This is a real problem. Moles and Voles eating the roots of Holly bushes, that is. It’s infuriatingly maddening. It’s time, labor and money down the drain.

I have read articles on the internet about people having big beautiful Holly bushes suddenly get brown and crispy. They wondered what in the heck was causing the problem, only to later discover mole tunnels all throughout the root systems. That’s the problem we are having here and if you are reading this post, that’s the problem you are having too.

So, how do you stop moles from eating the roots of your Holly bushes? Well, you are going to have to use a little muscle. Muscle and that rabbit fencing. There really is only one thing you can do and that’s to block them from getting to the heart of the root system.

I went outside this morning to water a few things and noticed some lifted soil under my feet. It was like walking on a mattress. I am used to this and have been wondering when the moles that were creating these tunnels would start working on my one year old Holly shrubs. Well, today is the day. How do I know? Well, that’s easy. I just grabbed the trunk of one of the Holly bushes and tried to lift. If the bush easily comes out of the ground, yup, we got problems. That’s what happened this morning.

Holly Bush That Was Pulled From the Ground Because of Moles

Holly Bush With Roots Laying On Lawn

Now, I want to stress to you that all is not lost if you have this happening to you. If your Hollys are still growing okay, then you can fix the situation. It’s just going to take some work. Without it, you will lose the bushes.

Here’s what I did:

First, I found some old rabbit fencing. You know, the stuff people make rabbit cages out of. Then, I cut some pieces…two one foot by one foot squares and one four foot by one foot strip. These pieces basically make a one by one by one foot cube. After that, I cut a hole out of the center of one of the squares.

Three Pieces of Cut Rabbit Fencing

One Foot by Four Foot Piece of Rabbit Fencing

One by One by One Foot Cube Made From Rabbit Fencing

Top Square With Slice and Hole Cut Out of Center

Finished Mole Proof Cage For Holly Bush Roots

Okay, after I had the small cage for the roots made, I went into the backyard and dug a hole where the Holly bush was. I dug deep enough to fit the cage into it. After that, I put the bottom of the cage in, then the sides. I filled the cage halfway up with dirt and then placed the Holly bush into the cage. Lastly, I coved the roots with soil and put the top piece of mesh on top and covered that with dirt too. I watered in and now have a mole proof Holly bush. If the deer don’t come by to eat it, I think I’m in business.

Hole Dug For Holly Bush

Bottom Piece of Cage Put into Hole

Sides of Cage Put into Hole

Hole Half Way Filled With Dirt

Holly Bush Put into Mole Proof Cage

Top of Cage Put On Top of Finished Soil

Top of Cage Covered With Remaining Soil

Holly Bush Watered In

As you can see, the moles most likely aren’t getting through that, although I wouldn’t put anything past them. They are slippery creatures. At least this will let me sleep at night. I plan on finding an even better system than this, and when I do, I’ll be sure to write about it. At least with this system, there is a very tough barrier that moles can’t get past, while letting the Holly bush roots continue to grow outward through the screening.

If you have any mole stories or suggestions, please leave a comment.

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Earlier this year, I put together a few quick compost piles. I made the containers out of simple rabbit fencing (or whatever it’s called). You can see them in the photos below.

Ever since I put these things up, we have been collecting anything that will break down. Basically, that was just our food scraps. We keep a bucket in the garage that we constantly fill up and empty. You’d really be surprised how much waste we have in food scraps. Well, we might have more than many because we eat so many veggies.

Either way, we have been reducing our garbage and increasing our potential compost.

Now, just like you, I have seen many videos and have read many articles on the proper way to compost. Many of these things are made up by people who think they are doing something just marvelous. I’m here to tell you that if you want to compost, all you need to do is to create a designated area and start dumping things in it. Every so often, go outside and turn the pile. Before you know it, you’ll have nice dark compost. Don’t worry about all the greens and browns…blah, blah, blah. Just make a pile and keep dumping stuff on top of it. Not rocket science.

I have been doing this for a few years now and every year, I get really nice finished compost (free). I use it for all sorts of stuff, mainly to mix the soil with when I am planting something, to throw on the lawn and I even use it as potting soil. It works great.

Here are some photos of the quick and dirty compost piles I have in the woods. They are made up of mostly yards clipping, leaves and food waste. Today’s chore was to screen one of the smaller piles into a wheelbarrow and spread it across a section of the lawn.

Three Compost Piles With Screening as Containers

Wheelbarrow With Compost Screener on Top of it

Screened Compost

Finished Compost

Holding Nice Black Compost in Hand

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I thought I would post this nice pink flower bud. I have no idea what it is, so I am asking the public for help. If you can identify this flower bud, please leave a comment.

It belongs to a bush in the front yard. I would say it’s about seven feet tall and if I had half a brain, I would have taken a picture of it. Too late now…it’s getting dark. I hope you have enough with work with in this picture.

Pink Flower Bud

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I would say that my luck with transplanting is 50/50. I have more luck transplanting trees and shrub under certain conditions.

I do okay if:

- If I pull a tree (bare root) from some local woods
- I transplant that tree during the early Spring (March)

I don’t do okay if:

- I try to transplant anything bare root during the Summer or Autumn
- There is a wicked drought during the Summer

Okay, I just did a horrible job trying to explain when I have luck transplanting trees. Basically, I will tell you that I have better luck pulling local trees out of the woods around here and sticking them in the dirt during early Spring. These trees are usually White Pines and Maples. If they start to take off, they usually live to see another day.

Here’s when I don’t have luck – when I try to plant some bare root tree that isn’t native to the area. For some reason, they stress. If I plant them in the Spring, they don’t like the heat of Summer and if I plant them in the Autumn, the get Winter burn. Even the White Pines I take from the local woods don’t make it if I plant them in Autumn. It’s weird, because everyones says that Autumn in the best time to plant. Yeah, not when you have 30mph 0 degree winds hitting the plant at all hours of the night. Add the reflection of the snow and that thing is as good as gone.

So what am I doing trying to transplant a bare root Maple tree in the middle of the Summer? I don’t know. Just a few days ago, I noticed that the road we walk on has tons of these little saplings lined up and down it. I grabbed two of them two days ago and came back to plant them. They seem to be doing okay, but I have no illusions that they won’t dry up. I just try to keep them watered.

Like I said, it’s a 50/50 thing. If these two trees don’t make it, I’ll go back and grab two more. There are tons of them and they are free. What the heck.

There is one thing that I have learned from having trees not make it through the years. That’s to mix some compost with the soil that I dig up. Then, I put the mixture back in the hole around the roots. Keep it watered and things should be better. The soil around here is not very dark, so it gets pretty hard around the roots when it dries. Ahh…we’ll see what happens.

Sugar Maple Sapling - #1

Sugar Maple Sapling - #2

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