Once a mole has settled in the garden, it usually doesn't take long for the characteristic mounds of earth to appear in the middle of the lawn. Since a targeted action against the mole is actually not permitted due to the applicable species protection law, the imperial crown offers a gentle alternative.

The onion of the imperial crown repels moles with its strong smell

Poisonous onion with a strong smell

The crown imperial (Fritillaria imperialis) is not only poisonous, it also warns potential pests against eating the particularly poisonous tubers with a strong garlic smell. It is this smell of the onions that keeps small rodents such as voles and moles at bay. It is therefore particularly effective if you plant several imperial crowns in the flower bed.

Attention: limited effectiveness

The use of imperial crowns as a biological defense against rodents cannot compete directly with the effectiveness of brutal methods such as snap traps or forbidden poisoned baits. Critics of this method therefore quite rightly object that the smell of imperial crowns is only locally limited and that voles and moles cannot be completely driven out of the garden. However, the pleasant side effect of these plants that bloom in April and May can certainly be used to protect rodent delicacies in the form of other flower bulbs from access. To do this, simply place several imperial crowns between other bulbous plants or around the roots of young fruit trees so that the scent barrier is effective.

Part of a strategy of deterrence

Even if the imperial crown alone does not immediately drive the annoying mole out of your garden oasis, the use of the attractive plants can at least be a building block in a strategy for biological mole defense. After all, nature offers you numerous other possibilities with which a non-violent "deterrence" of the unwelcome soil stirrers is quite possible. In parallel to the battle of smells with the imperial crown, you can also:

  • hinder the construction work of the earth tunnel with manual filling or the garden hose
  • Pour fermented elder manure into the openings of the burial passages
  • When cutting hair, pick up hair and stick it in mole burrows to deter
  • Build a wind-powered acoustic mole repellent

tips and tricks

In order to be able to use the scent of the crown imperial against moles as extensively as possible, you should allow the plants to self-seed or force propagation via the onions that form.

Category:

Vegetable garden