PLANTS THAT PRODUCE

Plants That Produce

Gopher Madness

By Richard Frost

While some of us are free to laugh at Bill Murray’s antics in the movie Caddy Shack, there are gardeners for whom gophers and related species are a living nightmare. There are three time-tested approaches to these critters that work: (1) destroy all of these critters on your property in a manner that does not harm people and the other living things, (2) give your plants in the ground robust protection, or (3) put everything in 3-foot high pots, sealing the drainage holes with hardware cloth. Anything else (e.g., vibrators) will only work in very limited situations and are sold to people who want to put out little or no effort towards the problem.

Method #1 involves the least labor and is the most effective. For this you will need: (a) long-handled pointed shovel – maybe two or three for you and your neighbors; (b) a package of small landscape flags sold with irrigation supplies; (c) some 3” to 4” diameter rocks; (d) a long-handled teaspoon which some of us call an “iced tea spoon”; and (e) gopher bait, such as the strychnine-laced Milo grain manufactured by Wilco. Don’t worry about the bait: if the gopher eats it they will die underground within inches of it, and whether they eat it or not the strychnine will breakdown in a period of months and pose no risk to anyone after a year’s time if applied responsibly.

Now here is the procedure for #1. Find fresh mounds (or holes in the case of voles). Push the shovel down into the mound or next to the hole all the way. Pull the shovel to the side so that at least one tunnel is exposed. Do not touch the bait with your hands or anything you have been handling – gophers do not like your scent. Use a clean long-handled teaspoon to insert a small amount (e.g., ¼ teaspoon far into the open tunnel without disturbing the tunnel. Place a rock over the exposed hole so that no dirt will fall into the tunnel and cover the bait. Now bury the rock and place a landscape flag into the ground above the rock. Repeat this procedure each time a new mound (or vole hole) appears on the property. There will be a dramatic drop off in the number of new holes and after a several months few or none will appear. Remove the landscape flags after a long lapse in activity.

For Method #2 let’s use the example of a fruit tree in the ground, but you can easily adapt to other situations. Basically you are going to create a continuous web of fencing both above and below ground which the gophers will not pass over or through. Dig a planting hole for the tree the size of a tree planter: 3’ x 3’ x 3’ or larger with a flat bottom. For a 3-foot cubed hole, take two 12-foot long strips of 48-inch high chicken wire (½ inch mesh) and lay them down cross-ways one at a time over the hole. When placing a strip, press it down into the hole so that it overlaps the sides by about 6 inches and extends out either end about 1.5 feet. When both strips are in place, fill the hole with planting mix and then straighten the 1.5-foot “tabs” vertically with metal fence posts or rebar so that there is a 1.5 high fence around the planter. If you also have squirrels, then I recommend additional chicken wire extending from the perimeter fence over to the tree trunk.

SDHS member Richard Frost is a certified edible gardening nut. For copies of past articles and more information, please see www.PlantsThatProduce.com.

Reprinted with permission from February 2010 "Let's Talk Plants," the newsletter of the San Diego Horticultural Society, www.sdhortsoc.org