How do we stop voles from girdling trees and shrubs on our HOA common areas?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised October 29, 2026

How an HOA board stops voles from girdling common area trees and shrubs: fall mowing, trunk guards, clearing mulch, trapping, bait rules and a yearly schedule.

Part of the HOA board handbook: vendors, projects and upkeep.

The short answer

Voles do their worst damage in winter, under snow, where nobody sees it until the melt. By March the board finds shrubs chewed bare at the base and young trees with a ring of bark gone. A tree girdled all the way around usually dies. The fix is mostly done in the fall. Mow common turf short before the first snow, pull grass and mulch back from trunks, and put mesh guards on the young trees you care about. Trap only where numbers are small. Leave poison bait to a licensed applicator, and in Colorado check the wildlife rules first. This guide is general education, not legal advice. Wildlife and pesticide rules vary by state and county, and your governing documents decide who maintains which plants.

Confirm it is voles

Several animals chew bark, and the fix depends on which one it is. Colorado State University Extension's fact sheet "Managing Voles in Colorado" (May 2025) gives the signs: Runways. Voles cut surface paths 1 to 2 inches wide through matted grass, with small open burrow holes. After snowmelt these show up as winding trails across the lawn. Tooth marks. Vole gnawing is about 1/16 to 1/8 inch wide, in irregular patches, often low on the trunk or right at the soil line. Not rabbits or deer. Rabbits leave a smooth cut at about 45 degrees and wider marks, usually higher up. Deer browsing leaves a rough, torn edge on twigs. If the turf has crescent-shaped dirt mounds instead of open runways, you have pocket gophers, not voles. Our guide on getting rid of moles and pocket gophers in HOA common turf covers those. CSU counts eight vole species in Colorado. Populations swing from 14 to 500 voles per acre and tend to peak every three to five years, and the worst damage comes in heavy snow years. A female can breed at three weeks old and have 3 to 12 litters a year, so one quiet year says little about the next.

Fall is when you win or lose

Voles chew under snow because snow hides them from hawks and owls. Take away cover near trunks and they feed somewhere else. Schedule these with the landscape contractor every fall: 1. Mow common turf short in late fall, before the first lasting snow. CSU lists close fall mowing as a core step. 2. Clear a ring around each young tree. CSU says to remove vegetation in a 2-foot radius around trunks. The University of California IPM program recommends a vegetation-free circle about 4 feet across around young trees, because voles avoid feeding in the open. 3. Pull mulch back from trunks. Heavy mulch piled against bark gives voles food and shelter, according to UC IPM. Keep mulch a few inches off the trunk and thin it in beds with a damage history. 4. Cut back tall grass and weeds along fences, drainage swales and open space edges next to planted beds. 5. On new or replacement turf in Colorado, ask about short, non-matting grasses such as buffalo grass, blue grama or dwarf fescues, which CSU suggests. Write these into the landscape contract as dated tasks, not as "as needed." A crew that skips the October mow because the grass looks fine has set up the winter damage.

Trunk guards for trees worth protecting

Guards are the most reliable protection for young trees and new plantings. Both CSU and UC IPM give similar specs: Material. 1/4-inch hardware cloth, or plastic mesh cylinders about 3 inches across. Height. At least 18 inches above ground, per CSU. Where snow piles deep, UC IPM says to extend the guard above the usual snow line, because voles chew at the top of the snowpack. Depth. Bury the bottom 3 to 6 inches (CSU) or 4 to 6 inches (UC IPM) so voles cannot dig under. Room to grow. Leave space between guard and bark. A guard that hugs the trunk will cut into it within a season or two. Who does it: the landscape contractor can install guards in October for a per-tree price. Ask for a quote with materials listed, and keep a count of guarded trees on the common area tree inventory. If you already run a tree program, add a guard check to it; our guide on planning an HOA tree maintenance program covers that inventory. Each spring, check guards for leaves and grass clippings packed inside, loosen any that have grown tight, and replace crushed ones.

Trapping, bait and the rules

Trapping works for a few problem beds, not for acres of open space. UC IPM says a small garden needs at least a dozen snap traps and larger areas often need 50 or more. Set mouse snap traps at right angles to the runway with the trigger end in the runway, bait them with peanut butter and oats if you like, check them daily, and move them 15 to 20 feet once catches stop. CSU advises setting traps in fall, before most damage happens. Cover traps with a box or board so kids, pets and birds cannot reach them. Colorado. CSU says voles are nongame wildlife that may be captured or killed when they cause damage. Colorado Parks and Wildlife's nuisance page lets a landowner or their agent trap or take voles without a permit on private property with damage. CPW does not list voles among the species that may be taken with poisons and toxicants, and it says a poison is lawful only for the species on the label, used by the label directions. So in Colorado, call CPW and a licensed applicator before anyone talks about bait. Bait products. CSU and UC IPM both describe zinc phosphide as the main vole bait. It is a restricted use pesticide, and UC IPM notes there is no antidote. The EPA says restricted use products are not sold to the general public and may only be applied by a certified applicator or someone under that applicator's direct supervision. A volunteer should never spread it. Licensed help. Colorado's Pesticide Applicators' Act (C.R.S. 35-10-103) defines a commercial applicator as anyone in the business of applying pesticides for hire, and the state Department of Agriculture requires those businesses to be licensed. Texas requires a structural pest control license to perform pest control for pay (Tex. Occ. Code 1951.301). Ask any contractor for the license number before work starts. What not to buy. UC IPM found burrow fumigants, ultrasonic and electromagnetic devices, and flooding ineffective against voles. CSU says repellents such as capsaicin and castor oil have limited data, wash off in rain and need reapplication.

A sample year

Here is a schedule a board can hand to its landscape contractor. March to April, after snowmelt. Walk the common areas with the contractor. Photograph girdled trees and shrubs, map runways, and note which beds were hit. Score each damaged tree: under half the trunk chewed, over half, or fully girdled. May. Remove dead shrubs. Ask an arborist whether partly girdled trees are worth keeping. Budget replacements. June to August. Hold the vegetation-free rings and keep mulch off trunks. September. Approve the guard quote and the fall mowing date at the board meeting. October. Install or reset guards, clear rings, cut back edge grass. Set traps in the two or three worst beds if numbers are low. November, before lasting snow. Final close mow of turf near planted areas. A sample motion: "Move to authorize the landscape contractor to install trunk guards on up to 40 common area trees at a cost not to exceed $___, and to add a late-fall close mowing and trunk-ring clearing to the contract scope each year."

Telling owners

Owners notice dead shrubs in spring and want to know why. A short notice heads off rumors and helps owners protect their own yards. Sample paragraph: "Several common area shrubs and young trees were damaged this winter by voles, small rodents that chew bark under the snow. The board has asked our landscape contractor to install trunk guards, mow short before winter and keep mulch away from trunks. If you see the same damage in your yard, mesh guards and a short fall mow are the most effective steps. Please do not put out poison bait, which can harm pets and wildlife." If the governing documents make owners responsible for landscaping on their own lots, say so, and say the board's work covers common areas only.

Mistakes boards make

Waiting until spring. By the time damage shows, the season is over. Put the fall tasks on the calendar now. Guards too short or too tight. An 18-inch guard in a spot that drifts to 3 feet protects nothing above the snow line, and a guard that hugs the trunk girdles it. Mulch volcanoes. Mulch piled against trunks is a vole shelter. Pull it back. Letting a volunteer handle bait. Restricted use bait needs a certified applicator, and in Colorado voles are not on CPW's toxicant list. Replanting the same way. A shrub bed lost to voles and replanted with deep mulch and no guards will be lost again in the next peak year.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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