We live in the northern county of San Diego in an area adjacent to chaparral. I've seen coyotes, squirrels, bunnies, hawks, gopher (yes, I actually saw the gopher - but my husband took care of that - RIP), and I understand there are owl boxes courtesy of our HOA. The bunnies are eating my husband's lawn (and sometimes my plants). The squirrels come in to eat too. The hills are dry this time of year, but we have kept our lawn and plants watered, making them yummy meals for the critters. We finished putting up some kind of fencing we were told is used to keep bunnies out. Ironically, the bunnies chewed through the fence where the back gate goes out to the wildlands - or from the wildlands into our backyard. A perfectly sized hole with nice little bits of fence scattered around the wrought iron gate. Although I did have to chuckle about it, we did work hard putting up that fence in the hottest part of the year. The rabbits were probably laughing too (rightly so - what a couple of dingdongs we are). Now my husband wants to shoot those bunnies with a pellet gun (he'd rather use something bigger, but I don't think that's legal - I'm not sure killing rabbits is legal in our area). I can understand his frustration, but I'm glad to see all the postings - you have my sincere appreciation - and will ask him to help me out with the bloodmeal and/or ammonia. I'll let you know whether it works for us or not. If those things don't work and I can't convince my husband to replace that fencing with something more sturdy, I'm afraid the rabbits will be meeting the gopher's demise. By the way, we did try other methods to deter the gopher (hair in the tunnel, plugging the tunnel) - then I read several posts and determined there was only one way to take care of the gopher; it was not the way I wanted, but the last resort. Best to all and your yards/gardens.

Crabgrass is an annual grass that grows from seeds and does not spread by roots. A good garden soil is about 45 percent sand, 25 percent silt, 25 percent clay, and about 5 percent organic matter. http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/factsheets/misc/soilbasics.html There are many ways "weed" (unwanted, unloved, plants) seeds get into the garden, on the wind, dropped by birds, carried in on the fur of animals. so no soil will be immune to growing those unwanted plants. Mulches can help some, but are not the total cure for them either. The best way top keep gardens free of unwanted plants is with diligence from the gardener. Some types of edging, not the 4 or 6 inch stuff, can help keep grass roots from invading the garden from below but often that same grass can send stolens (a type of root) over the top of those barriers. kimmq is kimmsr

I have tried the traps. It looks like they are called "Macabee traps" and an organic rancher I know uses lots of them in his hay and pasture land. Well, he has lots of experience and land. I've got a garden to protect. Success escaped me ... and so did the gopher that season. I should admit that gophers don't show up often in my garden. Voles are more common but a coyote or a neighborhood Tom cat is usually how I become aware of the voles. There was one notable exception with the plague of voles I had trying to grow potatoes under hay, one year! Anyway, ground squirrels, marmots and gophers have all been "dealt with" through harassment. I may even have killed them by making their lives difficult but it's probably more likely that they just moved on. Ground squirrels and marmots, I've gone after with a sledgehammer! A block of wood helps and my gardens always have plenty of rocks about the same size as the burrows of these pests! Three or 4 rocks driven into every burrow that i can find - one rock after another, and as deep as I can drive them - can seal the burrow. They have gotten the message that they are not welcome and didn't return. Gophers don't have burrows like the others. They seem much more shallow. Their activities seem to be in a fairly small area. Okay, I can use a smaller hammer and find a metal rod. I can spend 20 or 30 minutes driving that rod everywhere within about 25 square feet and, likely, at every depth the gopher might have gone. Destruction to his tunnel must be extensive if I didn't actually impale the pest. As I say, this has apparently gotten the unwelcome message across and the gopher has departed. I hope that helps. Steve

Thank you Carol and summersrhythm, I agree with the "can't keep up with the weeds" because everyday I do a stroll I seem to have to pull little seedlings out around my plants and they just continue to grow and grow. We live next to wetlands as well and there are tons of native grasses and plants and those seeds end up blowing in with the wind. I would be so much more at ease with grass to smother out some of the weeds. Every year I have a huge job at the beginning of spring. I may want to try that cardboard or newspaper technique next year instead of digging it all up. Probably just use a string cutter than lay the cardboard over the top and mulch. The digging is so much work, and I have 4 kiddos as well, and it's hard to find the time to complete it every year. Well thank you all for your kindness and compliments! The passion is real here. I love browsing this forum for all of the pictures of other people's roses and hard work. They all are so beautiful!