[Philip Prince]

I'm aware that leaf compost can be made at this time of the year, and I have lots of leaves.  My problem is when I make a compost heap on bare soil, it heats up and attracts worms - good.  These worms then attract moles which mess up my lawn - not good.  So I gain good compost but have to pay the mole man much more than the value of the compost which I have made.  Making the heap on concrete flags does not seem anything like as successful. Any suggestions?

[Yorkie]

Welcome to the site 

I'm going to pop your question over to the Grow Your Own forum for the growers to have a think about. 

[John]

Whilst leaf mould improves the soil structure, it doesn't increase worm population levels of itself. A good soil with plenty of humus will have a large number of worms along with other micro-organisms and this is what the velvet gents like.
My attitude to moles is that the mole hills are a nuisance but collect the excellent soil from them for the beds. Once they've established they don't seem to put many new hills up as they can feed from the tunnel network they've created.
Worms provide paths for air and water to enter the soil, which is vital. I found in the recent super heavy rains that mole tunnels seem to do the same on a larger scale.
There are a number of deterrents you can get for moles - the sonic systems seem favourite and are relatively inexpensive.

[jezza]

Hello I've just been chopping leaves this morning (reduction therapy)got 3 bags where as bagging un chopped would be 10 bags,use a wire mesh cage or bags if not a lot of leaves and a good rotary mower,try Sork mole treatment,it small Allium with yellow flowers can be mown off they absolutely stink  I crushed a leaf and my eyes watered for half an hour,if the moles are in the garden start at the house and put a row in 4 yards apart between bulbs then another row a week later,if the moles are coming in from out side the garden put the Sork bulbs at 8 yards between bulbs called a cordon sanitare    jezza