Repair winter-damaged lawns, control moles

Winter storms littered yards with branches and carried leaves from the neighbor’s lawn into your yard. For many, lawn damage that’s most unnerving is caused by voles and moles.

Protected by an insulating blanket of snow, voles tunneled and chewed their way across lawns without detection. Snow cover provided ideal conditions for mold to develop; it appears as grey to off-white blotches across the yard.

Lawn restoration needn’t be time-consuming or expensive. Damage is mostly cosmetic and temporary Raking matted turf removes dead top growth and allows new grass shoots to develop. It also lets air and light to reach plant crowns, speeding recovery from snow mold.

Vole and mice damageshould heal on its own. Damage is usually limited to dormant grass, not crowns and roots. Rake out loose grass so sunlight can reach the soil and promote new growth. Once spring growth begins and roots fill in, damage disappears.

Fixing mole damage and eliminating moles is more involved and open for debate. People use chewing gum, human hair, moth balls, broken glass, bleach, red peppers, razors, smoke bombs, exhaust fumes, rodent poison and vibrating probes. Repellents, such as castor oil, may send them packing but other moles move right in. It is an ongoing cycle that is tough to break.

‚”It’s just one nutty solution after another; poisons that don’t work, spray this and sprinkle that. Same old, same old,” said Tom Schmidt of Cincinnati, known as The Mole Man. “Trapping will work, but it’s not easy or fun. For long-term results, nothing else works.”

It is important to set out traps as soon as damage appears in spring, said Schmidt, who hosts a popular websiteThe Mole Man.

The mole family has about a half-dozen species, but two are primarily responsible for tearing up lawns — the Eastern mole and the star-nose mole Eastern moles are larger, prefer sandy soil and stay underground. The star-nose mole is common in heavier, moist soils and occasionally comes above ground. Five to six mounds of soil spaced in a row like little volcanoes are likely from star-nose moles. Eastern moles create volcano-like excavations but not as many or in straight rows.

Moles excavate two types of tunnels — primary tunnels are feeding tunnels. Primary tunnels are four inches to three feet below ground and provide access to feeding areas. Feeding tunnels near the surface is where moles search for worms, usually in areas that are irrigated. Moles use the primary tunnels to get back and forth from their dens to your lawn. Piles of soil dotting the lawn are from moles excavating or cleaning primary tunnels. It is common to see primary tunnels along walkways and garden borders. Squiggly lines resembling spaghetti are feeding tunnels. If you step down on mole runs and they reappear within a day or two, you have likely found a primary tunnel. This is where to set a mole-killing trap.

Late winter to early spring is the best time toset traps, before females give birth to liters ranging from two to six baby moles. Underground traps are the most effective; steel loops or jaws, depending on the trap, quickly dispatch the mole as it tunnels through. Once a trap is tripped, lift it from the ground for tangible evidence your mole control efforts are effective.