# Gopher-Proof Roses
Maintaining a rose garden or any flower or vegetable garden means dealing with pest animals and insects. Avoid destruction of your entire rose garden by gophers that feast on these types of flowers. Gophers upset plants by attacking their root systems. Prevention is best for maintaining the health of your roses. Chemical control methods, such as fumigation, are not recommended, as gophers seal tunnel entryways when they detect smoke or gas.
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Gopher Information
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Gophers are among the thicker-bodied rodents that exist and range from 6 to 12 inches in length. These brown-furred creatures have small eyes and ears on the backs of their heads. They have strong front paws with long claws as well as chisel-like teeth used for digging. Gopher teeth grow 9 to 14 inches per year. Gophers create tunnels that run 6 to 18 inches under the soil and use their strong sense of smell to hunt for bulbs, grasses, seeds, roots, tubers and tree bark. They are especially fond of roses.
Evidence of Gophers
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Look for signs of gopher activity on your property, such as fan-shaped mounds of pulverized soil in garden beds or your lawn. Such mounds are the result of gopher tunneling. Other signs of gophers on your property are flowers and plants wilting for no discernible reason. Pull wilting flowers, such as roses up from the ground for further indication of gophers. Such plants should pull clean from the soil with all or most of its roots gone.
Prevention Methods
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Plant or surround existing roses with wire mesh, such as chicken wire. Wire in 24-inch wide rolls with openings 1 inch apart for best results. Wrap the wire about the rose plant's root ball or lay wire down before planting for larger projects. Place the wire down, cover it in soil, position the rose plant, add more soil and wrap the wire around the entire plant, top included. Additional prevention methods include using predators and predator scents, such as keeping cats and dogs on the property or using coyote urine around the perimeters of your rose garden.
Trap Methods
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Trapping is another method of controlling gopher populations. Several versions of gopher traps are available, including two-pronged, pincher traps and choker-style box traps. Set traps in main tunnels and use a garden shovel to make the tunnel wide enough for placing two traps in opposite directions from one another. Using traps in this manner means you trap gophers coming from either end of the tunnel. While baits for such traps are not necessary, you can use carrots, peanut butter, lettuce or apples as bait if desired.
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