by James Alexander-Sinclair
I don't believe it. I am incandescent with spluttering indignation. For the first time ever a molehill has appeared on my lawn.
I don't believe it. I am incandescent with spluttering indignation. For the first time ever a molehill has appeared on my lawn.
We've lived here for about 15 years. Before that the garden was a concrete farmyard, so this particular mole is the equivalent of Christopher Columbus seeking out land upon which no mole has previously trodden.
I'm not really precious about my lawn - it's mostly rough old grass and a generous helping of weeds - but a mole can cause a bit of trouble if you have a more precious sward (they also tend to undermine young plants).
As everybody knows, moles are rather attractive black, velvety furred creatures with enormously powerful paws. They charge around in shallow tunnels eating earthworms. They also paralyse worms and store them in underground larders for later consumption.
So far, there is only one molehill in my garden, so I hope that it looked around, didn’t think much of the surroundings and legged it somewhere else. Otherwise I may have to do something. There's a number of interesting remedies (apart from traps) put forward for driving moles away. These include putting one of those annoying greetings cards that play tinny music in the run, burying mothballs and either blowing smoke or putting cat litter in the burrows. Apparently they don’t much like alliums, crown imperials or castor oil plants (Ricinus communis).
I also once successfully used electronic sonic repellers (they emit a buzzing sound that drives them away) to keep moles off a cabinet minister's croquet lawn - although they reappeared in the herbaceous border. Come to think of it, I was probably put down on his parliamentary expenses!
On the plus side, the soil in molehills is excellent for making your own potting composts.
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