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Mole & Gopher Baskets - 5 pack

Moles tunneling just underground can cause problems with your newly planted bulbs and other plants. Even though they are carnivores and are only looking for grubs, worms and other delicacies, they leave nifty passageways for voles, mice and shrews.

Great for veggies too, Dianna cages her cucumber plants next to the house where the moles and voles love tunneling under the grass clipping mulch for tasty items. Now she only needs to spot water the vegetables, before it was necessary to water a large area (“shotgun method”) to keep the varmints from going directly through the newly planted cucumbers and destroying the roots. You can make your own cages to any size using Hardware cloth from a building supply store, a heavy pair of scissors made for cutting wire and heavy gloves (or if no gloves have a handy supply of adhesive bandages because the wire edges are sharp). We’ve found these new 2-piece wire baskets much easier to use and the components being separate, you can easily dig them up if needed. One piece baskets are difficult to remove.

First image shows how the moles tunnel just under the surface while feeding. This area had an old blue tarp covering the soil to kill weeds seedlings over winter. It was held in place by weighted bulb trays (you can see the rectangular outline) and because the soil stayed moist supposedly the worms came closer to the surface and attracted the moles.
Dig a few inches larger than the width of the basket and about an inch shorter than the basket is deep. Put the basket in the hole and check to see how you are doing. Too much space on top, dig your hole deeper you can always put some soil back into the hole. Firm down the soil and keep the bottom of the hole reasonably level.
Bend up the corners of the flat section and place in hole to check fit. Dianna likes to bend the sides into a square to match the bottom, round circles are fine also, but she finds the square much easier plus it looks neater in the garden.
Place the sides into the planting hole being certain there are no gaps between sides and the bottom flat piece where moles can fit between. Do not wire the pieces together or it will be difficult to remove the cage later if you so desire. You might wish to bend up the wire all around the cage; it will take longer, but is a bit more secure.
Back fill with soil until you have the proper planting depth for lily bulbs, dahlias or other plants. The lily bulb roots will go down and through the cage, which is fine – your primary goal is to protect the bulb itself.
Cover your lilies with soil leaving about an inch of wire above ground. Three Oriental or Orienpet bulbs fit perfectly in this size basket and will not need dividing for at least three years. You can put up to 5 bulbs but they will become overcrowded sooner.

Nothing is absolutely foolproof or varmint proof, but galvanized baskets do help reduce damage to your plants and bulbs. Try a package of 5 or click on the larger package of 10 baskets and save $10.

Wild Lilies

Wild Lily bulbs making up the genus Lilium belong to the family Liliaceae comprising of approximately 200 genera made up of approximately 2,000 lily species. There are in the neighborhood of 110 to 120 Lilium species depending on whose classification you reference. For the full article, click Knowledge Base