How to repair vole damage after NB winter?

Vole damage after a New Brunswick winter is frustrating but very repairable — and late April to early May is exactly the right time to tackle it.

Voles (meadow mice) tunnel under snow all winter, feeding on grass roots and gnawing bark at the base of shrubs and young trees. When the snow melts in April, you're left with those characteristic surface runways — matted, dead-looking channels snaking across your lawn — plus sometimes significant bare patches where roots were eaten.

Assess the Damage First

Before doing anything, give the lawn a chance to dry out and green up. NB soils in April are often saturated from snowmelt, and working on soggy ground compacts clay soils (common in the Fredericton and Saint John river valley areas). Wait until the ground firms up — usually mid-to-late April — then rake the runways lightly with a stiff rake to remove dead material and loosen the soil surface.

Once you rake, look closely at what's underneath. If you see some green shoots emerging from the soil, the grass crowns survived and the area will likely fill in on its own with some fertilizer and patience. If the soil looks bare and dead with no green at all, you're looking at areas that need reseeding.

Repairing Bare Patches

For patches that need reseeding, late August is actually the best time for overseeding in NB — warm soil, less weed competition, and the grass establishes before winter. However, if the bare areas are large and unsightly, you can do a spring repair in late May once soil temperatures reach a consistent 10°C (usually around May 20-25 in most of NB).

Use a quality blend suited to NB conditions — aim for roughly 60% Kentucky Bluegrass, 20% Fine Fescue, and 20% Perennial Ryegrass. The ryegrass germinates quickly (7-10 days) and holds the area while the bluegrass establishes. Scratch the soil surface, apply seed at the recommended rate, lightly rake in, and keep it consistently moist for 2-3 weeks. Expect to pay $100-$200 per 1,000 sq ft if you hire a pro for overseeding.

Don't Forget Shrubs and Trees

Check the base of any young trees and shrubs for girdling — voles gnawing bark all the way around the trunk. If the bark is chewed in a complete ring, the plant is likely dead or severely stressed and may not recover. Partial gnawing often heals with time. Apply a thin layer of mulch (kept 6 inches away from the trunk) to support recovery, and monitor through June before giving up on a plant.

Preventing Next Winter's Damage

Once you've repaired this year's damage, think ahead. Pull mulch away from tree bases in fall, avoid letting grass grow long going into winter (final mow at 2.5"), and consider hardware cloth cylinders around the base of young trees. Vole populations cycle, so some years are worse than others — NB's long snow cover season gives them plenty of time to work.

Practical steps right now: Rake runways in mid-April, assess in early May, reseed bare patches in late May, and plan a fall overseeding for any areas that didn't fully recover.

If the damage is widespread across a large lawn, a local landscaper can assess whether full renovation makes more sense than patching. New Brunswick Landscaping can match you with a local pro for a free estimate — no cost to you for the connection.