Wow! Do you think that one of the main problems is that they've overpopulated in your garden, so killing them one at a time doesn't help, as there are many?

For all I know, there's only one. The gum solution is an old garden myth. Gophers want to eat plant roots, not gum.

It is? It worked for a friend of mine (he moved away, and I don't hear from him anymore) when he had tomatoes and the gophers were a huge problem. He started placing fruit gum at the entrances to the gophers' homes, and he found a lot of them dead in his garden.

zuzu.... Traps traps traps.. it's the only thing that works in my garden. I tried everything but traps at first but traps are the only way to get them. And a good hunting cat has helped occasionally.





After trying everything even hoses connected to the tail pipe of the truck and the other end stuffed down a mole or gopher hole.. I have both.. that didn't work.. traps and a good hunter cat helps a lot.

I joked that I had a 54 hole golf course. Fell in many sprained knees, ankles, elbows. Lost hundreds in dahlia tubers as well as many other beloved plants. When out gardening a plant would start to shimmy and it wasn't windy ya knew it was a gopher. Gophers eat plants , moles eat worms....the cat has caught several in the last two seasons. Always hanging out early in the morning where they are active. Of course the cat would leave me presents on the front porch of a wrangled half eaten critter... he was a good mouser too.

Gopher traps are different than mole traps. There are several YouTube videos on how to set traps. It's really the best way to control them. It's usually one mole or gopher that can cause havoc in the garden. They are territorial and don't share with other gophers. If you catch one mole /gopher your set for a break until another comes along. No more than one will be raiding the garden at a time. They are not in groups only one gopher is causing all the damage in your garden. In my garden front has had one and the back as well as the pastures. It's usually one in each area. If your into poisons for treating roses... Use a systemic on the roses for a good way to keep gophers from eating plants.

It's tricky but once you get the hang of it it's fairly straight foreword.

I think my property's large enough to house more than one gopher, however territorial they might be. Jasper used to catch one or two every week, but he died on Monday and the other cats are too old or too lazy or too full of cat food to bother.

I don't use any poisons in my garden because I don't want to hurt any of the cats, opossums, raccoons, skunks, snakes, birds, bees, and beneficial insects in my garden. The same goes for traps. It doesn't bother me if a gopher is killed by a cat or an owl, but I don't want to kill the gopher myself. Quirky, I know, but it just seems contrary to nature for me to kill an animal. I used to kill curculio weevils, but they're gone now, so I don't have to feel torn about making that decision anymore.

I have tried my best to drive the gophers away, but nothing has worked. I've resigned myself to planting anything desirable in a gopher-proof cage, and although I'm sad about losing nine roses in the last few weeks, I'm happy that I was able to enjoy those nine for more than 30 years before the gopher discovered that bed. I'll use the space to plant some of my container roses in the ground in cages.

Good for you, Zuzu! You're making lemonade! I feel the same way. If something dies now it gives me the opportunity to plant something new in its place. Since I've totally run out of room to plant new roses, and there are still so many I want to try, lol, I've decided the dead ones are just an opportunity to try out something else.

Amen to that, Seil. I've got a sliver of land and practically nothing happens until something dies. My fallback position is that any non-rose that outgrows it's space
is offered to a nearby gardener. I've got friends in upstate New York who are
willing to take whatever I'll give them. I palmed off a load of irises two years ago. Now I'm digging out eight or so peonies that I intend to divide between my upstate
friends and the manager of the park where I have my garden. That keeps him on my side. That will free up some space.

Malicorne & Bull's Eye became intertwined due to a recent thunderstorm.

I love my peonies, but they do take up a lot of space for such a short bloom duration. And every year I can predict the weather by the peonies... as soon as they bloom, we will get a downpour that nearly ruins them.

Yes, they are truly lovely, but...

It's been a long winter down here without much happening in the garden. I have new growth on all of my roses but I am months away from any blooms. The blossom trees are beginning to bloom in town but I am another fortnight away from them blooming here, so I think I need a hit of roses. Could some of you please post some photos from your gardens of David Austin roses for me? I can only reciprocate with lamb photos at the moment as Toby is the only thing blooming and thriving here at this time.

He must think wool slippers and boots are his brothers.
Two days old.
A couple of weeks old.
Now living outside with real sheep, not slippers.

I have the opposite issue with my roses - too hot - so I am enjoying other people's pictures too.

Yes, for us it is really hot and humid here in Houston, TX So the roses are just surviving and I have not seen any blooms in a couple of weeks
We are waiting for October when my new rose bush will arrive and I will plant that and expect it to grow through the winter. We usually get pretty
good growth here in the Winter and even some blooms. The Fall will hopefully be a good time for pictures of the roses with blooms. And here in
Houston, TX we will likely see blooms until Christmas.

I just bought a bunch of peonies. I wanted 2 specific ones which of course were available at 2 different places. Then I was looking at stuff to meet the free shipping minimum.... Now I have 7 peonies coming. There would be more but 3 I wanted were sold out and 1 was $60, bareroot in a bag! People say roses are pricey! I saw one for $1000. I love peonies, I just wish they would repeat bloom.

I am pretty sure one of my noIDs is Jacqueline DuPre. One description referring to its "skanky canes" is spot on! Mine is near 6 feet tall but the bottom 2.5 feet are leafless. It is a non stop bloomer even in a heat wave. I'm thinking of putting a peony in front of it to hide those bare knees.

Blackspot has suddenly made an appearance in my garden. It's pretty minor except on Souvenir de Docteur Jamain which I had been warned was a BS magnet but wanted anyway. One of my bushes has a sudden case of aphids which is not something I see this time of year.

My Benjamin Britten is showing signs of becoming a big bush. Not a single bud but it is shooting out in all directions. It arrived badly stressed and I had doubts about it surviving but it has doubled in size over the last 3 weeks. It is insane. I am very glad I gave it a tonne of room.




I ran outside before the rain became a deluge and cut this for my dining table. First time having people over for dinner since March! I love how About Face is still fragrant even after the petals fall off! I leave them a few days before deadheading because of that. They only last on the Bush 2 or three days so I might as well enjoy the scent at least.

Some David Austin roses:
Ambridge Rose

Benjamin Britton


Carding Mill


Christopher Marlowe


Crocus Rose


Darcey Bussell


Gentle Hermione


Golden Celebration


Harlow Carr


James L. Austin


L.D Braithwaite


Lady of Shalott


Mary Rose


Munstead Wood



Queen of Sweden

Roald Dahl


Tamora


Tess of the d'urbervilles


The Lady Gardener


Thomas a Becket

Dennis. Those DAs are beautiful. Hooray!

So lovely, Kohala!

Last day of August. Sunny and 78. A few roses blooming but I'm hoping for one more flush before first frost.
Champagne Wishes


Dick Clark


Golden Celebration


Julia Child


Love Song


Oh Happy Day


Softee

Beautiful blooms! Thank you everyone.

The blooms do look great. I will wait for blooms probably either late in September or in October and we could definitely see blooms even until
Christmas once we get some.

Thank you for your DA photos, Dennis! Out of the 20 you posted I only have 6, and another 9 are totally unavailable to me here. My Benjamin Britten is new to me this year and I nearly didn't buy him because he does not photograph well so he looked hideous in some photos but gorgeous in others. Do you find him difficult to photograph? And would you say he is deep pink/crimson or a true red?