How to cope with voles, bad knees

Q: I have had issues with voles for years. I’ve lost hosta, heuchera, painted fern, dogwood and nandina. What bulbs are resistant to the vole’s diet?

TODD TVIC, By e-mail

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National Primate Research Center

Voles will eat almost anything, but rarely bother narcissus, scilla, puchkina and muscari bulbs.

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A: As you’ve found, mouse-like voles eat almost everything. They scissor through the center of perennials and girdle the stems of woody plants.

They rarely bother narcissus, scilla, puchkina and muscari bulbs. If you want to experiment with repellents, some gardeners swear by using expanded slate soil conditioner (PermaTill, VoleBloc, etc.) in their beds.

Q: We have had a problem with punks vandalizing our front yard. They drive through every nine months or so. We want to mount a motion-detecting floodlight in one of the pine trees. What is the best way to attach the conduit and the light without damaging the tree?

JOSH SMITH, Lilburn

A: I usually don’t endorse putting nails or screws into a tree trunk, but this is a case where it might be warranted. The pine can pretty easily seal the puncture wounds you make. If you intend this to be a permanent installation, use hanger bolts. One end screws into the tree while the other end is threaded to mount the conduit clips and floodlight box. Every few years, climb a ladder beside the tree and loosen the attachment nuts so the tree trunk can expand without engulfing the hardware.

Q: I have knees that no longer feel good after digging holes for shrubbery and trees. Have you ever used a gas-powered auger?

RICH POCALYKO, Sandy Springs

A: If you need to plant more than a half dozen trees or large shrubs, an auger can be a god-send. I used one to plant several Leyland cypress a few years ago and the auger powered through rocks and roots easily. That said, you have to be healthy and strong to use the one-man machine. If a root grabs the auger screw for a moment, the handle will smack your ribs hard.

Q: Can a pile of wood chips burst into flame? My last three deliveries from the local tree guy smoked by day two and you could feel the heat radiating off the pile. When I went to spread them, there were huge pockets of nothing but black ash inside.

BARB MCCAULEY, By e-mail

A: I guess that fits the facts: Composting is just a slow type of oxidation, while fire is fast oxidation. The tree sap inside the pile fed fungi and bacteria, whose heat accelerated the normally glacial pace of wood chip decomposition. I’ve never heard of a pile of wood chips bursting into flame, but farmers are well aware of the danger of piling wet hay in a barn, where it can spontaneously combust.

Q: I’m new to gardening and was wondering if it was possible to grow tomatoes indoors year round. Our rental house has a sunroom so plants can get a lot of light there most of the year.

JODY REEDER, Snellville

A: I admire your enthusiasm, but it will be extremely difficult to grow full-sized tomatoes indoors. The main limiting factor is light. Tomatoes need direct, full sunshine for eight hours a day to produce fruit. Light levels outdoors are above 10,000 foot-candles, but even in a bright sunroom there are less than 1,000 foot-candles available.

But all is not lost! I had a lot of fun growing tomatoes indoors in an AeroGarden www.aerogrow.com. The company sent me a unit to evaluate and I harvested tasty cherry tomatoes for two months in winter. These devices use high-intensity fluorescent bulbs to supply the light tomatoes need.

Listen to Walter Reeves Saturday mornings on NewsTalk 750 WSB-AM from 6 to 10. Call 404-872-0750 to ask questions. His Web site, www.walterreeves.com, contains thousands of answers to lawn and landscape questions. Watch “Gardening in Georgia” each week on GPB.

Details at www.gardeningingeorgia.com.