Time to mow.

I decided it was time to mow my mini meadow the other day, but because of its small size,  it is a strimmer that is used to cut the grass back. I liked the way it looked with its grass of different lengths, but the flowers had stopped flowering in all the heat and it was time to try and get it back to being a lawn again.

I also like the shapes and shadows formed by the taller grass.

The other half of the circle looking towards the island bed round the dead oak.

The path up the middle leads up to the pond area.

But all in the meadow isn’t as it should be, can you see the mole hills?

The mole has gone mad! there are so many molehills here.

So many round the edge where the shorter grass is.

There were so many in amongst the longer grass, he was going to get a shock when all the grass was cut! He wouldn’t like the noise of Neil with his strimmer.

All cut, the grass will green up again in a matter of weeks, as long as we have some rain.

No mole hills to mar this side. Doesn’t the Stipa gigantea show up nicely, it did really well in all the heat.

But what did I spy this morning, 7 new mole hills!

I give up, I don’t want to, but might have to think about getting a mole catcher in to deal with my problem.

Will keep you up to date, in the meantime I just hope it will go away!

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19 Responses to Time to mow.

  1. Susie says:

    They’re such destructive critters and very hard to manage. Hope you find a solution Pauline!

    • Pauline says:

      Looking out of the window now Susie, I can see a few more mole hills have appeared, I have a horrible feeling that a phone call might be made soon.

  2. Peter/Outlaw says:

    Darned moles! Some people have had luck repelling the creatures by making mint mole blaster https://www.ciscoe.com/garden/topics/moles.html Your mini meadow was wonderful but the surrounding plants pop even more with the new haircut. How wonderful to have two equally beautiful options for this area.

    • Pauline says:

      I will try your mole blaster Peter and wait and see if it works before making a call to the mole catcher. If he kills this one, will another move in I wonder? I’m glad you like the differences in the grass, it makes it more interesting in the summer, it is flat for over half the year, so a change is good I think.

  3. rusty duck says:

    Oh good luck Pauline. I hope Peter’s mole blaster works!

    • Pauline says:

      I’ve been and had a look at my mint growing in the garden Jessica, I have a fair amount, so tomorrow could see me trying Peter’s recipe.

  4. Denise says:

    I love a path of clipped grass through a meadow, it looks so inviting, as if saying just follow me! How nice that yours goes to your pond Pauline. Hope your garden continues its recovery from the drought… if not from Mr Mole!

    • Pauline says:

      Thank you Denise, the idea is to tempt you to go further, although now if you do, you’ll trip over the mole hills! The garden is looking a lot better after our rain, more is forecast for tomorrow, hopefully most of my plants will make a full recovery, but I’m sure their will be some losses unfortunately.

  5. Jason says:

    I was just wondering what one does about a mole in the garden. A mole catcher sounds reasonable.

    • Pauline says:

      I think a mole catcher is going to be the answer Jason, the lawn isn’t safe to walk on anymore. I’m the wrong side of 75 and dont want to end up with a sprained ankle or worse.

  6. Alistair says:

    A mini meadow, how great is that. Pity about the mole. We had a mole in the back garden of our Cheshire home. I tried one of those battery operated sonic spikes, that didn’t last long as the noise was too irritating. I decided to get a mole catcher then the chance to move back to Scotland arose, so it may still be there.

  7. A mini meadow, how great is that. Pity about the mole. We had a mole in the back garden of our Cheshire home. I tried one of those battery operated sonic spikes, that didn’t last long as the noise was too irritating. I decided to get a mole catcher then the chance to move back to Scotland arose, so it may still be there.

    • Pauline says:

      I lived in cheshire for the first 30 yrs of my life Alistair, no moles when I was there! I cleared 18 mole hills yesterday and today there are 10 more, I think he has signed his own death warrent, unfortunately.

  8. snowbird says:

    Oh, I hope the mole blaster works. Here’s to some rain to green up your mowed meadow.xxx

  9. debsgarden says:

    The Stipa gigantea is amazing! I always complain about our ground squirrels (chipmunks), but I think your problem is worse – at least our chipmunks don’t leave big piles of dirt at the entrance to their holes.
    I hope you find a good solution soon!

    • Pauline says:

      The Stipa has really enjoyed our hot summer Deb, it is looking very good indeed. The mole is still throwing up more mole hills – I’m running out of patience!

  10. Christina says:

    We have moles here too; and no such person as a mole man to remove them! I’ve lost several trees to them tunnelling underneath and stopping the tree roots from getting water from the soil. In spring I had one in the tomato bed so that I had to virtually replant the tomatoes three or four times as Mr. Mole lifted them as he tunnelled underneath them!

    • Pauline says:

      So far I haven’t noticed any plants dying because of the mole damage Christina, but there’s always time! I swept 18 hills away yesterday and there were more today, it’s a wonder I haven’t sprained an ankle or even worse.

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