Raised beds allow back-friendly gardening and early sowing. Raised beds are also easier to protect against pests such as voles. Find out here how to prevent a vole infestation in raised beds and what to do if you have a vole in raised beds.
How do I get rid of a vole in a raised bed?
To get rid of a vole in a raised bed, you can stuff strong-smelling home remedies such as fish heads, buttermilk, castor oil or animal hair into the mouse holes or grow vole-hostile plants such as garlic, leek, basil and thyme. Repeat the measures regularly to achieve lasting success.
Protect raised beds against voles
If you think about protecting it from voles when you create the raised bed - great! A vole grid is placed on the ground under the raised bed. Make sure that the grid extends beyond the raised bed on all sides so that the mice have no chance of squeezing into the raised bed between the grid and the raised bed border.
Tip
Vole screens should not exceed a mesh size of 1.5cm. Voles are very small and can fit through tiny openings.
Repel voles from the raised bed
Even if you didn't think about protecting it from voles when building the raised bed and now have to witness eaten roots and dead plants, not everything is lost. Voles can be easily driven away with effective home remedies - especially from a closed space such as a raised bed. If the mouse cannot be driven away, you can catch it with a live trap and relocate it.
Home remedies for voles
Voles have a very sensitive nose - they run away in horror from anything that smells. If you have a vole in the raised bed, stuff the vole's holes with strong smelling things like:
- fish heads
- Buttermilk
- Castor oil
- animal hair
Plants against voles
Another option for getting rid of voles in raised beds is to plant them with vole-hostile plants. These include, among others:
- garlic
- Leek
- Basil
- Thyme
- Cross-leaved Spurge
- sweet clover
Tip
Combine different means and repeat the measures regularly to permanently drive away the vole. The more you bother the vole, the more likely it is to look for another location.
