We weren't hit badly by Hurricane Sandy, despite some high wind gusts, but we had another nor'easter a couple of weeks later, and the wind blew all day long and night. When I went out the next morning, one of my trees was almost flat, and the other was leaning over quite a bit. I was surely puzzled that the wind had taken them down.
A little later, the designer/contractor who helped me with planting stopped by ... and told me I had a vole problem. And did I ever! My only experience with the little buggers was back in DC, where I used to watch Runcible, the cat next door, sit by the neighbor's ivy-covered back fence and go after them.
But back to me: the trees were gone -- trunks girdled at ground level or a little below, roots entirely severed. They also got five of the ten spireas, and did some damage to the nandinas. And the Annabelle hydrangea had been touched, but it's still intact. My contractor said that voles are a problem in our area, and he advised that next year I cut back the Liriope spicata in fall (instead of spring), as it's a good hiding place for voles. He controls them in his own yard by cutting a small hole in a flower pot, turning it upside down, and baiting mousetraps with strawberry gum. I cut the lirope back immediately and spread some organic pellets around the rest of the plants, which I hope will repel the rodents, as the label claims.
My advice: check your young plantings frequently, as I did not. I might have noticed the damage earlier and saved more of my plantings.
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