Those doggies are just itching to get in there in that nice black dirt & DIG! Better watch them close Sue. Dogs are escape artists & that makes them excellent at getting IN where they aren't supposed to go. You can see they're already plotting & planning.
The flowers are superb! I love Vesper.

Thanks Ann!
They have plenty of room to go elsewhere, always on patrol for gophers, so I hope they will not try to get in there.

Do they ever get the gophers?

In the 7 months we have been here, the black one, Kona, got one but she keeps digging around and trying to get more. I drowned one and their 2 cats got 6 that we know of, although some were from the neighbors yards.

Sheesh! It's something I've not had to deal with and am not familiar with. But they are on the property & all the neighbors too. Everyone out there says there's nothing you can do. Can you tell me what I might expect in the way of them eating my plants? And what do you mean you drowned one?

This is all new for me too, came from a small city lot 7 months ago and moved to gopher central. I put my roses, daylilies and a few special plants in gopher cages to protect the roots.
One day one of the big dogs started digging and exposed a hole in the lawn, I pulled her away and leaning down, I could hear the gopher digging so realized it was quite near the surface. I was watering so stuck my hose in the hole and held it there and all of a sudden, the gopher started pushing up against it trying to get out. I kept the hose there for at least another minute and when I pulled the hose out, it flopped out onto the lawn, it had drowned.

What timing eh? with the gopher digging & you there with the hose running. Good for you!
So now you know I've got to ask ---- how do you make gopher cages to protect the roots? I believe I'm going to have to employ that method myself.

I cheat, I buy them from this local guy about 100 at a time for cheaper than the stores sell them. He makes them the round sizes of 1 gal, 5 gal and 20 gal pots, much easier to use than the store bought square ones. You can make them too, there are probably a few online tutorials.

Thanks Sue.
Happy tilling!

LOTS of work going on there Sue - LOL at the dogs

The roses are stunning!

Thanks Vicki, 'watch' the blog for updates!