I am very frustrated! I have a flower bed that is 18months old--dug out and filled with good soil. Plants are thriving in it. However, last year the daylilies, dahlia, and melampodium vanished. This year it is cosmos, verbena, and celosia.

The neighborhood sits among three farms. Terrible issues with fire ants, gophers and moles. I have yet to see squirrels or rabbits.

Any ideas of what I'm up against and what I should do? My flower garden gives me such joy yet so much heartache when the plants disappear.

Thanks.

@Sarafoot, You probably need to first determine what's getting your plants. Do you have a game camera? You can set one of those up to cover most or all of your garden. They take both day and night photos. Once you know, it's easier to come up with a solution.

Unfortunately, I do not have a game camera. It's a great idea though.

They're not terribly expensive.

It actually sounds very much like my main nemesis....
Short tailed voles.
They look like mice, but live underground, and eat plant roots...

They took out my iris one year.... I can't even grow jerusalem artichokes....
or taters... Believe it or not... They even ate the root off of a pokeweed!

iris


pokeweed

They're even eating the camellias!


Cats are of some help, but voles must taste nasty...
You can try dumping the cat litter box in the bed, that gives a little relief... And... youtube is full of videos describing how to trap these pests...

@Sarafoot, if you are able to identify the problem as voles, look here: http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTN...
Scroll down to "Management" for info on how to control them using preventative measures.

Thank you both for your replies. I thought it was voles last year, but I was informed East Texas doesn't have them. Sure fits the bill.

I need to befriend the neighborhood cat.

We have voles in Illinois. They follow the mole burrows so don't have to dig much on their own. About the only thing they damage in our garden is potatoes.

Do you have the javelinas (feral pigs)? We have them in NM, and when they move through, they pull up plants and eat them, roots and all. Entire plants vanish in one night. Fortunately they aren't around year round here. They come by maybe every 3 or 4 months. There is no way to keep them out except really strong fencing.

@Sarafoot - I had never heard of voles until a few years ago. My cousin was complaining about them and I kept thinking she was saying 'moles'. She lives in Double Oak, TX, which, of course is not East Texas. Wild guess is that Double Oak (or Oak Oak) is somewhere between Lewisville and DFW. So anyway, if she can have voles, I would think you might have them too. Just saying.