How to Make a DIY Gopher Basket

Learn how to make a large, durable, inexpensive DIY gopher basket to protect your plants – including fruit trees, shrubs, or ornamental trees. I've also included tips for planting a tree in a gopher basket.

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Equipment

Wire snips or aviation snips
Work gloves (hardware cloth can be sharp and pokey)

Ingredients

1 roll wire mesh fencing. I recommend 2 or 3 foot tall galvanized hardware cloth with ½” openings for durable, long-lasting protection. Chicken wire will degrade with time, and voles or small gophers may be able to fit through the holes. (We've also had gophers chew through chicken wire).
Galvanized wire (16 to 20 gauge) and/or heavy-duty zip ties for securing the basket together

Instructions

DIY Gopher Basket Size

Before getting started, take note of the tree 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.
The height of the finished gopher basket should also extend a few inches above the soil line for maximum protection!

Making the Basket

Cut the hardware cloth or wire mesh to the desired basket size, allowing for several inches of overlap where the ends will meet. (I wrap the wire wide around the tree pot to get a good visual before I cut.)
Curl the wire into a cylinder shape (it won’t have a bottom yet) 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.
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.
Depending on the height of wire you're using (2 vs 3 ft) and the desired height of your finished basket, either bend lower portion of the fencing inward to create a bottom, or cut out a separate piece of hardware cloth to cover the bottom.
When using 2 foot tall hardware cloth, I usually bend a few inches of the bottom, and then press another peice of hardware cloth inside the basket to cover the bottom.
Pinch the bottom folds together to ensure everything is tight with no large gaps. I’ve found it's best 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.

Planting in a Gopher Basket

Dig a hole two to three times wider than the tree pot and root ball, large and deep enough to fit the gopher basket inside.
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).
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 homemade 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 2-4″ of organic mulch around the base of the tree, but not directly against the tree trunk.

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