Plant This Natural Solution To Prevent Moles In Your Garden Beds

You thought you were the only one digging in your garden. Then you found the telltale hills of dirt and realized you were wrong. Luckily, there might be an easy way to deter pesky moles. Plant allium, an easy-to-grow perennial with a scent that may repel these underground dwellers.

These pests, which aren't actually rodents but a different kind of mammal, may not care for the smell of allium plants such as garlic (Allium sativum), onions (Allium cernuum), or chives (Allium schoenoprasum). Moles possess notoriously bad eyesight but top-notch noses, so scents tend to impact them more. In fact, moles smell in stereo. That means each of their nostrils operates separately, sending different signals to the brain, which processes them together. This relative of the shrew uses its sharpened sense to forage and hunt. It can tell what direction a smell comes from and accurately pinpoint its location. 

These small mammals often get blamed for eating flower bulbs, but the more likely thief is a mouse that took a detour into its tunnel as a shortcut to food. Moles actually only eat insects, preying on grubs or worms. The avid diggers sometimes damage plant roots, though. A single 10-inch-long adult can burrow a tunnel the length of your yard in a single night, so that's why you might want to encourage them to move on with the gentle nudge of pungent allium.

The Allium family, which includes almost 700 kinds of different onions and ornamental onions, undergoes a chemical reaction when crushed. If moles manage to hit an allium plant when digging, the sulfur-like smell just gets stronger and more pungent. The scent, created by the chemical alliin, also clings to the whole plant, not just the roots. For example, garlic cloves could even keep mice or rats away from bird feeders. 

Garlic thrives in a variety of climates, including USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 4 through 9. Onions appear a little less heat-tolerant, hardy up to zone 8, and chives lean towards being more cold-tolerant, being hardy down to zone 3.  When planting allium bulbs, pick sandy or loamy soil in a sunny or partially shady spot. These plants need decent drainage, since they are prone to bulb rot and other kinds of fungal infections.

Planting allium is just one humane deterrent strategy to use. You could also try growing daffodils, another plant the little critter may avoid. Another home remedy worth trying might be mole-deterring peppermint oil. Burying metal fencing can frustrate them, too, as long as it's at least a foot below ground. It's worth noting that a serious infestation probably indicates you've got an unusually large number of the insects that they feed on in your yard. If you address the bug problem, then the other guys might leave of their own volition. When all else fails, call a professional.