Calgary Real Estate Blog

So our lame spring this year had another side effect besides delaying our kids’ soccer season by a couple weeks: the unusually lengthy period Calgary lawns were snow-covered this year created an ideal habitat for vole infestation. Voles – which look like little round, fat mice – love to chew on the roots of grass and trees in Calgary suburbs under the cover of snow, and some residents have been finding their lawns destroyed by telltale s-shaped tracks. Every year some suburban yards and parks fall victim to hungry voles, but this has been a banner season for the little suckers.

According to pest control experts, periodic chinooks usually melt the snow and disrupt the habitat, keeping populations under control, but since the snow stuck around for months at a time this past winter, the voles partied like it was 1999. Or, you know, however voles party.

The options for dealing with a vole infestation are varied: put out traps, use poison in the holes, get some cats. Nothing’s without consequences, though, especially when you have other pets or children using the yard, so your best bet is to consult with a pest control professional. Whatever you do, don’t start seeding your lawn before taking care of the vole problem: apparently voles really like grass seed.

To prevent the little critters from visiting your yard next winter, put commercially-available tree guards around the base of your trees, extending beneath the soll, and pick up any unharvested food sources from your garden. Use only rodent-proof bird seed feeders, and if you plan on putting mulch over strawberry plants or other annuals, wait until after the ground freezes.  Then keep your fingers crossed for a winter with more chinooks and less snow.

Have you or your neighbours had vole problems this year or in the past? Comment below.

Ordinarily I can get a little annoyed by people posting on Facebook about the weather: yes we all have windows, we’re aware that it’s unseasonable in some way, this is not brand new information to anybody. Sure, it’s a Canadian tradition to be obsessed about forecasts – things can change drastically day-to-day around here, unlike, say, Mexico, where it’s pretty much always sunny and beautiful and where I’d like to be right now – but it just seems unnecessary to broadcast one’s limited opinion on the weather to friends and family. Still, I can hardly blame anyone for expressing their frustration with our latest batch of snow in any way they can. I mean, seriously: it was 20 degrees last Wednesday, and looked like mid-December by Saturday? Not cool.

What’re you gonna do, though, besides put off removing the winter tires for a couple extra weeks? One thing you can do with this extra indoor time is to make a list of maintenance projects your home needs, and get cracking. Paint door jambs, change your furnace filter, check the hot water tank, and so on. Maybe you’re due for some new appliances, and now’s a great time to research and shop. Doing these little jobs as they come up doesn’t take a whole lot of time, but staying on top of minor maintenance keeps you from having an indomitable to-do list a couple years from now.

As for the snow, be careful with the shovelling – it’s wet and heavy, after all – and keep an eye out in your basement for signs of water leaking in. Then close your curtains and pretend you’re in Mexico.

Finally, finally, the last of the snow in Calgary is melting off lawns; the only downside being what an ugly, matted mess front yards across the city now look like. It’s time to get to work.

• Use a sturdy metal rake to get rid of as much thatch and other debris as possible. This in itself will go a long way toward sprucing up your curb appeal.

• Spread fertilizer, using a lower nitrogen concentration for the spring than in the fall (or start your Nutri-lawn service).

• Mow your lawn frequently to strengthen roots for the summer.

• Begin your watering routine, using an upside down frisbee to gauge when you’ve sprinkled enough.

Eventually you’ll need to start taking care of weeds, and letting the grass grow a little longer to survive the summer months, but for now these simple steps will make you proud to bring visitors in the front door again.