RAISED BEDS & GOPHERS (AND WIND, TOO)

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Hello from the Southwest, all. The goats and I have finally moved out on to the windy prairie on my 5 acres.. feels like The Ponderosa compared to the 2 acres of trees I previously owned! I'm planning to put in raised beds for the garden with a drip system, and I notice that I have quite the gopher colony here. Is there anything I can do to deter them from the beds? I was wondering about lining the bottom of the beds after I dig them up with stucco wire or some other kind of wire mesh? Will it help? How about fruit trees.. should I line the hole when I plant them?

Also, I was thinking about using wood pallets as a windbreak for the garden and fruit trees. The wind is not QUITE as bad as Wyoming, but close! Any thoughts/comments on this will be helpful. Thanks so much. debra in nm, Cuesta Farm, home of happy goats.

-- debra in nm (onegoatgirl@yahoo.com), January 30, 2002

Answers

I had gopher mounds all over when I bought this place 4 years ago. I think the are pocket gophers but I can't say for sure. My dogs and cats took care of them for me. I waited a year before I worked in a garden. I wanted to see what lighting was like, wind, etc. I double dug and did raised beds too. So far I haven't had any problems. When I see new gopher mound I take the dogs over and they dig like crazy. The wire sounds like a good idea but wouldn't you have to line bottom and sides? That could get expensive. Try asking some local people what they do, it would be a good way to meet the neighbors. Good luck! I'm glad you and the goats are happy.

Susan

-- Susan in Minnesota (nanaboo@paulbunyan.net), January 30, 2002.


Debra, I would definitely recommend some sort of wire under your raised beds and around trees. We put in a raised bed in a courtyard and didn't do the wire and we have pocket gophers. They got into a pvc pipe we had running under the raised bed that has our television cable in it and they ate the cable. We trapped eight in the beds after that. Our dogs do catch some of them, but they are almost impossible to get rid of. We live on five acres south of Sierra Vista, AZ, in Cochise County, so it's probably very similar to where you are.

-- Dee (bdforce@theriver.com), January 30, 2002.

debra, call your county extension service, that's why we pay them. They might have some good tips for you and not only for helping with gophers. They can also suggest the strains of veggies that will do best in your windy area and have plans for your raised beds, and alert you to any other local pests to prepare for. Way to go! I think you are smart to go this route with the raised beds and all. Good luck, LQ

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), January 30, 2002.

Are you sure they aren't moles? Moles tend to leave piles of dirt at the opening to their tunnel. The only way we've been able to get rid of them is to trap them. After you trap a few the colony seems to leave. Usually they won't eat your garden they will only disturb any root crops. They say you can grow castor beans as a deterent but I've never tried this.

-- susan banks (susan.banks@sait.ab.ca), January 30, 2002.

Debra, When we moved to our place 8 years ago, I couldn't wait to grow something so I planted a tomatoe in the designated garden area in the fall. It was going great. Then one day, it looked crooked. As I reached down to straighten it, it fell over; mowed down below ground level. So that's when I learned we had gophers. Our raised beds are all lined on the bottom with rabbit wire. They were first lined with chicken wire, but it only lasted about 5 years before the gophers broke through it. The Rabbit wire is often called wire netting, 1 inch squares. It costs more, but will not require replacing so often. But then again, my redwood raised beds need replacing themselves about every 7 years. I'd love to garden in the ground, but cannot. As for trees, we always plant them in wire baskets. Chicken wire works okay for this because by the time it deteriorates, the tree can survive the onslaught. Last year, I was so thrilled with a beautiful walnut tree that came up as a volunteer. It was about 20 feet tall. Then one day, it too began to list to one side. I picked it up and the root end was smooth and round, like a Q-tip. The gophers are a force to be reckoned with. Good luck.

Dwight

-- Dwight (summit1762@aol.com), January 30, 2002.



When I was a kid in Norther Calif we had that gopher problem and my mom planted long neck soda bottles with just about 3 or 4 inches of the neck sticking out of the ground. I guess the sounds above ground echo in the soda bottles and they can't take it. We had a great big garden and so did our landlord 3 doors down. When he came over one day he ask my mom how she had such a great garden. His was being eatten by gophers. She told him and he planted one on each corner and one in the center of his garden. About two weeks went by and when mom saw him she asked him if it worked for him. He said like a charm they were all gone. Please if you do this make sure you mark it real well !! White paint circle on the ground around the neck sticking up. My mom hit one with the lawnmower and what a mess.

-- Teresa (c3ranch@socket.net), January 31, 2002.

Debra - I'd be interested in talking to a 'local' more, as we too have problems with gophers and voles (not moles). If you'd like, email me... as for what to do - we line everything we can with hardware cloth. A bit expensive, but the rabbit fencing and chicken wire weren't strong enough. Although, the garden is much too large to do this, so we trap them there - but that's a never ending battle. We have those 'noisy' wind mills all over the yard that sends sound through the ground, but they did nothing. I would definately line the bottom on your beds with whatever you can that could stop these critters from getting through! Best of luck!

-- Michelle in NM (naychurs_way@hotmail.com), January 31, 2002.

One of the best remedies we have found for the problem was so simple I couldn't believe it when I first heard it. If you have the wind try an 8ft. decorative windmill. Just keep the wheel axel well greased and the vibrations will clear a large area of gophers and moles. It works.

-- charlie (charliesap@pldi.net), February 01, 2002.

Thanks to all. I have ammunition now! dh in nm

-- debra in nm (goatgirl@unm.edu), February 01, 2002.

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