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Raised Beds

ChrisinWalesat820feetChrisinWalesat820feet Posts: 3
in Problem solving
I have a 20 x 10 raised bed divided by a T shaped path into three main areas, made from sleepers resting on the original land. The soil in most of the bed is about a foot deep with a couple of areas that are deeper. The undersoil is a dense clay. I have a continual problem with something burrowing under the beds, uprooting broccoli or lettuces, etc as it passes under them and probably eating seeds too (although that could be poor germination) I live on a farm and although there are rats around elsewhere in the garden (beneath the lawn for example, who come out to share the bird food), this seems to be a smaller burrower. It never, or rarely, surfaces. So the question is, how can I rid myself of this pest and keep it away?
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  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,487
    My first question to you is how essential/obligatory it is to have RBs?  I presume the '20 x 10' is feet?  A third of that isn't huge.  I'd gamble on the intruders being the rats, so unless you have strong views on RBs, I imagine you can source plenty of manure, some of which can be used to improve the soil quality of your clay, and I'd do away with the RB and make a conventional bed in the ground?
  • LiriodendronLiriodendron Posts: 8,328
    Why should rats be in a raised bed but not in a conventional one, @nick615?  I'd guess that since the "undersoil" is heavy clay, a raised bed is the best way to improve drainage for vegetable growing and therefore appropriate in this situation.

    If the OP knows the size of a rat burrow and says these burrows are smaller, I'd go for voles, I think.  They make quite a network of tunnels and seem to prefer softer soil - or did in my previous garden in Yorkshire.  Or do you have moles on your land?

    Welcome, @ChrisinWalesat820feet.   :)


    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,487

    Liriodendron  Hi!  When I had a conventional compost heap, it would regularly produce rustlings which would turn out to be rats (when I actually saw one) and, because one hears most members discussing the various composts etc. with which they fill their RBs, my assumption was that rats would find our friend's set up to be preferable to common soil or clay.  My advice was merely a reflection of what I would do.
    With an unlimited supply of manure, I felt Chris had the raw material to break the clay soil up with cultivation, and darken the colour of it to improve the absorption of warmth for seed germination.  I've never had a RB, nor will I as they waste space and need periodic maintenance.  Runner Beans doing well?
  • LiriodendronLiriodendron Posts: 8,328
    Sadly not, @nick615...  I've got dwarf runners this year, and although they're flowering well, there are only 2 beans set.  I'm blaming the weather.  There's still time, I suppose.
    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    If you don’t see it and it uproots plants it will probably be a mole. 
    They’ll go right along, in a straight line and uproot as they go. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • ChrisinWalesat820feetChrisinWalesat820feet Posts: 3
    Thanks for the replies. In this area with rock/clay under, a raised bed is the only real possibility. My bet is on voles as the tunnels seem to be smaller than others which I know belong to rats. Don't think its a mole as there are no mole hills and the tunnels wander around randomly! I do not wish to kill whatever creature it is simply 'move it on'! I have heard that moles do not like the smell of petrol and will move on if a tiny amount is introduced into their tunnel... I wonder if voles feel similarly? Anyone tried this? (I do NOT mean setting light to the petrol... seen that on FB!) it was reported as the smell of petrol in the tunnel that moved them on.
  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    I'm surprised that you have this problem on a farm . You must have terriers and cats aplenty, and they usually deal with the vermin. Although I appreciate your reluctance to kill anything, rats are really bad news and they don't move on. I would seek professional help with the rats. Moles are a real pest but I wouldn't put ANY toxic chemical into my soil, again, I'd  get a professional. Voles? Amazing. Our cats and the local foxes deal with those. And birds of prey.
  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    Hi Chris, I garden on similar rocky land (over 1100ft) with a thin layer of heavy clay on top so raised beds are essential to create sufficient depth to grow anything. Don’t mind Nick, he’s on a personal mission to rid the world of raised beds 😉 

    I don’t have problems with burrowers in my raised beds, although living in the countryside, I do have moles, voles, mice and the occasional rat around and I do see signs of their burrowing elsewhere. Birds and mice are my main pests in the raised beds, rooting up freshly sown peas, pecking at sweetcorn cobs etc.

    I can think of one permanent solution but it involves a fair amount of work and disruption and probably not something you would want to contemplate retrospectively. It would involve stretching and nailing chicken wire across the base of the sleepers. That would impede burrowers but not drainage. You would probably need to have deep raised beds, say two layers of sleepers set vertically, for that to work with deep or tap-rooted vegetables though.
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • ChrisinWalesat820feetChrisinWalesat820feet Posts: 3
    Thanks, Nollie - that was pretty much my view of the situation too... wish I had thought of adding the chicken wire when I built the beds! I agree with Posy about putting toxic substances into the soil.
  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,487
    (Almost) guilty as charged, Nollie.  I merely seek to protect those who think RBs are an obligatory element of their gardens.  They do have their place but.....
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