Gophers are a real plague here.

Even the gopher baskets aren't foolproof. They can deteriorate underground, and once that happens, gophers can get in. We finally took an idea from a friend with a similar problem, and began planting roses in 15-20-G "squat" nursery pots, sunk in the ground to their tops.

That is, pots that are wider than the average sort. "Squatty." :-)

We drill 3/4-in. holes all around the pots -- they're so full of holes, they're like swiss cheese. Roots don't all get out of the pot, but some do.

We have pulled some up later, and found gopher tunnels completely encircling the pots, where the gophers kept trying, but could not get in.

It's not a perfect solution, and might not work well in an area where the plants are unobserved for long periods -- but it does stop gophers cold, where nothing else has worked.

I have had good luck with gopher baskets myself. If you soil is highly alkaline or highly acidic, the baskets may deteriorate faster. Even if the basket starts to rust, it would have sharp pieces. Gophers cannot survive getting cut. I used to wonder why all the broken glass was in the ground when we bought our house, and I spent years cleaning it up. When I got enough of the broken glass out, the gophers moved in. We did not have any gophers our first ten years or so here.

I have used Jeri's method where I want the soil to be different from the surrounding soil, say, very acid for the blueberries. I drill about 100 1/2" holes. Jeri drills slightly bigger holes so I'm guessing her gophers are a bigger size than mine. At 3/4" my gophers might be able to get in. Gopher baskets have 5/8" holes so those would probably be safe for any species of gopher.

Any fewer holes and the soil can get waterlogged. I bury pots so that the rim still sticks up an inch or so after I spread mulch. Black pots are nearly invisible against the mulch, much better at disappearing than green.

Trapping helps, too. However I've stopped trapping because of my dogs. I don't want them to get hurt, even though they are not doing a good job of catching gophers.

Rosefolly

One thing about gophers . . .

Our neighbor poisons them. We have found dying gophers trying to crawl across the street, clearly in agony. I have a very real fear that one or more might make it into our enclosed yard, where our dogs would make short work of it -- and thus acquire the poison.

Even if that doesn't happen, there are the beautiful hawks that soar around here, and nest in our tall trees. They kill squirrels, and would doubtless kill and eat a poisoned gopher.

I wish such poisons would be made illegal.

Yes, poisoning is a really stupid idea. You kill off the partners that are helping you control them. And that is before we even get to the dogs.

No, I won't poison, no matter how mad I get at them. My boss poisons rats, and I've seen the suffering they go through, not to mention the stench of the dying rats in the walls. Yuck!

I will try both the baskets and the buckets. My soil up there is slightly acidic - around 6.5-ish, I think, although I bought what I thought was a Nikko Blue hydrangea that insists on being pink, no matter how much coffee grounds I apply to it. I think it was mis-labeled. Anyway, maybe the baskets will last.

Thanks for the help. I really appreciate it. I really want to be able to grow roses, but with RRV here in the Dallas area (and Oklahoma) and the gophers there, it's getting very discouraging.

Sally

That looks interesting. Thanks for the suggestion. It looks like it might help with the bunny problem, too, which would be nice. But I'm a little concerned that it might cause the roots to girdle. I'll research it further.

Sally