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My entire yard has been destroyed by gophers and rabbits. The rabbits and gophers ate all my grass and ground cover that bloomed beautiful pink flowers. I want to replant, but need to get rid of these pests first. Now there is only dirt in my back yard, but the rabbits still come. There are always five or six in the back and two in front. My dog was great at chasing them away, but I no longer have her. I tried to plant fruit trees, but the gophers ate the roots. I don't want to kill them, just keep them out of my yard! I am in Menifee CA. We have a lot of wild rabbits.

GardenerJ
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Bear hugg
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  • Would a cat help ? – davidgo Apr 07 '16 at 03:03
  • How big is your garden? Would you be able to put fencing or netting around it? To prevent rabbits netting will need to be sunk/buried at least 12" into the soil and will need to be about 3ft high. Am not sure about restricting access fro gophers. You will need to ensure that this also applies to any gates. –  Apr 07 '16 at 06:58

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Always a tough prospect. Two things you can try:

  1. Natural deterents. Moles and gophers, do not like castor oil. There are several over the counter mole and gopher deterents, but almost all are some variation of castor oil and maybe some garlic and such. Spray/sprinkle some around active areas, and in particular around plants they would eat. The oil disrupts their digestion/ gives them tummy aches and they move on to greener pastures. If this doesn't deter the rabbits, perhaps try a Liquid Fence type product or Shake Away granular coyote urine. Any of these will have to be reapplied frequently.

  2. Physical barier. Line the hole of any new planting with sharp rocks. Again there are several branded products that all take the same approach (Soil Perfect or from Espoma comes to mind). You may be able to get away with something as simple as brick chips. This works because sharp rocks are sharp, and not very plesent to dig through.

elCrash
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