Rodents! The little boggers.

[Compo 10,328]

On Wednesday I sowed 80 peas in individual small pots and another 40 in a piece of guttering. I put the pots in the greenhouse and the guttering in the polytunnel.

Yesterday All that was left of my 80 greenhouse peas was 80 little holes in the pots. Rodents, presumably mice, had removed every single seed from teh pots and stashed them neatly in a corner behind a large old pot. Some had been shredded and eaten already but the remainder were stored for later. I re-sowed the peas and put them out of reach on a high shelf, leaving the little pile of peas for the mice to finish at their leisure.

This morning I went into the polytunnel to find that deprived of their treasure pots the rodents had moved into the tunnel and left me with 40 neat little holes in my guttering, where once there had been peas! Once again I have re-sown and this time I have hung the guttering from the ceiling of the potting shed. Score to date: Mice 120 Gardener 0

[mick2me 3,033]

Great Idea for old Guttering Compo :

[Compo 10,328]

Ta. sow into guttering and when ready to plant out simply take the tape of the end and slide into a prepared trench in the garden. Beats the birds and usually mice too.

[mick2me 3,033]

If you want to be really high tech you could use some plastic ends off ebay?

[DAVIDW 1,683]

I have given up trying to grow veg . The same thing happened to us last year .

We only used a growing frame and had a lovely lot of lettuce and perpetual spinach coming through and then overnight the lot had been munched down and what was left was all dragged to one side presumably by a field- mouse .

Then you have the problem of watering if you go away for a few days too .

When the stuffs on sale at Aldi for 39p hardly seems worth the bother !

[NewBasfordlad 3,599]

Have you tried chitting your peas before planting.

I followed the advice and touch wood have not had mouse trouble since.

Colin

[.... 23]

Score to date: Mice 120 Gardener 0

'AND THAT'S JUST HALF-TIME, BUSTER!'

[denshaw 2,871]

Any advice on getting rid of garden moles?

[radfordred 6,284]

You'll be fine just hide their spades.

[nonnaB 4,895]

A similar thing happened here when we first came into this house.At the back of the house is an orchard with quite a bit of land but its all on a slope. We cant get parsnips here so I bought quite a few seed packets when I went to Nottingham. Got the ground ready and sowed my seeds only to find the ground scrabbled up and no sign of the seeds. Tried again sowing them with the same results. Gave up at the finish and grew courgettes of every size and shape. We did grow peas and french beans but the harvest of them was far too much in the heat of summer on a slope. The house faces south and at the back theres no shade from the house so the sun beats down from dawn to dusk. Nice if you're not gardening.

[MargieH 7,600]

On 3/15/2013 at 7:07 PM, denshaw said:

Any advice on getting rid of garden moles?

 

The best way is to bury them alive....