What plants don't gophers eat?

Answer 1

Some gardeners swear by marigolds and green onions, for which gophers are purported to have a particular distaste. Experiment by planting marigolds and green onions amongst your prized edible and ornamental garden delicacies. No repellents currently available will reliably protect lawns or other plantings from gophers. Mothballs, garlic, spearmint leaves, predator urine placed in tunnels, and a perimeter of mole plant or castor bean planted around gardens have all provided mixed results. Such control strategies may be experimented with where gophers are an occasional problem, but not a long-term threat. Raptors, non-venemous bullsnakes (or "gopher snakes"), weasels, skunks, coyotes, dogs, and cats are all known to prey on gophers. Please consider using natural means rather than traps that maim or kill inhumanely.If you are considering the use of "live" traps, do NOT use glue-traps; they're death-traps and you'll never get the little guy off of them (unless you are extremely patient and have some hair conditioner and olive oil to loosen the glue with Q-tips and GENTLY pry the legs off the sticky substance). There are plenty of live-traps that capture but do not hurt the gophers. CHECK LIVE-TRAPS REGULARLY so your trapped gopher does not starve, die of thirst, or freeze. Find a place to release your gophers where they will have food and protection in a nice field away from residential areas. Do not release in areas likey to be developed or poisoned with ground toxins of any kind.

When we pull all the weeds in our gardens, gophers have no choice but to eat what we plant. That's when they become our competitors, rather than our helpers.

If you're losing a carrot or a couple of bulbs here or there, please, consider allowing your gophers to live in peace. Truth be told, they may be doing more good than harm. The ecological services of pocket gophers, which are substantial, are often not appreciated, particularly when the animals make their presence known by eating garden crops or damaging orchard or ornamental trees. For homeowners and gardeners, gophers may be only an occasional (or seasonal) nuisance in lawns and garden beds, and not a long-term problem or threat. Where these animals are not so numerous as to be causing heavy damage, they should be considered neutral.

Gophers can do minor damage to underground wiring; they simply don't know the difference between a wire and a root. They'll chew anything to discover what it is or to remove an obstacle when creating their matrix of underground burrows. Gophers may not frighten easily because they're used to noises from sprinklers, power equipment, foot-traffic, livestock, and other city or rural sounds. Avoid products that use sonic and vibration means to "frighten" gophers, as they probably won't do much good. Before you resort to killing gophers, please read: Gophers eat roots, bulbs, and other fleshy portions of plants they encounter while digging underground. This includes many "pest" plants, such as a variety of weeds and obnoxious non-native shrubs that would otherwise over-use valuable water and soil resources from native plants in your region. Some species of gohpers are protected, because they've been trapped into near extinction; so before you try to kill them as a VERY LAST resort, do a little research about gophers in your area. References: http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/living/gophers.htm Previous article: "I've heard they don't like Marigolds or green onions. Believe it or not one secret of avid gardeners is to plants Marigolds or green onions amongst their flowers. Gophers are just as destructive as the moles we have here in British Columbia. You basically have to nail the little suckers in the holes. If you have a long haired cat when you groom it save the fur! Then put a bit of the cat fur down the holes. Also aspirin works. Short of that you have to kill them or, the war is on just like moles and myself! LOL"

Answer 2

These critters are eating machines. They eat EVERYTHING that grows in your yard.