Keeping Mice and Voles Out of the Greenhouse

      Rodents can cause serious problems if they can get inside a greenhouse.  In the spring it is fun to watch as tender shoots start to stick up through the ground in the greenhouse.  It is no fun to walk in to see how big they are getting, and discover that they have all been eaten.
      Rodents such as voles and mice are able to get into the greenhouses by digging under the walls and eating the vegetables unless there is some way to seal off the interior.
Our solution to this problem was to construct a barrier around the inside perimeter of the greenhouses below the ground surface.
      Along the interior perimeter 60 feet of 10 inch wide sheet metal construction flashing is buried, and screwed onto the ground-level pressure-treated wood 2” x 4”s or plate, which are at the bottom of every wall.
This is illustrated in the picture below.  Putting in this underground barrier helps prevent the mice and voles from digging under the walls and eating the plants.  It is important to make sure that the metal touches the wood.  If there is a wrinkle in the metal that allows a gap of even ¼ of an inch wide, it will need to be closed so that the voles won’t squeeze through the opening.  And, if all else fails use mouse traps.
This is an excerpt from our e-book 'Greenhouse Growing and Construction: How We Do It' which can be purchased and includes all of the details of how we construct them and how we use them to grow all of our vegetables.  http://selfsufficiencyhowwedoit.com

Sheet Metal Barrier