Best Fencing Options to Keep Voles Out

Voles, often mistaken for mice or moles, are small rodents that can cause significant damage to gardens, lawns, and orchards. These critters feed on the roots, bulbs, and bark of plants, leading to unsightly damage and even plant death. Preventing voles from invading your green space is essential for maintaining a healthy garden. One of the most effective ways to keep voles at bay is through the use of fencing. This article explores the best fencing options to keep voles out, including materials, installation tips, and additional strategies for vole control.

Understanding Vole Behavior and Habits

Before diving into fencing solutions, it’s important to understand voles’ habits:

• Size and Movement: Voles are typically 4 to 8 inches long with short legs and tails. They move through tunnels and surface runways.
• Burrowing: They dig shallow burrows just under the soil surface.
• Feeding: Voles eat roots, bulbs, bark, and ground-level vegetation.
• Breeding: They reproduce quickly, making it necessary to act promptly if you detect their presence.

Knowing these behaviors helps in selecting the appropriate fencing style and placement.

Why Use Fencing to Keep Voles Out?

While traps and repellents can reduce vole populations temporarily, fencing provides a physical barrier that keeps voles from entering sensitive areas altogether. A properly installed fence prevents access to garden beds, young trees, and bulb patches where voles cause the most harm.

Key Features of Effective Vole Fencing

When choosing a fence to exclude voles, consider these critical features:

• Mesh Size: The mesh should be fine enough to prevent voles from squeezing through; typically 1/4 inch or smaller.
• Depth of Installation: Since voles burrow under fences, barriers must extend below ground level.
• Height: While voles do not climb well, the fence should be tall enough (usually 12 inches or more) to prevent them from jumping over.
• Durability: The material should withstand weather elements and potential gnawing.

Best Fencing Materials for Keeping Voles Out

1. Hardware Cloth (Galvanized Wire Mesh)

Hardware cloth is one of the most popular materials for vole fencing. It offers excellent protection due to its tight mesh size and durability.

• Mesh Size: Typically available in 1/4-inch or 1/8-inch mesh.
• Durability: Galvanized steel resists rusting and gnawing.
• Installation Tips:
• Bury at least 6 inches below ground to prevent tunneling.
• Extend at least 12 inches above ground.
• Form a cylindrical barrier around trees or garden beds.

Hardware cloth is especially effective around young trees or bulb patches where precision protection is needed.

2. Vinyl-Coated Wire Mesh

Vinyl-coated wire mesh combines durability with aesthetic appeal.

• Advantages:
• The vinyl coating protects against rust.
• Less harsh appearance than bare metal.
• Considerations:
• Still requires burying underground for tunneling prevention.
• Vinyl may degrade over time under harsh UV exposure but generally lasts several years.

This material is suitable when appearance matters alongside functionality.

3. Plastic Mesh or Garden Netting

Plastic mesh fencing is lightweight and easy to handle but comes with some drawbacks when used against voles.

• Mesh Size: Available in fine meshes sufficient to block voles.
• Pros: Lightweight, easy installation.
• Cons:
• Less durable; susceptible to chewing by rodents.
• May degrade faster in sunlight.

Plastic mesh works best as a temporary solution or combined with other vole deterrents.

4. Expanded Metal Mesh

Expanded metal mesh is a heavy-duty option made by cutting and stretching metal sheets into a diamond pattern.

• Advantages:
• Very strong and durable against chewing.
• Fine enough mesh size variants available.
• Disadvantages:
• More expensive than hardware cloth.
• Heavier and more difficult to handle during installation.

Ideal for high-value orchards or commercial gardens where long-term protection is required.

How to Install Vole Fencing Effectively

Proper installation ensures maximum efficacy. Here are detailed steps:

Step 1: Determine the Area to Protect

Identify which parts of your garden or landscape need vole protection—young trees, bulb patches, raised beds.

Step 2: Measure and Select Materials

Calculate the perimeter length plus extra for overlaps. Purchase hardware cloth or chosen mesh with at least 12-inch height above ground.

Step 3: Dig a Trench for Burial

Using a spade or trenching tool, dig a trench approximately 6 to 8 inches deep around the perimeter of the protected area. This depth prevents voles from burrowing underneath.

Step 4: Install Fence Material

Line the trench with hardware cloth or mesh so that it extends both below ground (in trench) and above ground (standing vertically).

Step 5: Secure the Fence

Use stakes or posts driven into the ground inside or outside the fence line every few feet to support the fence upright. Attach the mesh securely using staples or ties.

Step 6: Backfill Trenches

Refill dug trenches with soil firmly packed against the buried portion of the mesh so voles cannot squeeze beneath.

Step 7: Inspect Regularly

Check fences periodically for holes or gaps made by animals or weather damage. Repair promptly.

Additional Tips for Enhancing Vole Fencing Effectiveness

Create a Perimeter Free of Cover

Voles prefer areas with thick ground cover providing shelter. Remove dense grass clumps, weeds, and debris around fences to reduce hiding spots near your barrier.

Use Raised Beds with Protective Liners

For vegetable gardening, raised beds lined with hardware cloth beneath soil deter voles from tunneling upwards into root zones.

Combine Fencing With Other Control Measures

Fencing works best when combined with:

• Trapping: Use snap traps baited with peanut butter near fences before installation.
• Repellents: Castor oil-based repellents can discourage vole activity nearby.
• Encouraging Predators: Owls, hawks, snakes can naturally reduce vole populations.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Installing Vole Fences

• Using fencing with too large a mesh size (greater than 1/4 inch).
• Not burying fence deep enough; less than four inches allows easy tunneling access.
• Leaving gaps at corners or entry points such as gates.
• Failing to maintain fence integrity over time—metal corrodes; plastic degrades requiring replacement.

Alternative Barriers Beyond Traditional Fencing

In some cases where fencing is impractical:

• Tree Guards: Cylindrical guards made from hardware cloth wrapped around tree trunks prevent bark damage by voles climbing stems.
• Bulb Cages: Wire cages placed over planted bulbs protect against digging damage underground while allowing growth above soil surface.

These measures complement broader vole exclusion strategies in gardens and orchards.

Conclusion

Voles can inflict considerable harm on plants by gnawing roots and bark underground. Using fencing as part of an integrated pest management approach offers long-lasting protection by physically blocking vole entry into sensitive areas. Among various options available, galvanized hardware cloth with a fine mesh size buried several inches underground remains the gold standard for vole exclusion due to its durability and effectiveness. Proper installation combined with habitat modification and additional control methods ensures your garden stays healthy and vole-free throughout the seasons.

Investing time in selecting quality materials, installing barriers correctly, and maintaining them regularly will pay off in reduced plant losses and less frustration battling persistent rodent pests like voles. With these best fencing options in place, you can enjoy thriving gardens without worrying about these destructive little diggers undermining your efforts.