A question to all who grow there own grapes;

I live in Southern California and have pocket gophers on my property. I
will be receiving my first grapevines in January sometime and would like to
know how people handle gophers and if gophers are attracted to grapevine
roots.

My thought is to encircle hardware cloth (small 1/4 inch fencing) around the
roots and trunk as I plant the vines. I would probably sink the fence about
1.5 feet under ground and let it run about 1.5 feet above the ground. I am
concerned that the underground portion might constrict the roots over the
years as the plant gets larger.

Does anyone have an opinion on this. Do I even need to bother at all. I
will post to a gardening group if I don't get an answer here. Thanks.

ps- I will not poison, kill, or trap the gophers. I have a barn owl nestbox
up to control the population but I believe in living WITH nature, not
dominating it.

figaro wrote:

A question to all who grow there own grapes;

I live in Southern California and have pocket gophers on my property. I
will be receiving my first grapevines in January sometime and would like
to know how people handle gophers and if gophers are attracted to
grapevine roots.

I don't know about pocket gophers but my vines here in Maryland are not
bothered by groundhogs. I don't know if they have the same diet.

This is a little off topic but approximately how many vines and linear feet
are needed to produce enough grapes for a few 5 gallon batches?

David


"Paul E. Lehmann" wrote in message
...
figaro wrote:

A question to all who grow there own grapes;

I live in Southern California and have pocket gophers on my property. I
will be receiving my first grapevines in January sometime and would like
to know how people handle gophers and if gophers are attracted to
grapevine roots.

I don't know about pocket gophers but my vines here in Maryland are not
bothered by groundhogs. I don't know if they have the same diet.

This is a little off topic but approximately how many vines and linear feet
are needed to produce enough grapes for a few 5 gallon batches?

David


"Paul E. Lehmann" wrote in message
...
figaro wrote:

A question to all who grow there own grapes;

I live in Southern California and have pocket gophers on my property. I
will be receiving my first grapevines in January sometime and would like
to know how people handle gophers and if gophers are attracted to
grapevine roots.

I don't know about pocket gophers but my vines here in Maryland are not
bothered by groundhogs. I don't know if they have the same diet.

My thought is to encircle hardware cloth (small 1/4 inch fencing)
around the
roots and trunk as I plant the vines. I would probably sink the
fence about
1.5 feet under ground and let it run about 1.5 feet above the
ground. I am
concerned that the underground portion might constrict the roots
over the
years as the plant gets larger.


I've no idea if they can damage grapes, but they can dig deeper than
1.5'.

If you are into natural control you might introduce a couple of cats,
but then they may not be able to co-exist with the owls. Also, if you
live in coyote country they probably won't last long.

--arne

My thought is to encircle hardware cloth (small 1/4 inch fencing)
around the
roots and trunk as I plant the vines. I would probably sink the
fence about
1.5 feet under ground and let it run about 1.5 feet above the
ground. I am
concerned that the underground portion might constrict the roots
over the
years as the plant gets larger.


I've no idea if they can damage grapes, but they can dig deeper than
1.5'.

If you are into natural control you might introduce a couple of cats,
but then they may not be able to co-exist with the owls. Also, if you
live in coyote country they probably won't last long.

--arne

news-server.triad.rr.com wrote:

This is a little off topic but approximately how many vines and linear
feet are needed to produce enough grapes for a few 5 gallon batches?

David

Suggest you get the very inexpensive but excellent book "From Vines to Wine"
by Jeff Cox. This will answer your question plus the many others that are
likely to come up once you start.

news-server.triad.rr.com wrote:

This is a little off topic but approximately how many vines and linear
feet are needed to produce enough grapes for a few 5 gallon batches?

David

Suggest you get the very inexpensive but excellent book "From Vines to Wine"
by Jeff Cox. This will answer your question plus the many others that are
likely to come up once you start.

"figaro" wrote in message
...
I will not poison, kill, or trap the gophers. I have a barn owl nestbox
up to control the population but I believe in living WITH nature, not
dominating it.

You might consider planting geraniums. Gophers hate 'em.

Tom S

"Tom S" wrote in message
. com...

"figaro" wrote in message
...
I will not poison, kill, or trap the gophers. I have a barn owl nestbox
up to control the population but I believe in living WITH nature, not
dominating it.

You might consider planting geraniums. Gophers hate 'em.

They don't like ammo either

Steve

"Tom S" wrote in message
. com...

"figaro" wrote in message
...
I will not poison, kill, or trap the gophers. I have a barn owl nestbox
up to control the population but I believe in living WITH nature, not
dominating it.

You might consider planting geraniums. Gophers hate 'em.

They don't like ammo either

Steve

"Tom S" wrote in message
. com...

"figaro" wrote in message
...
I will not poison, kill, or trap the gophers. I have a barn owl nestbox
up to control the population but I believe in living WITH nature, not
dominating it.

You might consider planting geraniums. Gophers hate 'em.

They don't like ammo either

Steve

"Steve Thompson" wrote in message
news:TpOdnYA8et- You might consider planting geraniums. Gophers hate
'em.

They don't like ammo either

For larger pests the right pesticide is a lead based spray.

"Steve Thompson" wrote in message
news:TpOdnYA8et- You might consider planting geraniums. Gophers hate
'em.

They don't like ammo either

For larger pests the right pesticide is a lead based spray.

"Steve Thompson" wrote in message
news:TpOdnYA8et- You might consider planting geraniums. Gophers hate
'em.

They don't like ammo either

For larger pests the right pesticide is a lead based spray.