Well....the VOLES ate my dahlias, but that just isn't a catchy title so there you go.
Our home is in the country, and I accept "sharing" our plantings with the many forms of wildlife we have here. That said, voles do not share, they eat it ALL. Voles are small mouse-like critters that eat plants. They tunnel under the mulch in our gardens, protected from aerial predators while they are foraging for dahlia tubers.
Removing the mulch is one option, but I find mulch very beneficial so I'm unwilling to go that route. Poisons would work, but we have small children here as well as dogs and cats. Poison isn't an option.
My interim solution is to create a barrier to prevent the voles access to the tubers.
I purchased galvanized hardware cloth, and then went to our local lumber yard for some pressure treated 2X12's. Before you scold me for using pressure treated wood, the process used today isn't like the arsenic laced chemicals used in the past.
Moving on, I excavated one of our former dahlias beds, and then constructed the raised beds with 10' lengths of 2X12's.
I attached the hardware cloth to the bottom of the beds, then placed them in the excavated area.
I replaced the dirt, adding a bit of vermiculite and perlite for drainage (dahlias like well-drained soil).
The beds will settle over the winter, and we'll see how we make out next Spring in our quest to protect the dahlia tubers from the voles. Stay tuned!
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