Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

Whether you live in central Eureka or in the wild outskirts of Trinidad, gophers and moles can be found in just about any North Coast garden. While I would not recommend killing them, as they have as much right to the land as we do, after having hundreds of dollars of bulbs (true story) snarfed down by a hungry gopher or having your lawn ripped up by a mole in search of delicious grubs, you could be forgiven for hoping they might peacefully move on to that vacant lot down the street. What's a gardener to do?

Is it a mole? A symmetrical, cone-shaped mound with some chunky clods of dirt and possibly an opening in the center is a good indication you have a mole. You also might see a raised ridge in the lawn, or a series of mounds along a curving line showing where they are traveling underground. If you have a mole, breathe a sigh of relief, because at least moles don't eat plants. They prefer to feast on insects, earthworms, and grubs, and are much easier to repel than gophers.

Or is it a gopher? Gopher mounds have a fan- or crescent-shaped mound surrounding a 2- to 3-inch diameter hole. As a gopher digs through the soil, it pushes the dirt to the surface at an angle, so you'll find those irregularly-shaped mounds of soil surrounding each hole. The hole is usually plugged once the gopher finishes eating vegetation in the surrounding area.

A lot of people are so annoyed by gophers and moles that they turn to using poisons, which are not only inhumane but can kill any cats or dogs who come across and eat the disoriented rodent. Or, they'll use an old-school trap which sends a spear through the center of your gopher or mole. That gives me the willies just thinking about it and is not the approach I want to take in the garden.

However, using more natural methods requires patience and a little bit of Zen. Some amount of coexistence isn't necessarily a bad thing; they are cute in their way, and they do aerate your soil. The main idea is to make your lawn and landscape the least comfortable place on the block so they'll go elsewhere. There isn't one organic technique that is the magic bullet, and for that matter, poisons and traps require consistent use, as well. Rather than expect a one-and-done solution, choose a few techniques to use in concert with one another to chase them out and discourage new tunneling rodents from taking up residence.

Flatten the tunnels and hope they dig deeper next time. Since moles aren't actually causing anything but aesthetic damage, I personally find them a lot easier to live with than gophers. If they are driving you nuts leaving raised tunnels and holes all over your lawn, just squash the tunnels flat with your foot. The moles will just come back, of course, but some people say that if you keep up with it, they will start digging their tunnels a little deeper as time goes on. Just keep a little bit of inexpensive grass seed on hand and scatter it on any disturbed areas of soil over your lawn.

Remove their juiciest food source. A lawn studded with plump, succulent grubs is an ideal fine-dining situation for your local moles, and if your lawn has an excess of grubs, you can take care of this pest problem at the same time as you send your moles packing. Milky spore bacteria is a natural biological treatment which infests grubs and kills them. Because it is a targeted biological treatment, it won't harm any moles who eat the grubs or the beneficial insects in your garden, but by reducing the grub population, you may make your neighbor's yard look tastier than your own.

Use a sonic vibration device. These small battery or solar-operated devices emit a periodic sound that humans don't generally notice, but is said to irritate both moles and gophers. Though it won't chase them out of your garden by itself, it certainly helps make your plot a less appealing place to set up shop.

Spread castor oil granules. Granulated castor oil doesn't harm moles in any way, but when applied to the lawn (or landscape) using a broadcast spreader, it releases a scent that both moles and gophers dislike. If you have a large space, you can direct moles to the nearest exit by treating one third of your lawn, waiting a few hours for them to move along, treating the second third of the lawn and again waiting, then treat the final third of your lawn at the end of the day. If done in concert with removing their food source and using sonic vibration devices, you can expect a dramatic reduction in tunneling visitors.

Both the sonic vibration devices and the castor oil granules mentioned above also irritate gophers, so consider those as the first techniques in your arsenal.

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Kicking Gophers and Moles to the Curb

An auto accident is a terrible, and often terrifying, experience. If youve just been hurt in a car crash, there are dozens of thoughts running through your mind. To make matters even worse, in some cases the at-fault driver leaves the scene. What do you do now?

In Michigan, you may still have access to certain benefits that can help with your situation.

No-Fault Benefits

Michigans No-Fault Act provides generous benefits to nearly everyone who is injured in an auto accident. With a few exceptions (like driving a vehicle you own without the insurance required by law), if youve suffered an accidental bodily injury arising out of the use, operation, or maintenance of a motor vehicle as a motor vehicle, you are entitled to economic benefits. These benefits, sometimes called personal injury protection (PIP) or first-party benefits, fall into four main categories:

Allowable Expenses

The No-Fault Act provides for allowable expenses reasonably necessary for an injured persons care, recovery, and treatment for injuries sustained in the crash. Generally this will consist of medical bills, but it also includes attendant care and home/vehicle modifications if necessary. This is an unlimited, lifetime benefit.

Wage Loss

If you miss out on work and experience actual work loss as a result of injuries sustained in a motor vehicle collision, the no-fault insurer will provide up to 85% of your lost wages for up to three years. Even if you werent actively employed, you may qualify for wage replacement as a temporarily unemployed individual.

Household/Replacement Services

PIP benefits include reimbursement for help for ordinary and necessary services that the injured person would have performed had he or she not been injured. These service might include help around the house with tasks like cooking, cleaning, snow removal, mowing the lawn, and other similar activities. The insurance carrier will pay up to $20 per day for up to three years for these services.

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Injured by a Hit-and-Run Driver? In Michigan, You Still Have Benefits

Don Chambers Landscape Architect (501) 590-8695
Don Chambers Landscape Architect North Little Rock, AR, 72114 (501) 590-8695 Been in business for almost 20 years we #39;ve always been providing exceptional lan...

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Leesburg Landscape Architect and Designer
Just Perfect Plants if your "Buy Direct" Source for plants, flowers and landscape needs. Buy from the grower and save $$! http://www.JustPerfectPlants.com will desi...

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Landscape Architect Commercial
My commercial for Landscape Architect iExplore 2/24/15.

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Landscape Architect Commercial - Video

Landscape architect Yoshiki Toda in Raiding (English Version)
Roland Hagenberg and the Raiding Foundation invited Japanese landscape architect Yoshiki Toda for a lecture in Raiding, birthplace of composer Franz Liszt in...

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Carla Shuman, Landscape Architect talks about 2015 Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival

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Carla Shuman, Landscape Architect talks about 2015 Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival - Video

TAVARES Spring is about here and it's time to start thinking about sprucing up your landscape.

A good opportunity exists for dressing up your garden and lawn Saturday at the Lake County master gardener plant sale.

"You'll find some unusual plants here," said master gardener Susan Follick of Leesburg, above left, inspecting Mona Lavender plectranthus that would add a splash of color to any yard, pictured with fellow master gardener Mary Davis of Howey-in-the-Hills. Another colorful possible addition is New Guinea impatiens, left.

If you're unsure what might work in your yard, experts will be on hand with advice.

"We'll have lots of master gardeners here," Davis said.

The sale runs from 8 a.m. to noon at the Lake County extension office, 1951 Woodlea Road.

Staff report

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Master gardener spring plant sale offers chance to spruce up landscape

Story highlights Marla Spivak: Honeybees, wild bees and bumblebees dying at frightening rates Bees pollinate majority of our crops, she says; fewer bees will cause food supply to shrink Spivak: Use of herbicides, pesticides are killing off flowering plants, poisoning bees Spivak: Try not to use herbicides, insecticides; put out flowering plants

Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock looks into the mysterious disappearance of bees on a new episode of "Morgan Spurlock Inside Man," on Thursday, March 5, at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

As thoughts turn to warm weather and gardening, it's a good time to consider planting flowering trees, shrubs and other plants that are attractive to bees, butterflies and other pollinators. You can beautify your yard, diversify the landscape and feed and protect pollinators, all at the same time.

The bees need you.

Honeybee colonies are dying at frightening rates. Since 2007, an average of 30% of all colonies have died every winter in the United States. This loss is about twice as high as what U.S. beekeepers consider economically tolerable. In the winter of 2012-13, 29% of all colonies died in Canada and 20% died in Europe.

Marla Spivak

Wild bee species, particularly bumblebees, are also in peril.

Anyone who cares about the health of the planet, for now and for generations to come, needs to answer this wake-up call.

Impact Your World: What you can do to help save bees

Honeybees and wild bees are the most important pollinators of many of the fruits and vegetables we eat. Of 100 crop species that provide 90% of our global food supply, 71 are bee-pollinated. The value of pollination of food crops by bees in the U.S. alone is estimated at $16 billion and insect pollinators in general contribute $29 billion to U.S. farm income.

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Opinion: What will happen if the bees disappear?

By Erin Kolstad | Published 16 hours ago

Bamboo: a pandas favorite food source and at least one homeowners worst nightmare.

Chapel Hill resident Gregg Marcellus said bamboo is invading his yard. The bamboo forest in his neighbors yard has roots that grow underground and spread onto his property.

Marcellus has lived in his house for nine years, and he has been dealing with the neighbors invasive bamboo since he moved in.

He sent an email to the Chapel Hill Town Council asking about any ordinances that would deal with the bamboo invasion and require his neighbor to put in a barrier to prevent spread.

I usually just knock it down, but eventually you have to dig the roots out, Marcellus said in a telephone interview. I probably dug about 15 feet to dig underneath the roots, but then there are extensions you have to dig around. It was a day of back-breaking work.

Bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants, with some species growing 24 to 36 inches in a day. Marcellus said his neighbors yard is filled with bamboo stalks that are 50 to 60 feet tall.

It is just a wall of bamboo when I look out my window towering in the air, he said.

In Long Island, N.Y., invasive bamboo is such an issue among homeowners that one municipality charges a fine of $350 and up to 15 days in jail for planting the bamboo. Another town in the area will charge up to $2,000 for a first offense and $3,000 for subsequent violations.

Mike Klein, a zoning enforcement officer for Chapel Hill, said bamboo is not specifically listed on the schedule of invasive species, so there is not an ordinance in place to address Marcellus complaint.

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Chapel Hill residents spar over bamboo forest