Several years ago I read "The Daffodil Principle" by Margi
Harrell and was inspired to create my own Daffodil Hill.
There's a 15-foot long slope at the front of my yard topped by a couple
of big oak trees. This slope was the home of a colony of moles and voles.
They kept the soil plowed and soft. This wouldn't have been so bad
except that Yellow Jackets loved the readymade home the mole runs
made. Let me share information on this cast of lawn characters.
First, moles: small, carnivorous, burrowing animals with a great sense
of smell but poor eyesight. They burrow through the soil in search of
grubs and earthworms. They could hardly care less about any
plants disturbed in the process.
Voles: a small rodent, similar to a mouse. It has a short tail
and a voracious appetite for the roots of hostas, gladiolas, day lilies
and just about anything else you'd like to produce nice summer flowers. They
also have a talent for burrowing under ripening strawberries so they can have a
catered feast without leaving the comfort of their burrow. They
appreciate the muscle provided by the bulkier moles in tunneling. It
makes their life much easier having all that work already done for them.
Yellow Jackets: a predatory wasp with a strong territorial instinct.
They are a cheerful yellow and black or dark brown striped. Abandoned mole and
vole tunnels make a super habitat for their broods.
Why are the tunnels abandoned? Just ask my son. He was mowing the yard
one day and passed over the yellow jackets' tunnel one time to many. Remember I
mentioned they are territorial? He cleared the seat of the mower in a single
leap, stumbled, rolled, and then ran for the house. I wasn't sure I wanted
whatever was obviously following him inside but I couldn't justify locking him
and it/them out. He'd been stung several times despite his haste. Would
you have any desire to share quarters with such a cranky
neighbor? If you see cheerful little wasps flying close to a small
hole in the ground, turn and walk very quietly in the opposite direction.
I needed a way to get rid of the annual yellow jacket nests in my front
yard. I could hunt down individual nests and poison them with some risk of
becoming a target for their territorial ire. I did that once or twice.
Yeah, not a favorite choice. I could stop the moles by killing
individuals with traps and poisons. There are lots of methods for that
and I've not seen many short of hiring a Siberian Husky to dig them out that's
particularly effective. You can spread poison on the lawn to kill the
moles' food supply. Effective, but it kills everything and leaves you
with a dearth of beneficial invertebrates.
This is where the daffodils come in. These little bursts of late
winter sunshine are poisonous. The roots, bulbs, stems and blossoms are
all toxic to man and beast including voles and moles. Moles don't like to
tunnel through areas with lots of daffodils because of this. Voles won't
dig new tunnels or chew through a cluster of daffodil bulbs. No tunnels,
no yellow jackets. See? Perfectly logical.
Each November I stand out on my hill with a shovel and a couple of bags
of daffodil bulbs, a-la the Daffodil Principle. I pick a section of my hill and
toss the bulbs out to create some semblance of natural, random
placement. Where ever the bulb lands is where I plant it. I've been
planting between 100 and 200 bulbs each year for about 7 years.
I could have planted them all at once but it would have been daunting
and expensive. By tackling this project over time, I've been able to
spread out the work and expense. I've been able to take advantage of
shared, pass-along bulbs a couple of times to add to my project.
That's part of the lesson of the Daffodil Principle. Tackle the
seemingly, impossibly large projects and goals one little bit at a time. You'll
be better prepared to take advantage of surprise opportunities to
advance. You'll be amazed at what you can accomplish... one bulb at a
time.
No comments:
Post a Comment