Striving to have a perfect lawn?  Sometimes the healthiest lawns can attract moles.  Finding moles in your lawn can be very frustrating.  We know. We’ve been there.  Each year we have applied the appropriate fertilizers and watered at the correct time of day. Yet one day we found raised dirt tunnels across our lovely green grass. Do you have moles, or want to prevent them?

How do you know if you have moles?

There are a few clues you will see if you have moles:

• Raised dirt appears on your lawn overnight (mole tunnel)
• Dirt looks like a path through your grass
• Grass may look very dry and dead in spots
• Small holes the size of a half dollar coin appear in one or more locations

How to get rid of moles in lawn

Do not panic, although you probably feel very frustrated or overwhelmed right now.  The key is to come up with a plan to get rid of moles immediately.  Do not wait weeks to treat your lawn.  Waiting only gives the moles more time to do more damage.  Here’s what we did.

Disclaimer: Some of the links below are referral links, which means that if you make a purchase, there is no extra cost to you, but Running A Household will receive a commission.  Thank you for supporting our website.

Apply Grub Control

We found our mole tunnels in early June.  This is when we normally apply our grub control to break the grub cycle, so we started by putting this down.  We prefer Bayer Season Long Grub Control Plus Revitalize because it kills the grubs and repairs the lawn:

Bayer Season Long Grub Control Plus Revitalize

Keep in mind that moles not only eat grubs, but also earthworms. You do not want to repel or kill the earthworms because they are good for your lawn and soil. So your next step is to select a mole repellent or mole killer.

Which product to use for moles?

There are several proven methods.  It really depends on how you prefer to handle your mole problem: repel moles out of your yard or kill all of the moles.

Getting Rid of Moles – Option 1 – Granular Mole Repellent:
Tomcat Mole and Gopher Repellent Granules

We opted for the granular method which repels the moles.  This involved spreading the granular mole repellent around with our spreader, similar to applying lawn fertilizer. It is very easy to apply. This mole repellent contains castor oil and moles hate the smell.

Tomcat Mole and Gopher Repellent Granules

Getting Rid of Moles – Option 2 – Liquid Spray Mole Repellent:
Tomcat 0373006 Ready-to-Spray Mole and Gopher Repellent, 32 oz

This product came highly recommended. It is known as the mole spray in the yellow container. Simply attach it to a hose and spray on your lawn. It’s very easy to use.

Tomcat 0373006 Ready-to-Spray Mole and Gopher Repellent, 32 oz

Getting Rid of Moles – Option 3 – Traps for Moles:
Tomcat Mole Killer 10-Pack Worm Formula

This product also comes highly recommended with lots of success killing moles. If you don’t mind setting up the worms and need to kill all moles, then this product is for you.

When we first discovered our mole problem, we talked with our neighbor to tell him we had a mole. His comment was, “You just have one mole? I had 25 moles!” So keep in mind that there is a good possibility that the mole tunnels in your yard may be used by multiple moles. Ultimately, you’ll need to decide if your goal is to repel the moles and force them to move out of your yard, or if you want to kill all moles.

Tomcat Mole Killer 10-Pack Worm Formula

Tips for applying the granular mole repellent

No matter which product you opt to use, be sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions.  For the granular mole repellent, plan to apply this over a 3-4 day process.  The idea is that you are driving the moles out of your yard.

Day 1: Treat all of your healthy grass and areas not impacted by moles yet.  This discourages moles from causing any new damage. 

Days 2 and 3: Treat the areas where the moles damaged your lawn.  It is recommended that you get some of the granular mole repellent in the mole tunnels. Tip: To do this, we took a three-prong garden cultivator and placed the holes every 6  inches.  Then we sprinkled the granular product into the holes. We have to admit while this part felt very therapeutic because we knew we were relocating the moles, it felt like we were filming the movie Caddyshack 4. 🙂

Do you need to water in mole repellent?

Yes, in order for the mole product to work effectively, it is necessary to water in the granular mole preventative.

Does the mole repellent smell?

The product we used is a natural castor oil.  The moles do not like the smell.  We noticed after it rained we could smell the oil.  It was similar to having a citronella candle outdoors for mosquitoes.  It went away the next day.

If you have a heavy rain or a lot of rain, you’ll want to reapply the granular product.  We plan to do ours every 2-3 months.  It’s an inexpensive way to keep the moles away.

Best wishes in removing the moles from your yard!