Gopher-proofing?

[Jefffooz]

I am starting a garden of flowering perennials and a small herb garden this
spring. Every time I need to plant anything in the ground in our area, I
actually have to dig a foot to a foot and a half (or deeper) into the ground
and line the hole or trench (for a flower bed) with aviary wire; these are done
to protect the plants from voracious gophers.

However, I am planning a site 10 by 15 feet for the perennials and 5 by 5 feet
for the herbs. I have never planned sites this big, and I do not want to go
through the back-breaking labor of lining the site with aviary wire. Is there a
different method that I can use to protect my plants from being gobbled up by
gophers? Should I just plant everything in the ground without wiring and hope
that gophers are not interested in perennials and culinary herbs?

Thanks

Jeff

[Weswank sr]

Planting in "gopher baskets" is really a pain. Anything you value should be
protected. We live in an area that had a gopher problem. We use gopher
baskets however as you say it is tough with a large planting area. We have
adopted a very agressive polocy of trapping gophers. We use Macabee traps.
William E. Swank, Sr
weswanksr@aol