Gopher Mayhem (9/1/2023)

The explosion of growth that continued this summer was curbed by the return of our overenthusiastic gopher friend. Perhaps upon our return to the garden after graduating college we were overzealous in our weeding--without any grass stalks to munch on and slowly pull down into its underground lair, the gopher instead turned to a few of our newly expanding plants. Its favorite is the seaside daisy (Erigeron glacus 'Cape Sebastion') (a wonderful purple flowered plant that provided inspiration for our name, Seaside Native Landscaping), which we planted for a second time with protective netting covering the roots and the leaves. Once it outgrew the surface mesh, we let it free. But it didn't survive for long, as the gopher soon returned to claim its prize.

Our seaside daisy (left) compared to seaside daisy at Dolores Park (right)

But it didn't stop there. Soon it was off to munch a hole right in the center of the false hairy goldenaster (Heterotheca villosa), chumble through parts of the spreading woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca 'Montana de Oro') and lippia (Phyla nodiflora), as well as chomping down one stalk of the island pink yarrow (Achillea millifolium 'Island Pink').

Gopher destruction left to right: false hairy goldenaster, lippia, woodland strawberry, and a gopher hole below some sage.

The giant coreopsis (Coreopsis gigantea) in the far corner of the yard had been slowly for the past year. It had been pulled sideways by an aggressive species of invasive vine that grew through the fence, but was still looking vibrant until it began to rapidly decline. Yesterday, I pulled it out to make room for another trellis to support our quickly expanding chaparral clematis (Clematis lasiantha). I reached down, bracing my feet to yank up this large plant. As I pulled upwards, the plant popped out of the ground with ease--it had just a few tiny nubs of root left! It turns out the gopher had gotten to it all along. Seeing all these plants fall to the gophers little jaws has made me wonder just how many mysterious plant declines the gopher has been responsible for, compared to those that were in suboptimal soil or weather conditions or simply weren't able to adjust to the transplant.

Clematis vine nearing bloom (left) and remains of giant coreopsis (right) with chewed up roots.

Despite the gopher's path of destruction, I try to keep in mind its benefits: it's tunnels turn the soil, adding aeration (though this is not majorly needed in very our sandy soil), mixing seeds, plant material, fecal waste, and other organic matter into the soil, increasing water retention, and providing food for ecosystem predators. And despite the damage that it has caused, I would never lay out traps or try to kill or harm it in any way. There are many gopher species native to the western United States, and they all deserve a chance at life and an opportunity to live in this place they've long called home. That being said, there have been a lot of hawks nearby recently, landing on our fence from time to time or landing on a neighbors tree. As much fondness as I feel for our gopher, the hawks need a snack too--and it might give our plants some opportunity to grow before the next gopher comes around.