Unsightly molehills on the lawn are something no hobby gardener wants. But moles are protected and can therefore only be chased away or scared away, but not killed. Because the animals are actually useful, they eat snails and other pests and loosen the soil. But the hills are not only aesthetically disturbing, they can also be dangerous as tripping hazards, especially for older people or small children. A few tips and tricks will help to drive the mole out of the garden.
Angry with water
Before the water is used, all the mounds of earth that have been raised are repeatedly leveled with a rake. Of course, these measures involve a lot of work for the hobby gardener, as you have to check several times a day to see whether new hills have appeared. However, instead of leveling them with a rake, the hills can also be watered directly with a garden hose until they become level again. This also has the advantage that a large part of the underground passage can no longer be used by the mole. However, this water action must be carried out regularly and over the entire area so that the animal no longer has the opportunity to dig further under the lawn. But the underground grave doesn't always respond to this method of expulsion. However, since it is the simplest of all options, it should be tried first. Another way to use water effectively is as follows:
- as a last resort, water the garden with chlorinated water
- this attracts the earthworms upwards
- the food source dries up for the mole in this way
- easy method if there is a pool with chlorinated water in the garden
Tip:
If you remove the molehills with a shovel, you can use this very well loosened and valuable soil as potting soil in pots or simply spread it on the flower or vegetable bed.
Dispel with noise
A mole can be driven away by noise. The small animals have very sensitive hearing, so they do not like noise and are very disturbed by noises that arise above their tunnels in the meadow as well as direct noises in their underground passages. The hobby gardener needs a little patience when driving away, because he has to harass the mole until it leaves the garden voluntarily. The following tips should help so that the animal no longer sees the garden as its home after a while:
- Ramming metal poles into the hill
- hit it with a hammer for a long time
- repeat often
- the resulting vibration and noise make the mole feel disturbed
- cut off the bottom of glass bottles
- use a glass cutter for this
- but you can also try the same way with PET bottles
- Put the neck of the bottle in the hill without the lid
- The wind creates unpleasant whistling noises for the animal while walking
- the noise is louder when glass bottles are used
- stomping loudly across the meadow above the expected corridors for a long time
- If you have children, you can let them play loudly on the lawn for several hours
- Various devices that emit ultrasonic noises are also available in specialist stores
- What cannot be heard by humans becomes torture for moles
Tip:
If you want to get rid of a mole, you must ensure that the measures are used as widely as possible. For example, a single bottle is not enough here; ideally, bottles should be placed in all the mounds dug up so that the noise comes from all sides.
Use live trap
Catching a mole alive is only possible with special permission. This must be obtained from the responsible state authority for environmental and nature conservation and is not easy to obtain. If there is a cat in the family or there are outdoor cats in the area, they could endanger the mole; permission to catch them is often given in such cases. Of course, extreme caution is also required here, as the small animals are very skittish. Therefore, you should proceed as follows:
- Use live trap from the trade
- check several times a day
- as soon as there is a mole in the box, act immediately
- Take the trap and release it far away from people
- for example in a forest area
Tip:
A live trap, which cannot be used in Germany without special permission, should really only be used if the animal is in danger from pets or if the mole cannot be driven away otherwise. Because a live trap always carries the risk that the little inhabitant of the earth will pay with his life.
Pull away with scent
The animals want a scent-neutral environment and therefore moles can be put off by many different scents. However, many of them are not entirely pleasant to smell for us humans and possible pets. But if you want to get rid of the garden digger permanently, you should endure these smells for a few weeks. Here too, work should be done across the board and not just the individual molehills should be filled. To scare away animals, small holes are drilled into the ground at regular intervals throughout the garden into which the selected scents are added. The following can be used to deter people:
- sliced garlic cloves
- dried mint
- sliced onions
- grated horseradish
- Leaves of rose laurel, walnut or elderberry
- Herring heads are also very effective but not entirely pleasant
- Mothballs
- Soap suds with boiled nuts
- Cloth soaked in gasoline, petroleum or even aftershave
- Whey/buttermilk mixture, 1/4 buttermilk, 3/4 whey
- The animal is also very sensitive to the scent of people
- fill the cut hair into the holes
- Specialist retailers also offer biodegradable products that are harmless to humans, animals and plants
Tip:
Special plants can also be cultivated whose smell the little garden diggers don't like. These include lilies or imperial crowns, which are planted in autumn. When it comes to imperial crowns, however, it should be noted that all parts of them are poisonous and should therefore not be chosen for a garden where children play.
Durable measures
If you have driven away a mole or don't want the animals to settle in your garden in the first place, you can take permanent measures to ensure this. These are very time-consuming, but very helpful, especially if there are moles in the surrounding residential area. You can proceed as follows:
- keep moles away with a barrier around the garden
- to do this, leave a close-meshed fence about half a meter deep in the ground around the garden border
- This is a very complex method at first
- but keeps moles away for many years
- Another, complex method is to lay a floor mat under the lawn
- Lay the mat approximately 40 cm below the lawn
- Measure is suitable when a new lawn is being laid
Tip:
These measures are particularly suitable for gardens where molehills have been spotted all around or where a new property or even just a lawn is being laid out.
Conclusion
On a well-kept lawn, the moles' mounds usually don't fit into the picture; the animals have to leave the garden as quickly as possible. Since they are protected, care must be taken here and the animals must under no circumstances be killed or injured. But driving away and scaring away is always permitted. Trapping can also be carried out with official approval in exceptional cases. There are some useful tips and tricks to get rid of moles. The small animals don't like loud noises or unpleasant smells, so this is the most sensible way to drive these animals out of your own garden. However, since these are actually useful creatures for the garden and the hills do not disturb a natural garden with a high meadow, they should not be driven away here. Because they eat snails and other vermin, loosen the earth and, above all, only stay in places where the quality of the soil is very high.
