Saliva's gopher proof????

Does anyone know if Salvia's are safe from gophers etc.... I have several and the gophers have not bothered them, one of the few things that they have left alone....

It probably varies...I plant everything in wire until I have lots of extras to spare then I'll risk planting without wire. Gopher recently ate s. scabra and s. verbenacea. They've never bothered my leucanthas as they've spread far beyond their original wire baskets.....

they munched my S. canariensis and a few other ones...might not be their favorite plants to munch but they will eat them (or at least do enough damage to the roots that they die)

So far they don't seem to have bothered s.uliginosa, Indigo Spires or leucophylla Bee's Bliss where they have spread roots beyond their baskets..but that might just be because the gophers haven't found them yet. I have s. canariensis that has been in one spot for about 10-12 years and I'm sure the baskets have rusted and fallen apart, so either they haven't found it or once the roots have gotten that large and that old, possibly they're no longer tasty. Likewise, I have roses that have been in the ground that long and their baskets would have long since rusted away and yet the gophers have not bothered them either.

They ate my coalhuensis, Anthony Parker, and brandegei - the first and last ones whole!

thanks for the feedback, I have a few planted here and there and I have noticed that they have not touched they, didn't know if it was luck or they don't like them, I lost some iris right next to some salvia and wondered.....

I'd never had the gophers bother any of my iris before the last couple of years, also the dietes......caught me off guard. Now they go in wire also.

Gophers are horrible little creatures that will eat almost anything. I have planted a bunch of daffodils around plants to see if that will help keep them away since they do not like those and I will be castor beans in various parts of my yard this year in another attempt to deter them.

I've tried the castor bean thing--so far they haven't eaten the castor beans, but they've munched the roots of the plant right next to it so I don't think they're very effective as a deterrent. Same thing with various Euphorbias, they don't like those either but it hasn't stopped them from eating things right next to it. I suppose maybe if 3/4 of my garden was those sorts of plants and 1/4 of it was the plants I was trying to protect it might work, but I really think that's what it would take. So I'll stick with wire baskets and having the exterminator on speed dial!

I had not tried the euphorbias yet all they I had heard they do not like those either. Well we will see if my daff plan works or not.

The gophers won't touch society garlic, and it spreads like crazy when watered and has a very strong odor. It does have pretty lavender colored flowers.
We've used both fine mesh chicken wire and collect broken glass to keep the ravenous beasties away from tree root balls. They don't usually kill the pines, just the fruiting trees are the ones they munch.
No new activity from the gopher who broke into my greenhouse.
WIB!
SW

thanks for the FYI on soc. garlic, I also thought about lavender, as that seems to stay untouched too... maybe the smell isn't to their liking...

DSS says he gets society garlic in his veg boxes at home. He uses it in pasta dishes.

KC, I'm not surprised you can cook with it, wouldn't need much to flavor with. Stuff is so pungent, I'm thinking about planting it around the chicken pen to keep other four footeds (coyotes, bob cats, feral cats) away too!
WIB!
SW

can't hurt, I am going to put up another fortress within a fortress to protect what chickens I have left.....always some kind of creature...

makj,
I did an enclosure inside an enclosure too. Put extra railing at and below ground level too. Then because of the kestrels EB#1 and I bird netted it too.
I got to go out and move all the (wet) leaves off the net now. : )
Good news is they help provide good soil for my garden! : )
Let me know how your chickens do. We haven't lost any chickens to wild critters since we put up the bird netting. Coyotes and bobcats can (and do) jump and climb when they can't dig their way in, so do foxes. I've seen a fox about 20 foot up in an oak tree once. I was most surprised.
WIB!
SW

WOW, creatures problems too huh..... one of the last was a opossum that I thought was eating eggs, so I thought ok no big deal, then I saw for myself, the stinker attack and eat one of my chickens,,,, I was in shock, I ended up trapping him and taking up the mountain, far enough away so he won't be back..... anymore there is very little that would surprise me, these guys will do just about anything... so this weekend I am starting operation "new fortress" as it is I am moving some of my small chickens in pens and areas that are covered and safe, it is more work but I can't take it anymore, I lost some really great chickens, wonderful personalities, won't risk it now.....I thought of deer or bird netting but thought maybe chicken wire as if small branches fall on it, it won't fall apart...... where is Menifee, Ca. I am near santa barbara, ca and solvang

wow - I would never have thought an opposum would eat a CHICKEN ! poor thing. I haven't seen any gopher damage yet - is there a time of year they are more likely to attack?

We have a field across the street that a red-tailed hawk constantly scours (we've seen jackrabbits over there) but other than that we haven't seen any critters .

Our gophers are going crazy. They (it?) have a dug a tunnel right along one of our paths and across the steps to the lower garden. With the heavy rain, it collapsed and we have holes all along in a row. We've filled it in umpteen times, tried the traps (black hole), pellets...grrrrrr.

I'm surprised at the opossum eating a chicken, too. I thought they were more into slugs and snails and that type of thing, being good for the garden. We see one occasionally.

The rabbits and squirrels will be out in force in the spring, too.

Up here I've found they're most active during the spring and early summer, although I'll find occasional activity at other times of year. Just found some new action earlier this week as a matter of fact, but that is unusual, I don't generally find them during the winter. You may not have problems though if you've got a street between you and the field--I've got an open space backing up to my yard and that's where they all come from, I've talked to other people around here whose yards only back up to neighbor's yards and none of them have problems. I've got the name of a good exterminator--they're based in Pleasanton so I assume they'd come out to Livermore too, if you do have trouble dmail me and I'll give you their number.

The little buggers seem to stay away from the beds where I have established daffs, and gravitate to the areas that don't. I've just planted about 200 bulbs in my new beds. Not sure how the new wee patch of lawn will fare. I put bulbs around the edge and we'll see if that's enough of a deterrent. If not, I may plant some of the miniature ones in the lawn. I'm most concerned about my new compacted gravel paths. The landscaper told me I shouldn't worry, because the gravel's 4" thick and was compacted twice. I hope he's right..... My friend is able to trap them in her garden, but I've never had any success with that. And the 3 cats I currently have don't seem interested in gophers---but one of them does a marvelous job of keeping the $(#)&* pigeons off our roof, so I shouldn't complain.

would not have believe the opossum if I had not seen it for myself....the only thing I have found for the gophers is wire first then soil,, then iris....lost too many good, expensive iris to give it another try without wire..... I don't let the cats out anymore as of the coyotes, bobcats etc... not to mention the poison the neighbors put out.... can't risk it anymore....

One of my cats catches gophers but those darn things are not afraid of him. I actually watched one box with my oldest cat. Darndest thing I ever saw. He was a decent sized gopher too. Not sure who one as we had to leave and could not stay and watch the fight until the finish. I think I will plant some more dafs around all of the plants.

Yes, we had an oppossum kill one of our roosters then eat the hen....I like 'possums, basically, but you do want to keep them away from your chickens....

I love opossums, I had one as rehab./pet someone hit it on the head with a shovel, it was the sweetest thing, she was a joy to watch... I usually have them in a coop at night this one got in there before I did..

thank you ecrane, I will dmail you if I see any gopher activity. I would be so upset if they attack all the tiny plants I've chiseled into the slope. The street probably is helping. Our neighbors to the back have 5 little dogs that bark up a storm (and sometimes dig under the fence and escape into our yard running around with absolute glee until I chase them back and block their new hole).

Truth is I don't mind them much, they look so happy when they make it through. I would think they will help deter some gophers with their noise, digging and general friskiness. To the side of us is a city maintained fire access only road, which is lovely, people do walk through it, but it extends the feel of the yard nicely.

makj - a pet opposum, was it friendly like a cat? I did know someone who had a pet skunk

Got a little bit of payback yesterday. DH is laying some tile and when he was done for the day, he dumped the leftover cement in the gopher hole that keeps collapsing at the top of the steps. he he he

if that sucker gets through cement, time to give up lol
I think because Petunia had been hit on the head she was a little off, however she did a lot of possum normal stuff, but you could hold her like a baby and or cat, but when she had had enough you knew it......but what a sweet creature, her little hands the way she would pick things up...

Those little hands are what enabled the 'possum to pull the wire loose from our chicken coop and get in, so make sure they can't pull the wire loose.....

the coop is secure, how the one got in and kill the chicken was right through the door, it was dusk and so I had not shut the door yet, believe me, they will need dynamite to get in there......

makj:
Sorry, I didn't get back sooner. Been under the weather the last few days.
I am not surprised about your chickens getting eaten by opossums. They are omnivores. However, I thought they were more opportunists than hunters. I guess it all depends on how hungry they get.
Their little hands are useful, and they aren't very afraid of people.
My Dad posted some great pictures of a possum giving birth in his bird feeder last summer here on DG. It was so cool to see them little pink worm like babies crawl up into her pouch.
With the rains there is more available outside our gardens for the gophers to eat, but is it as tasty? I hadn't thought of pouring concrete down their holes. I much prefer to put a gopher snake down their holes.
With the rain you mostly have to worry about their tunnels subsiding like KC found at her place, or even worse, channeling the rainwater through your flood control dirt berms and undermining them, causing them to collapse. It it really messy when that happens.
Redtootsiepop, if you google opossums you can learn a lot more about them. I have a friend who is part of an opossum rescue group. She "adopted" her first when it became separated from it's mother. They can be friendly. I believe that unless you are a rehabber, the Dept. of Fish & Game, frowns on you keeping them as pets. A lot of vets aren't willing or knowledgeable to treat them either. If you are really interested, do your research and volunteer with a local rehab group. You can find them online.
makj, before I forget, I live on a farm in Menifee. Menifee is in Southern California, halfway between Riverside, and Escondido along the 215 freeway. We are also the newest city in CA. Even though we've been around for over a hundred years as a town, unfortunately, the developers found us.
Hope your coop keeps your babies safe. Keep us posted!
WIB,
SW

thanks for the info SW, I am trying like crazy to get everyone in before dark and in the day all my small chickens go into my old dog kennel, this is temporary until I can make another enclosure within the original yard, DH looking forward to another "project" LOL, thanks for rehab info already know most of it, work for a vet and we do some rehab. interesting about your town, sometimes it is too bad that all these small towns are being found...