I am on the email list with Rose inc, Tulsa and they just mentioned they have a new product for gophers! It's a beautifully wrought cage that looks like it could handle the gophers easily! $10 ea.

"Due to customer request and the need to protect Roses and other plants from the damage caused by gophers, voles and moles we now offer protective cages to plant that special flower or tree in to protect it from attack. The cage is built from galvanized , welded 1/2 inch mesh wire that is large enough to protect your plants roots from being eaten or disturbed. The cage can be used in lieu of poisons and traps and will last for many years. Out price is $10.00 each for Rose size cages with custom sizes for larger or smaller applications available. "

But they're not on the website yet. So here's their info:
Our phone number is 918-455-7673
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: http://rosesinctulsa.com

Roses inc Tulsa.
13201 South 129 E Ave
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma 74011

I guess it's all a matter of supply and demand. Around here, there's so much demand that the price is much lower. The commercial cages (5-gallon) are about $5 each and have reinforced seams to prevent unraveling, but I found a guy who makes them for $2.75 each. His have a fancy curved top to keep the gophers from coming into the cage from above ground. He delivers them to me for free because I usually buy anywhere from 60 to 100 rose cages at a time and about 25 one-gallon cages for bulbs @$1.75.

wow, that's a heck of a lot cheaper! I've never seen gopher cages, so I had no idea what the going price was. We don't have gopher problems here.. we have prairie dogs. They don't eat roses, though, but they do carry bubonic plague.

I may have to order some of those cages from your friend for my mom if she's going to live in the mountains of NM for long.. she has horrific gopher problems there.

How do you plant your roses in this Zuzu? Do you keep the plant midway so the roots are protected or does your critters chew the stems? I don't have problems with gophers since I have labs but moles on the either hand...

The trouble that I have with gophers ARE my dogs. They hear the gophers under the ground and dig up about a quarter of an acre of ground hunting them - they almost never get one but are undeterred.

Min, when the roots do come out through the holes and travel beyond the cage, the ends might get nibbled by gophers, but it's not a big problem because the big root mass is still protected.

Moles only eat insects, not plants, so the only way they can hurt your plants is by burrowing around them and creating air pockets, possibly exposing the roots to air. That's why it's important to flatten molehills by doing a little dance on top of them. That might be something Porkpal's dog could be trained to do.

mole dance anyone?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...