Moles create air pockets around the roots of the plant and cause serious problems for your lawn and yard. They don’t eat your plants but the damage is severe nonetheless.
So, just like you, a lot of people keep wondering how to get rid of moles in the garden humanely. They don’t want to kill them but want to get rid of persistent moles for sure.
How To Get Rid Of Moles In Yard Home Remedy?
We will see some organic approaches to get rid of them because we do not want to kill the benefitting earthworms in the process.
In fact, all the methods I mentioned here are not harmful to the kids or your pets. Let’s check them!
- Cut Their Food Supply
Moles are not vegetarian. So, they don’t eat your grasses and plants. They just find their foods (earthworms, slugs, snails, centipedes, etc.) from your lawn.
If you can cut their food supply, they will leave your lawn on their own.
Of course, there are plenty of insecticides to achieve this, but I don’t recommend all of them. You can try organic pest control like beneficial nematodes to cut their food supply.
It won’t do any harm to your kids or pets. It will simply help you get rid of the moles effectively.
- Daffodils & Marigolds Plantation
Moles don’t like the marigolds or daffodils at all and work great as a highly effective mole deterrent. So, planting them in the yard or lawn is a great humane approach to get rid of them.
These plants don’t kill them or harmful to any other animals. The moles will simply leave the lawn alone and they won’t return as long as there are such plants.
If you have to choose only one, stick to the marigolds only.
The reason is pretty simple. Marigolds have the strongest fragrant and highly effective to deter not only moles but also rabbits and deer too!
If you are looking for some smells to get rid of moles, this is it!
You will find lots of suggestions to plant castor beans or commonly known as mole plant, but I strongly recommend not to choose that approach.
These plants are considered to be poisonous and can kill the moles. So, avoid them all the time.
- Keep Your Lawn/Yard Dry
Not just moles, all the insects love shady and moist soil. So keeping the soil a little bit dry will help a lot to get rid of moles in the yard along with some disturbing insects.
Of course, I am not recommending to have a complete dry-out lawn. That will ruin your garden. Just don’t keep it moist/damp all the time.
Ensure enough sunlight and that will do the trick.
You can achieve this with less watering on the affected area easily. Trim bushes and branches to make sure all the shady spots of your yard get enough sunlight.
And improve the drainage surrounding the yard to keep your lawn less moist.
- Use Ultrasonic Vibrations
Installing some vibrating stakes is a great way to prevent the moles from digging holes in the yard. They are solar-powered, so they require a little maintenance.
When these stakes will release ultrasonic vibrations, it will scare the moles away.
The standalone application of such vibrating stakes won’t get the job done properly. You should use it in conjunction with other techniques mentioned above.
- Mole Traps
These are not your usual traps. Because it’s rare to see the moles on the surfaces. But there are certain moles traps
that you can use. A little YouTube search will give you plenty of ideas on such traps.
Remove the trapped mole from the lawn and free them away to any far location. Make sure to check such traps every day.
Because moles need to feed daily and will day in starvation if you don’t notice.
Another very important thing to remember here. Moles are very clever and they can smell human scent perfectly.
So, use soap water to wash your traps to remove any human smell from them.
Do not let your pets or kids go nearby the lawn when those traps are placed on the lawn.
- Other Plants That Moles Hate!
Plants like the Euphorbia lathris, Crown imperial, Narcissus, and Castor bean are very effective to prevent gophers and moles from the lawn. They hate the smell of such plants.
The taste and smell of those plants will keep your lawn moles-free years after years.
- Use Loud Noise
Instead of using smells to get rid of moles in the yard, you can simply use any loud noise. It’s not a 100% proven and effective fact, but it helps tremendously.
The reason is pretty simple. Moles can’t tolerate noise. They are extremely sensitive to it! The same goes for the gophers too.
This is what you should do…
Just add some wind chimes and it will do a great job shooing them away. The sound also makes the critters very annoyed.
- Use Your Pet Waste
Well, if you can make their living spaces (holes) impossible to live there, they will be motivated to leave your garden. That’s where you can take advantage of your pet waste.
You will have to place your pet’s waste next to the holes of moles in your lawn. This will make the moles move somewhere else and leave your yard alone.
Of course, this is not an ideal solution to solve the moles’ problem because it will make your yard smelly. But it is proven to provide some results.
- Apply Old Coffee Grounds
The smell of the coffee is very annoying to the varmints. There is plenty of evidence reported by the homeowners about its effectiveness. The smell of the coffee ground is a proven smell to get rid of moles.
This is how this method works….
Cover the holes with the coffee grounds and cover the holes with soil. The smell of the coffee will discourage the moles to live inside those moles for sure. Pretty sure they will be gone!
Applying smell works great too if you use old rotten fish exactly in the same manner.
- Non-lethal Sprays
Castor oil comes in many forms. And most non-lethal sprays contain castor oil because it is effective to kill the food source of moles.
This is what you can use to get rid of moles humanely.
Such non-lethal sprays can take care of up to 10K square feet of your yard and they soak into the soil quickly. Consequentially, the spray kills all the food sources for the moles and make their holes impossible to live.
Do not worry. Such non-lethal sprays for the moles are completely safe for pets and kids.
- Apply Poison (Not Recommended)
I never recommend this because killing them moles is simply inhumane. Besides, there are plenty of humane approaches I just discussed. But if nothing else works, I just want to inform you that, there is always poison to use.
However, there is another kind of poison that won’t kill the moles. Rather, it will kill the food supply of the moles like earthworms. If there is nothing left to eat, they will eventually leave.
But never use poison in your yard if you have kids or pets.
- Get Rid Of Ground Moles With Dawn Soap
Combining the dawn dish soap with castor oil works as a great moles repellent and it’s completely natural and cruelty-free. Instead of buying any commercial mole repellent, you can make your own.
You will be needing the following stuff:
- Dawn dish soap.
- Castor oil.
- Water
- Hose end sprayer.
Since castor oil is combustible, you need to handle it with care. Watch the video instruction to make the spray accurately:
Once the preparation is done, spray the mixture all over the yard. Pour the mixture directly into the mole and vole holes in yard. Pretty soon they will be gone!
- Call a Professional
If everything fails and you don’t see your mole issue is not disappearing, it’s time to call a professional. Of course, you need to think about your own budget and other issues to decide how to get rid of moles in yard yourself or to call a professional.
For a certain fee, he will assess and inspect your yard and suggest what to do to eliminate the moles.
The good thing about calling a professional is that he will give you some out of the box tips to prevent the moles from returning to your yard in the future.
FAQs
Do coffee grounds keep moles away?
Answer: Yes. Several homeowners have confirmed its effectiveness. The smell of the coffee grounds works a great moles deterrent.
What smell do moles hate?
Answer: From the smell of the coffee grounds to the red pepper smell, there are plenty of smells to that moles hate. They even hate the smell of tobacco and dried blood.
What is a natural mole repellent?
Answer: Installing plans in the yard that moles hate most is known as natural mole repellent. Some of those plants are alliums, daffodils, fritillaries, marigolds, and castor beans.
Will Dawn dish soap kill moles?
Answer: It won’t kill them but works great as a natural moles repellant. If you mix it with castor oil, it will become a great mole barrier.
Conclusion
You will find a lot more tips to decide how to get rid of moles in the garden humanely. But you don’t need to dig more. Instead of wasting time, take actions according to the tips shared above before those pesky diggers completely ruin your lush lawn.
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