I wish I had even a nickel for every time I’ve received questions about moles in lawns.

Mole questions have to rank right at the top of questions asked by homeowners. Right off the top, be cautious of the fly by night remedies for moles. There are lots and lots of so called mole controls and most all don’t work. I’ve heard of chewing gum, to electric soil vibrators, to wind mills to castor beans all of which promise results but the moles just keep tearing up your lawn.

You have to know why moles are in your landscape in the first place. They are there for one reason and one reason only. That’s to consume white grubs and some earth worms in your lawn. White grubs are the larvae form of the Japanese beetle, green beetle, May beetle and even the June beetle. When moles find one larvae, they keep tunneling till they make a mess of your landscape. Thus, the best way to get rid of moles is get rid of their food supply and that’s the white grubs I just mentioned. They make a soil insecticide that will kill out most white grubs and the best ones are those products that contain MERIT. The best time to apply that soil insecticide is around the end of July. The reasoning here is that around this date, the white grubs are most susceptible to the chemical being about ¼ inch long and eating about 6 times their weight in your grass roots. The chemical which is mostly in a granular form needs to be dissolved in the soil which means by rain or irrigation within a week after applying. Read and follow all label directions on the pesticide label.