ONE thing to keep in mind is that gophers don't tunnel deep. Not below @ 18-ins. So, if you want to cut the bottom out of a pot that goes deeper than that, you can probably do just fine. We have done that in some instances.

Gophers do surface, sometimes. Particularly in the spring. And, our neighbors use poison (which we will not do).

We have, therefore, caught sick, dying gophers staggering across the street, and had to kill them before they got into our yard, where our dogs are waiting to eat them.

We keep learning.

We've learned that, the more holes the better. Make it like Swiss Cheese! The thing is that gophers may get through mesh gopher baskets, as the material does deteriorate under ground. (We've seen that happen.) Plastic (as we all know to our universal sorrow) does not deteriorate. We have taken up pots that have been in the ground for 20 years, and re-used them.

We use potting soil in the pots. And we do add more as time goes by. Clay usually digs the hole a bit larger than the pot, and puts a mix of potting soil and "dirt" around and under the pot.

Is it ideal? Good Lord no!

But if your area is as overrun with gophers as ours is, there are few options. We picked this up from another rosarian, long ago, and it's worked for us. If you find a better way for your circumstances, go for it.

As Jeri says, the wire baskets can deteriorate over time. I read 10 years for my heavy duty baskets. The Gopher Hawk has killed 31 gophers so far 2021 and 31 in 2020 so we are doing that too. We are leaving the top of the basket exposed above ground, like suggested on the directions.

Yes, even galvanized metal eventually deteriorates under ground. The plastic pots can offer some protection until you encounter a determined gopher which will gnaw through a pot, enlarging a drain hole to gain entry. I've had that happen. I've also had them surface then pull themselves into a five gallon nursery can to burrow and eat the campanula growing inside the can. Just like determined burglars, you try to make it as inconvenient to get in and get out as possible, but both will make it in if sufficiently determined.

Well, we haven't had that happen so far. But I don't doubt that they can, and maybe would.

I will say that the pots we've pulled up haven't had any damage like that, so SHHHHH! Don't suggest it to my gophers!

Thanks Jeri. I was glad to see your reply since you have experience with this method. We do have lots of gophers and I have used several methods to discourage them, including poison. I have no dogs or cats to be harmed and no close neighbors with pets to be harmed. In spite of those who wag their heads, we have found windmills to be one of our best allies. The underground vibrations caused by the windmills seems to irritate them and they move elsewhere. I discovered this quite by accident about 20 years ago when I noticed there was no gopher activity in a 30 foot radius around my ornamental Dutch windmill in my front yard. Since then, I have read of others who have experienced the same thing. I do have to move them around some when the gophers get "immune" to them and it's not completely foolproof. So far, none of my nine roses have gotten killed or severely damaged by gophers, but last year they ate every last one of my iris plants, so I'm afraid it's a matter of time till they destroy a rose or two. That's why I'm looking for ways to protect my new roses. And yes, Sheila and Kim, I'm aware that the wire baskets only last for so long, that's why I'm thinking I'd like to try the "Swiss cheese" plastic pot idea. I think it would take a very desperate gopher to chew through a plastic pot, though I suppose it could happen! Still, if Jeri says she's never had it happen to any that she's seen, I'm guessing it's my best bet. Between that and the windmills, we just might outsmart the nasty little critters.

We had some flooding here years ago. Floodwaters washed down the hill through the gopher tunnels, and popped up here and there as little fountains.

One great joy was the sight of a gopher, washed out of its tunnel, and swimming down the street . . .

That is really a good one, Jeri!

An even more satisfying sight is a drowned gopher carcass flushing out of the tunnel after flooding them with a hose positioned at the top of the slope... Newhall was riddled with the buggers. I learned many techniques for "sending them off". Not having gophers is one of the few benefits of engineered soil.