Q. I live in Sandy Valley and will be building some
raised bed planters in my backyard. I have seen gopher mounds all over the
property and wondering what is the best way to get rid of them before I start
this project. One neighbor says they are so prevalent on the north end of the
valley they ignore them altogether.
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| Gophers make pretty big holes and you can find fresh soil pushed from the excavation. |
A. Gophers are tough to control. The options are to kill
them, exclude them from desirable plants or catch and relocate them. When
gophers have other food sources in the neighborhood using repellent plants in
your garden might work since your neighbor’s plants will then seem more
delectable.
When
gophers find a food source, they make more gophers. Your raised beds will
encourage them to set up a base camp, living quarters and a dining commons. The
bottom line is they are attracted to your water and the soft, juicy succulent
plants you are growing.
There are baits and poisons you
can use but you’ll have to be very careful not to poison other animals in the
process. Your best option is probably to exclude them from your growing area
with a wire mesh barrier. You would need to move all your susceptible
production into raised beds and place wire mesh at the bottom of the bed before
filling it with garden soil.
It is best to read through this
for your options. http://cesonoma.ucanr.edu/files/27165.pdf
I made a raised bed garden this past winter in Prescott Arizona. I went to Home Depot and bought 30 feet of Hardware Cloth and laid this down before I started layering the soil. This wlll stop them from digging up into my garden.
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