yes..inside bulbs, istr.You usually see signs in spring/summer, such
as streaky discoloured leaves.

Have you allowed the bulbs' leaves to die back naturally?

Janet.