Adventures In Gardening: This Means War!!

    I come to you again to tell you about my crazy adventures in gardening. To be honest with you, I come to you extremely angry at a certain somebody who is making my adventure a little on the hard side...my resident mole!!!!!! So, let me start by going back to last spring. I had a beautiful patch of tulips that added color and charm to the side of our home (See pic). Some of the blooms were even brought back from Belgium by a friend of mine and my partner. While the rest of our gardens are nice, the tulip bed was our pride and joy. We spent many a day looking at the bright and vibrant colors, but now that thrill is no longer there.

Last Year's Bounty Of Tulips That Was Ruined By A Mole

   Instead, we have a patch of nothing. You see, last summer and this fall we had a mole that kept wreaking havoc on our tulip patch. It wasn't a big deal though. We would push the dirt down and go on with our day. The winter came, the mole went away, and we thought nothing of it. That was until we went out to check on the tulips, and all we got is a hole bunch of NOTHING. Let me just say we are ANGRY. The mole, by its awful actions, has caused us to declare war on it. So we have got an arsenal of traps and tricks to try to get the darn little creature to go away.
    Here's a brief summary of our strategy. We set a LOT of mole traps of all shapes and sizes to find a way to get rid of the pesky little animal. Spindles are placed strategically around our yard to try to shoo the mole away with their vibrations. We have a pitchfork handy if we need it, and we mean business. Well, I don't think neither of us could be able to do the deed with a pitchfork, but I don't want the mole to know that.
   Also, we have been researching away at what to do when a mole comes back again to protect our flowers. I don't know what we're going to plant there, but we've researched what to do if we plant bulbs again. So here's my advice to you if you want to make sure that your flowers stay safe from those pesky little creatures out there.

1.) You can cut out the bottom of a coffee can, bury it just below the ground, and plant your bulbs in the center of the can. This prevents the moles from being able to reach contact with your precious bulbs and will hopefully preserve them for years to come.
2.) Use chicken wire. Like the coffee can, planting your bulbs between chicken wire will prevent the moles from getting a hold of them.
3.) Finally, you can cut down on moles by planting garlic around your gardens. I haven't done this personally, but many people say that it has worked for them

   These steps will help you in protecting your treasured plants from all of God's creatures who are met to pester us. I know I sure will be implementing these tactics when I plant next years bulbs. In the meantime, I am going to have a battle on my hands to make sure the little mole doesn't come back, and I'll let you know about my adventures in gardening (and any more battles I have with my resident pest) in the meantime.