Soil from mole hills

[james willis]

Very droll Mark!

[shelagh]

To get back to the original point of the thread, Brian swears by molehill soil and we regularly travel with a placcy bag and a trowel.  In fact our microwave is only used for warming milk and sterilising the compost made from their finely textured soil.

[ranunculus]

...And knowing Brian he will probably have a range of matching moleskin waistcoats, trousers and ties in SRGC colours!

[Martin Baxendale]

I bet snowdrop seedlings would love it.

[Joakim B]

I think that it is used in the north as i is possible to cut it off the ground even when the rest is frozen and then thawed inside to have access to soil when it is otherwise frozen. Sometimes at spring the sun can worm the mole hills so that they are not frozen while the rest is, so they can be used directly as soil for whatever I need it to. That is why I use it. This is from my own garden so the soil is probably similar to the rest of the soil.
We do hunt them (with traps) but more so since the voles are here to. I hope the cats will take the latter since they are truly a pest.

Kind regards
Joakim

[james willis]

I can see why you would use it Joakim.  What I have been hoping to unravel is just what the soil from a mole hill brings to the party.  When available does it make for a quality ingredient in your compost mix and for free too via a trowel and a plastic carrier bag?  (I can relate to the carrier bag as I collect gravel from the roadside from time to time.)  In a compost does it retain the fine textural quality given it by the mole's front paws or does it quickly revert to its natural state?

[mark smyth]

No moles in Ireland

[Joakim B]

The soil gets to the normal structure after being mixed in a compost at least the one we use but is more easily mixed than others.
Since many gardens have a better top soil than the underling soil the mole hill is generally from a better fraction so is a bit better than the worst. Getting it from pastures might be a good source of good garden soil since it is good soil there. If one is allowed to take it I do not know.
I am far from a soil expert so this is just how is see it.
Kind regards
Joakim

[Martin Baxendale]

No moles in Ireland

I did not know that. Mind you, plenty of MI5 moles during the Troubles.

[PDJ]

No moles in Ireland

The luck of the Irish again.  We can happily export some to Ireland for you.

[ashley]

We can happily export some to Ireland for you.

NO THANKS   Accidental or deliberate introduction of bank voles a few decades ago is now causing problems.

[David Sellars]

Our soil is heavy clay so even the mole hills in the lawn areas do not produce very good soil.  But they do improve the drainage with their tunnels so we have learned to live with them in the grass.

Moles in the rock garden are another story.  Our rock garden is on a bank and the moles find it very convenient to dispose of their tunnel tailings on a slope.  It is very frustrating when they excavate from below through carefully placed stone mulch.  Mole traps are hopeless in the rock garden and I have tried smoke bombs and all the other paraphernalia.  The only thing that seems to work is to drive rocks deep into the tunnel outlet.  That prevents them using that portal and they seem to then move elsewhere (hopefully the neighbours) rather than drive a new tunnel outlet.

So no moles in Ireland. I guess St Patrick was more diligent than we thought.

[james willis]

My thanks to everyone who replied even to those who gave the mole in all its manifestations, nul points.

I shall certainly try soil from mole hills with auriculas and the few snowdrops I have in pots.

More immediately I am raising the level of a small bed in which I want to place some fritillaries and to the mix I am using to do this I am adding material excavated by moles.
Jim Willis

[Lesley Cox]

I think you are very wise to do this Jim, if the compost you are using is otherwise soil-less. In my experience some soil in the compost for frits and other liliaceous species, prevents botrytis with which I have a problem in soil-less composts. Not in the compost with soil as an addition though.

[gote]

We can happily export some to Ireland for you.

NO THANKS   Accidental or deliberate introduction of bank voles a few decades ago is now causing problems.

Do you mean Arvicola terrestis? This is the most obnoxious rodent i have to cope with (Beavers are strong competitors) Strangly enough they seem to be protected in England. 
I explained how to get at them in an earlier posting.
Cheers
Göte