Moles under synthetic lawn: What to do and how to stop them
When you install artificial grass, a low-maintenance, durable synthetic surface designed to look like real turf. Also known as synthetic lawn, it eliminates mowing, watering, and weeding—but it doesn’t stop moles, burrowing mammals that tunnel just below the surface in search of worms and grubs. These creatures don’t eat the grass, but they still wreck it by pushing up the backing, lifting seams, and creating uneven mounds that ruin the look and feel of your yard.
Moist, rich soil under your synthetic lawn is a magnet for moles. Even though there’s no real grass to root through, the layer of crushed stone or sand beneath often holds insects and earthworms—exactly what moles hunt. They don’t care if it’s fake grass above; they only care about what’s below. Once they start tunneling, the pressure from their tunnels can crack the backing, shift the infill, and leave your lawn looking bumpy and worn. You might not see the mole itself, but you’ll see the damage: raised ridges, loose patches, and soil mounds that look like tiny volcanoes.
Most DIY fixes—like ultrasonic devices, mothballs, or castor oil—don’t work on moles. They’re smart, persistent, and don’t respond to smells or noise. What does work? Physical barriers. Installing a fine-mesh wire mesh (like hardware cloth) under the lawn during installation blocks them from digging up. If your lawn’s already down, you can try mole traps, mechanical devices placed directly in active tunnels to catch or kill the animal—but you need to find the main run, not the side tunnels. It’s not fun, but it’s the only reliable method. Some homeowners use lawn rollers, heavy cylinders pulled over the surface to flatten mounds and compact soil to temporarily smooth things out, but that’s just masking the problem.
Prevention is easier than repair. If you’re installing new artificial grass, skip the thick layer of organic topsoil. Use clean, coarse gravel or crushed stone instead—it doesn’t attract worms, so moles have no reason to dig there. Also, make sure the base is properly compacted and the edge borders are sealed tight. Moles don’t jump fences—they crawl under them. A buried metal barrier around the perimeter can stop them before they even start.
And don’t assume your synthetic lawn is safe just because it’s fake. If your neighbors have real grass, moles might be using your yard as a highway. They move through multiple properties, so your lawn could be the easiest path to food. The key isn’t to scare them off—it’s to make your yard unappealing and hard to dig through.
Below, you’ll find real fixes from people who’ve dealt with this exact problem. No theory. No guesswork. Just what actually stopped the moles and saved their lawns.