You already had problems with voles last year and whole plants had to suffer? A preventive measure to protect certain plants from vole attacks is to build a wire basket. Find out below how to protect your plants from voles with a wire basket and how to build one yourself.
The mesh of the vole basket must not be wider than 13mm
Which plants protect with wire basket?
A wire basket is very effective for protecting certain plants from hungry voles. A wire basket is particularly useful for young fruit trees or plants that are very popular with voles, such as clematis.
Make your own wire basket
A vole wire basket is quickly made. However, you should pay attention to the following when purchasing the materials:
The right size for vole basket
How big your wire basket should be depends entirely on your plant, of course. When planting a tree, your basket should be three to four times the size of the plant's root ball to protect it as the tree grows.
What size should the wire mesh be?
Choose wire mesh (€14.99) with a maximum opening size of 1.3cm for your vole basket. If the wire mesh is larger, the 7 to 23cm vole can slip through.
bottom and overhang
The vole basket absolutely needs a base that must be attached firmly and without holes to the edge. In addition, the basket must protrude slightly from the ground so that the mice do not get the idea of climbing over it.
An instruction
Materials and tools:
- chicken wire
- Wire to connect the chicken wire
- Wire cutter
1. Build border
Cut your chicken wire to the desired dimensions and form a cylinder. Join the edges by hooking the chicken wire together and/or using extra wire to ensure a gap-free connection.
2nd floor
Now cut out a circular base. Use your wire mesh cylinder as a benchmark. However, allow for an overhang of 3 to 4 cm all around so that you can attach the base to the cylinder.
3. Connect
Connect the base and cylinder using wire without any gaps.
tips
In addition to your wire basket, you can repel voles with plants. Find out here which plants voles hate.