Let me show you how to make a large, durable, inexpensive DIY gopher basket to protect your plants – including fruit trees, shrubs, or ornamental trees!

This step-by-step guide will explore the pros and cons between chicken wire vs hardware cloth, the types of trees that are most prone to gopher damage, planting tips, and more. I’ve also included a video at the end of this article.

I live in an area where gophers are rampant, so I rely on these baskets to keep my trees alive. Gophers have killed many of my fruit trees over the years – but never one that was planted in a DIY gopher basket we made ourselves!

NOTE: This post was originally published in April 2021 but significantly updated since.

A close up image of a gopher, partially emerging from its subterranean dwelling. It's front top and bottom teeth resemble that of a beaver. — “I want to eat your trees.”

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What is a Gopher Basket?

A gopher basket (also known as a gopher cage) is a protective wire mesh enclosure designed to protect plant roots from underground pests like gophers, voles and moles. The basket is put in the planting hole first and then the tree or shrub is planted inside. Some roots can grow beyond the basket too.

Gardeners can either make homemade gopher baskets, or purchase pre-made gopher baskets that come in a variety of sizes. Most pre-made gopher baskets are made from chicken wire, while I always recommend making DIY baskets from hardware cloth. (See the pros and cons of both options below.)

A birds eye view of the surrounding area around a fig tree that has been planted in a homemade gopher basket. Three separate captions have been superimposed on the image. The bottom left corner has a caption that reads "fig tree safe in basket", directly to the right middle lies the caption "gopher mound", and directly above that to the top of the image lies the caption "gopher hole". Surrounding the tree in its cage amongst the gopher activity also lies nasturtium with reddish pink flowers, irrigation tubing, a solar powered garden light, as well as the bottom leaves from an avocado tree. — A fig tree with gopher activity all around it. Gophers LOVE fig roots!

What kind of fruit trees do gophers like to eat most?

Gophers are particularly fond of young fruit trees with tender roots. Over the years, we’ve found that fig trees are their absolute favorite, followed by apples and avocados. They’ll also eat stone fruit (e.g. apricots, plums, nectarines, peaches, and cherries) along with pears, persimmons, loquats or other fruit trees when given the chance.

Some gardeners occasionally report gopher damage to young citrus trees, though I’ve personally never had issues with ours. Citrus roots are bitter (especially as they mature) making them more naturally gopher-resistant than other fruit trees – though not guaranteed, especially if food resources are scarce. Pineapple guava (my favorite cold-hardy fruiting shrub) is another good gopher-resistant option.

A fruit tree has been pulled out of the ground as its roots have been completely chewed off. The hole where the tree was planted is next to it. — This young apple tree was looking wilted… gave it a wiggle and it easily pulled right up out of the ground. Gophers had eaten the entire root system down to a stub.

Signs of Gopher Damage on Trees

Gophers use their long, sharp front teeth to chew through roots, vegetation, bark, and the base of tree trunks (aka the crown). They leave tell-tale dirt mounds and holes around their shallow burrows and tunnel systems.

Depending on the age of the plant and the extent of chewing done, gopher damage can range from minor stress to deadly. Young plants and trees with small, tender root systems are the most vulnerable.

Trees under attack by gophers may exhibit yellowing leaves, unseasonal leaf drop, or wilting. Less obvious symptoms include reduced vigor, especially for mature trees and plants. I’ve also seen chew marks around the base of the tree trunk, above or just below the soil level.

Gophers have killed several of our young fruit trees, chewing them down to nothing but a stump with no roots left at all.

The root ball of a fruit tree that has been chewed to a stump by gophers. — What’s left of the roots of a young apple tree that gophers just killed… not much.

RELATED: Cages are just one way we battle gophers on our homestead – but never use poison! Come see 7 non-toxic ways to control gophers, including how to protect raised beds, the best traps, or other deterrents. We also try to choose plenty of gopher resistant plants in our landscape.

DIY vs Pre-Made Baskets (Hardware Cloth vs Chicken Wire)

I always plant our most susceptible fruit trees (like figs) in DIY hardware cloth gopher baskets. They’re basically foolproof! Yet sometimes we use quality pre-made chicken wire baskets like these 5-gallon baskets or the 15-gallon size too. However I do NOT recommend the thinner mesh “speed baskets”, especially for trees.

Here are some factors (pros and cons) to consider between the two:

Effectiveness: Dense and strong, hardware cloth offers the best protection against gophers. They also can’t fit through its tiny holes. In contrast, determined gophers can chew through chicken wire or other more flimsy mesh wire, and small gophers or voles may be able to fit through the holes in chicken wire too.
Cost: If you need several gopher baskets, it’s typically more cost-effective to buy a roll of hardware cloth and make your own compared to the cost of quality pre-made baskets.
Time and Effort: It takes more time and effort to make DIY gopher baskets, so I’ll often use pre-made cages when we’re planting many plants at one time (particularly if they’re not gopher-favorites.)
Durability: Galvanized hardware cloth will not rust or degrade over time, while chicken wire or other types of pre-made baskets will (sometimes within just a couple of years).
Root Restriction: Hardware cloth gopher baskets may restrict root growth more than than chicken wire – explored more below.

A chicken wire basket is held high after it was removed from the earth. It has holes all throughout the cage. — When we first moved to our new homestead, we planted dozens of new fruit trees. We used DIY hardware cloth baskets for many of them, but got lazy and planted others in pre-made chicken wire baskets. Four years later, gophers have killed at least 5 of the trees that were in chicken wire baskets – and this is what the baskets look like when we dug them up: chewed full of holes!

Do Gopher Baskets Restrict Plant Roots?

Gopher baskets may slightly restrict root growth or lead to root binding, depending on the type of tree, basket size, and wire material they’re made of.

Because it doesn’t degrade and has smaller holes, hardware cloth gopher baskets will restrict roots to a greater degree than chicken wire baskets, which will eventually break down and let the roots “break free” after a few years (but also leaves them more vulnerable to gophers).

Note that it isn’t necessarily a bad thing! Personally, I’d rather have slightly smaller trees than have them destroyed by gophers. Plus I make generously-sized baskets, and grow many dwarf or semi-dwarf fruit tree varieties that more readily adapt to small spaces.

A tree planted in the ground within a gopher basket will still be happier than those confined to a pot or container.

A young tree inside of a pot is set inside of a homemade gopher basket. — Here’s the size basket I typically make for 5-gallon trees or pots – with plenty of room to grow!

How to Make a Homemade Gopher Basket

Materials and Supplies

Wire mesh material of choice. Use galvanized hardware cloth with ¼” or ½” openings for durable, long-lasting protection. Gophers can fit through holes as small as one inch, potentially even ¾”. A two or three-foot tall roll of wire works perfectly. Stainless steel is another great option, though not as affordable. If you want the cage to break down as the tree matures (as discussed above) you can use chicken wire, though it isn’t recommended for areas with persistent and abundant gophers.

Galvanized wire (16 to 20 gauge) and/or heavy-duty zip ties for securing the basket together

Wire snips or aviation snips to cut the hardware cloth

Work gloves – hardware cloth can be sharp and pokey to work with!

DIY Gopher Basket Size

Before getting started, take note of the tree and pot size. The finished gopher basket should be several inches larger than the tree root ball in all directions, or about twice the size of the pot or rootball (if possible).

In my experience, our DIY gopher baskets for 15-gallon potted trees end up being about 24 to 30” wide and just under 2 feet deep. Scale down as needed for smaller plants.

The height of the finished gopher basket should also extend a few inches above the soil line for maximum protection!

The hardware cloth cylinder is sitting next to a loquat tree in a 15 gallon nursery pot on a gravel pathway with pavers. Beyond lies various perennial plants with yellow, purple, and pink flowers with a fence constructed with horizontal fence boards as the back drop. — A DIY gopher basket for a 15 gallon pot

Instructions

1) Make a Wire Cylinder

Use metal snips to cut the hardware cloth into a cylinder of the desired size. I wrap the wire wide around the tree pot to get a good visual before I cut. Cut it a little larger than the final cage will be, allowing for a few inches of overlap where the two ends will meet.
Curl the wire into a cylinder shape (it won’t have a bottom at this point) and secure it together using cut pieces of galvanized wire, twisting the wire to secure it in place. You could also use strong zip ties but they could eventually break, so I recommend adding at least a few pieces of wire too.

PRO TIP: Because it can be difficult to dig a planting hole with totally straight sides, I recommend overlapping the sides of the wire in a way that makes the basket slightly wider at the top and a few inches more narrow at the bottom. That way, the basket will fit nicely in your planting hole.

Hardware cloth fashioned into a cylinder shape is shown sitting on the ground next to various plants, metal snips, a bundle of zip ties, and the remainder of the roll of hardware cloth. The hardware cloth cylinder has zip ties that keep the two ends closed together and the bottom of the cylinder has been crimped slightly so there is about three inches of overlap with a small circular opening with no hardware cloth. — Note how the hardware cloth is overlapped more at the bottom of the cage, making the opening wider at the top and more narrow at the bottom.

A two way image collage, the first image shows the ends of the hardware cloth cylinder fashioned together with zip ties from the top to the bottom about every 8 inches. The second image shows how the end of the hardware cloth can be bent to wrap around the other end of the cylinder (as the zip ties do) to make the homemade gopher basket even more sturdy. — I didn’t have a roll of wire handy when we made this particular basket, so I secured it with zip ties AND bent several loops of the hardware cloth around itself.

2) Form or Add a Bottom

If you started with 3-foot tall hardware cloth, bend and fold the bottom 12” to 16” towards the center of the basket. This will leave you with a basket just under 2 feet tall. I find it easiest to fold a 4-6” wide section over at a time, moving around the rim of the basket to repeat the process until it has several folds that overlap and completely cover the bottom.
If you started with 2-foot tall hardware cloth, follow the same process but only fold over about 3 or 4 inches of the bottom towards the center. Then, cut another piece of hardware cloth to cover the bottom hole (large enough to offer a few inches of overlap all around). I like to add the bottom to the inside of the basket, pressing it down (or even standing on it) to make the hardware cloth catch and lock in place.
Now pinch the bottom folds together, and make sure everything is nice and tight with no large gaps. To do so, I’ve found it’s easiest to stand inside the basket and use my weight and feet to push and squish everything into place. Then add several wire ties or zip ties to hold the bottom together. Focus on areas that seem prone to gapping.

A two way image collage of the inside of a homemade gopher basket. The first image shows the inside of the gopher basket before the bottom piece is affixed to close the opening at the bottom. The second image shows the inside of the basket after the bottom piece has been tied to the rest of the basket. — It’s kind of hard to see, but I added a square piece inside the bottom to cover the hole (and then climbed inside to press it flat and into the sides).

DeannaCat's feet are visible next to the homemade gopher basket which has been turned upside down to illustrate how the zip ties were used to tie the bottom middle piece to the body of the basket. — Done! Ready for planting.

How to Plant a Tree in a Gopher Basket

Dig a hole two to three times wider than the tree pot and root ball, and deep enough to fit the gopher basket
Place the gopher basket to the planting hole, and check the height. The basket should extend a few inches above grade (also accounting for settling or mulch). Adjust the planting hole if needed, and try to keep the basket fairly level.
Set the tree (still in the pot) inside the basket to evaluate the depth compared to the surrounding soil level. Then, take the tree back out and add enough soil to the bottom of the basket so that once the tree is inside, the crown (base of the trunk) will be just slightly above ground level. (Do not bury the trunk of the tree).
Carefully remove the tree from its pot and place the root ball centered in the gopher basket. Backfill soil around the tree, taking care to keep it standing straight.
If your DIY gopher basket is extra-tall, you can bend it inward slightly to create a dome over the top of the rootball.
Thoroughly water the tree.
Add 2 to 4 inches of organic mulch around the base of the tree, but not directly against the tree trunk.
Stand back and admire your hard work!

RELATED: For more details, come read our best practices for planting trees – or learn about the importance of thinning fruit trees to grow larger, more flavorful fruit!

A planting hole is dug in the ground, a homemade gopher basket sits inside of the hole while a young fruit tree in a pot is nearby.

A young fig tree fully planted in the ground, inside of a homemade gopher basket.

Video

Here’s an old video from our old urban homestead – making a gopher cage and planting a loquat tree. Check out minutes 2-13 to watch me sizing and making the homemade gopher basket, then installing it in the planting hole. The second half of the video is more focused on planting trees, how we amend the soil, etc. At the very end, you can see it all planted, mulched, and the cage just above the soil.

And that is how to make a homemade gopher basket.

These things have been a lifesaver in our garden, literally! If you also live in an area where pesky gophers rule the subterranean land, I highly recommend planting trees in gopher baskets too.

Please let me know if you have any questions, and leave a review below if you found this post helpful. May your trees be happy, healthy, and safe from gophers!

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