Are my mound-rows ok? And a bonus gopher problem.

[plantingplants]

Hey everyone, I'm stressing a little so bear with me. I rented a bobcat this weekend to move dirt and my plans didn't work out so I had to make some decisions on my toes and ended up taking all of my old not-so-great soil and pushing it into two long rows. They run east to west on a south facing hill so I didn't want too much shading going on so I pushed the dirt back and forth so they are sort of more like staggered mounds connected to each other. Less staggered than I would like but I like the idea that they're connected so roots can extend freely. I flattened the old soil (1-1.5 yards each mound) and then dumped my new soil (0.75-1.2 yards each mound) on top. Some got 1.2 yds because I thought the bucket was 1/3 yd but its 0.41, which also left me short so I am missing 6 spots.

So that's what you see. And the other photo is the &$!!#$! gopher mounds that popped up over night. So question number one is, did I fuck up? My mounds are too crowded so I'm nervous. Any tips to gas these gophers? If you walked in to this, what would you do to improve this garden? I'm trying to do it right so I'll rent the bobcat again if I have to. But moving the soil again means a lot of mixing of the old soil with the new will happen. Which wouldn't be too bad. I think it's ok, maybe I just need some reassurance.

I'm super frustrated that I didn't just get the damn hardware cloth but the cost for 1/4" was high. I just read that 3/4" is fine for gophers too :x ... There probably no way I could slide hardware cloth underneath, right ? Hah

 

[MicroRoy]

You could trench to install the hardware cloth.

Gophers tend to stay on the root zone.Not real deep diggers.

 

[Stone House]

You could trench to install the hardware cloth.

Gophers tend to stay on the root zone.Not real deep diggers.

I agree with MicroRoy.
If it were me, I think I would rent a small trencher and trench around the perimeter of your grow. I would then put 1/2" or 3/4" chickenwire (if you cant afford hardware cloth) in the trench with about 6" above the surface (so the little bastards couldn't climb over top).
At that point I would set traps in their tunnels (inside the perimeter)
until they were all caught.
Start by locating the tunnel, carefully dig a hole that intersects their tunnel then insert gopher trap. Tie some twine or wire to the trap (about 2 feet) and tie the other end to a weighted object on the surface (this prevents the gopher from dragging the trap farther into the burrow when he/she is caught).
Now put a few goodies like oats or green grass (not pot lol) close to trap. Cover the hole with a piece of plywood large enough to cover hole and block out any daylight.
Check the traps each day until you no longer see any activity.
They also make a tool you can get at larger feed stores that allows poison pellets to be injected into their tunnels. Don't know if that would be a good idea around your plants as I don't know if the plants would absorb the poison.
At least that's what I would do (traps).
As far as your soil mounds there are others on here that could give
you better advice than myself. good luck

 

[MicroRoy]

I agree with the chicken wire. A gopher wont put any effort into getting through.

 

[plantingplants]

You folks are geniuses. Thank you so much. I would have never thought to trench the perimeter. How deep should I go? Is 18" enough or do I need two feet?

I wonder if there's a way to scare them out of the area before I trench so I don't trap them in. Maybe the gas flare things. I'd rather not have to kill them. I have pet rats so I have a soft spot for rodents.

 

[MicroRoy]

18 would work.

 

[Lyfespan]

go to the barber get a bag of hair and stuff the holes with some hair, gophers will be ghost

 

[oct]

If you plan on staying at this grow site do NOT use chicken wire. Build the coffee cup style hardware-cloth cages like I told tess to do. If your gonna peace out after a year or two, chicken wire will do, but I have seen them get through it before. The chances of them messing with you are slim but do hardware-cloth if this is a long term spot.

I have lost a ten pound plant to gophers before.....

 

[Mendogrowing]

Trenched grow areas is how I do it to it

 

[plantingplants]

I think I 'll use 1/2" hardware cloth. Maybe even 1/4" especially since I can just trench around. All I need is a 2 foot piece the length of the fence.

I'd prefer baskets but since the dirt is done moving then I'd rather not rent a bobcat again.

 

[Mendogrowing]

2 foot piece? Um you want more than that, trench that shit in with enough to keep other rodent critters out the top too. Rabbits are pretty horrible and plentiful around here, anything to make it harder for them to jump on in. Rodents can really fu$k chit up and they usually do it when replanting isn't a great option anymore, what your seeing now is nothing compared to a thirsty August rodent.

 

[reppin2c]

My buddy employs Sweeneys gopher repellant and I tried it but I think my dog got em before it could take effect

 

[Organic Grower]

Hey Oct... You've seen them get through this?? https://jet.com/product/detail/0e79...gclid=CLD7j4Ggw8wCFY17fgodW7EN4w&gclsrc=aw.ds

That's metal aviary netting. I didn't think they'd even have a chance, and it's so much cheaper and nicer to work with than hardware cloth.

Plantingplants, trenching the perimeter should work as they've said. But they do get out of their holes and move on the surface too so I would put the wire down and leave like 6" out of the ground and tie it into a perimeter above ground fence.

 

[plantingplants]

Holy shit. I rented a small trencher and it nearly made me cry trying to maneuver that thing through rocky clay on a hill. That was hellish. I couldn't even get down deep enough in some spots. At one point it started rolling down the hill and almost mangled the neighbors fence. It's just too heavy for a hill.

I didn't have any rodent problems last year but if gophers will move on top then I'll be sure to fasten the mesh to my fence.

So fuck. Should I even bother putting in the 1/2" mesh if some spots only go 4" deep? Or maybe I should break out the pickaxe. Fuck.

Anyway, no one has made any comments about my mounds so I'll take that to mean they're ok.

 

[corky1968]

Fence it all in and throw in a ball python.

No more gopher problems. Where did they all go?

 

[crookpot]

1/4" is kinda intense and unnecessary (it's also usually a smaller gauge wire than 1/2"). 1/2" is plenty good, and Home Depot is absolutely the most expensive place to get any kind of galvanized mesh wiring. Lowe's often has a MUCH better deal, at least where I'm at. You can find it on the Internet for much cheaper than any of the box stores.

If you're using 3/4" chicken wire, I would double up on it to reduce the mesh opening size. But after you do all that, the cost of chicken wire won't be much cheaper than hardware cloth, maybe more expensive.

 

[crookpot]

I've moved large fabric pots after a grow to find gopher tunnels leading right up to the mesh, and stop. Some look like a maze after all the dirt collapses in (smacking the surface with shovel or stomping with boots will expose all the tunnels directly under the mesh.

With the 1/2" mesh, there were NEVER any breaks. Bottoms.of the fabric pots completely intact.

 

[plantingplants]

Thanks yea I was going to order some of that aviary wire .5 in. But now I'm thinking it's pointless if I have a missing section because of the 4" sections. I'll see how hard it is to dig with a shovel and pickaxe.

These plants need to go in asap. Guess I'm going to have to just trAnsplant in the mean time. Damn.

 

[crookpot]

I don't know how deep gophers go but a trench doesn't seem like a guaranteed solution. I mean, do you really want to invest that much into a once-a-year grow only to have it completely ruined because you wanted to save a thousand bucks? Even relatively thin galvanized wire seems to last a long time.

 

[crookpot]

Has anyone ever had gophers or other rodents CLIMB UP into a pot and dig down from the surface?