It doesn't sound like you have a serious problem. Just keep a sharp lookout for mounds and put the traps in right away, as soon as you see one. I get about 1 gopher a year. If you get the traps in before they get their tunnel system dug, you can get them before they do any damage. I usually get them the same day. Buy a couple traps and have them on hand. They are not expensive.

But I look around my garden every single day--so I see the mounds right away. You have to catch them before they tunnel too much.

Only you can answer this question. I found that as I improved the soils on my lot, the gophers came. I don't live in the suburbs, however. I'm surrounded by miles of ranch land or vineyards. Lots of wildlife. Even in the suburbs where my other garden is located, the same thing happened: the better the soil, the more ground-dwelling vermin. I have a far greater problem with voles than with gophers. The vole population is brutal. I plant everything in cages now, with the wire protruding 3 inches from the ground. I use hardware cloth.

We don't have voles -- but I'll match my herd of gophers against Cass's.

Last year, we put a Gloire des Rosomanes directly into the ground.
Last week, the gophers struck.

I HATE gophers.

Jeri