{"id":26427,"date":"2026-06-12T07:36:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T14:36:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/?p=26427"},"modified":"2026-06-12T07:37:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T14:37:26","slug":"do-gopher-baskets-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/do-gopher-baskets-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Do gopher baskets work?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Do they actually protect a tree&#8217;s roots from being munched by gophers? And once the tree is big, do <a href=\"https:\/\/gopherbasket.com\/\">gopher baskets<\/a> not girdle the tree&#8217;s roots?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here are some avocado trees planted in a yard riddled with gophers that indicate the answers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Do gopher baskets work?\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/F4N59jOe7C0?feature=oembed\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I would still think of planting a fruit tree in a gopher basket as an insurance policy and not a perfect barrier to gopher damage. In other words, I would still trap even if I planted in gopher baskets. But from what I&#8217;ve seen, in general, they work. And if I didn&#8217;t feel confident in my trapping skills or couldn&#8217;t be vigilant enough, I would definitely plant any special fruit trees in gopher baskets in a yard where gophers reside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">(As I should have done with <a href=\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/miles-and-his-placenta-tree-turn-one-but-one-of-them-almost-gets-eaten-by-a-gopher\/\">this special tree ten years ago!<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You may have noticed that there are no ads on this website. That\u2019s because I rely exclusively on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/supporting-the-yard-posts\/\">your direct support<\/a>&nbsp;to keep them up and coming. Thanks for all the support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All of my Yard Posts are listed\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/all-yard-posts\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Do they actually protect a tree&#8217;s roots from being munched by gophers? And once the tree is big, do gopher baskets not girdle the tree&#8217;s roots? Here are some avocado trees planted in a yard riddled with gophers that indicate the answers: I would still think of planting a fruit tree in a gopher basket [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":26438,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[34],"tags":[69],"class_list":["post-26427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pests-and-diseases","tag-gophers"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Do gopher baskets work? - Greg Alder&#039;s Yard Posts: Southern California food gardening<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Do they protect a tree&#039;s roots from being munched by gophers? 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