Hey Neal :)

I'm having a lot of trouble with voles and noticed I don't have them in my herb garden so I'm planting herbs in my side yard this year where I'm doing up a new bed so far I've just planted two different types of thyme the lemon and regular but soon as my skullcaps come up they are moving over there too I need to get some more herbs going don't think I want my oregano in there that stuff multiplies like crazy! I made the mistake and planted the creeping thyme there and it's taking over some shorter sedums that I have I love it but didn’t realize it multiplied so fast either.

Do you know anything about Lovage Neal, do you think I can move it I’m not sure about the roots but mine is up about 6” and thinking of transplanting that one over there I didn’t get any seeds off of it last year or I would just start a new plant.

Hmmm...very interesting! I wonder which herbs in particular are keeping the voles away? I've only started Lovage from seed, and never had any in the garden, so I'm not sure how well it would relocate. It is in the carrot family, so may well have a tap root, which can mean trouble when moving a plant.

That's what I'm thinking Neal just hate starting more and having to wait. Really I'm not sure if I want lovage in my side yard it's not showy at all! I may just leave it in the herb garden unless I put them in the back of the side yard.

Come to think of it I don't have moles in my herb garden either but tunnels every where around it. There has to be something to it, I grow those Castor Bean plants and they are no help at all here.

I'm wondering if the sages have anything to do with the voles I have a regular sage in there, golden sage and thyme might deter them too that's what I'm thinking anyway they put out a certain fragrance. I've already put some thyme in the side yard and need to move the sages and getting more to add to that spot I have voles everywhere just tired of dealing with hollow ground they don't seem to be hurting my plants though but walking on hollow ground is kind of dangerous esp. with my age lol

Lea, I gave this thread a title, hoping someone may know about what herbs deter voles.

Thanks Neal I put a thread up on DG's and not much help there, there's got to be something to it though.

I have read that growing mints around the foundation of your home repels mice, and voles are kinda like field mice (..or are they indeed field mice?). Anyhow, are there any mints in your herb bed?

I've got mint by a garage and my house on one side, had a mouse for the first time this winter but he may have come in from the drain pipe in the basement

Heavens no I don't have any mint in my herb garden it's bad enough with the wormwood and oregano, wish I didn't have it by the house but it smells so good when the lawn mower hits it it's chocolate I had no idea that oregano spreads like it does now I did know about the wormwood Oregano might be something to look at too.

I found two vole holes in the side yard today! They could be chimpmunks but thinking they are voles haven't seen very many chinpmunks since I got a cat and new neighbors with an outside cat my cat is out in the summer only.

I grow a lot of herbs and the only thing that seems to get rid of voles are the cats
If I were going to try something I think maybe garlic?

Hey gardengus nice to see you :)

One of the girls on the thread at DG's suggested medow rue I transplanted some of those and one is right by a vole hole that I kept filling up and he would open it up again, after the rue had been there about a week he didn't dig the hole again but only thing is I still get holes a couple of feet away from it I hate to 'fill' the garden with rue lol

Hmmm...I wonder if Rue tea, or Rue compost or mulch would help?

Rue mulch Neal? I don't have that many plants of it but sounds good!

I could make some rue tea and try that, I'll have to grow a bunch of rue in the field for next year and hope I have enough for some mulch that sounds interesting Neal wish I had some seeds left from last year thought I collected a bunch for the swap but still haven't found them and my little transplants aren't growing very fast in this heat. I bet if I ever get to cleaning my garages out I'll find that bag of rue seeds

Just saw this thread and maybe you have solved your vole problem, LeBug?
I had a terrible time with them this Spring, but now we seem to be vole-free thanks to a bait system(volecontrol.com). They ate all my 250+ tulips I planted in one long border last Fall, and then ate all the roots from a nice rosebush and a new tree. And I wanted to plant that area, which never seemed able to grow anything before.
Here it is now

Is there a book called "The Persistent Gardener"? If not, there should be. Fantastic display Janice. What is the tall lavender flower?

P.S. The NC flag needs a black outline.

Evan it is Monarda citriodora. An annual, I have read. We shall see if it self seeds. First year from direct sowing.
I am a Mass. native. Love the Bay state!!

Thanks for the info fellow Baystsater! I'll have to give it a try. It's looks like a great way to fill in empty spots and I have plenty of those.

I've had a large garter snake move into the garden, and the vole population seems to have scurried off to elsewhere. They girdled my Acer japonica dissectum and ate every single thing under the protective A-frame, even the weeds. I pulled out the maple and potted it to see if it would come back, which it has - yay! - and put a peach tree in it's place. I think I'll change the batteries in the rodent deterrent this fall, wrap the new tree and see if any of it helps.

Hi, Kathleen, voles can decimate a landscape in no time. That is why I used the nuclear option. Those bait stations are great as they are virtually invisible and DBH keeps them filled for any new arrivals. We have forest behind us and I am sure there is a huge vole population there just waiting to visit our gardens. Not!