Unfortunately, you are going to need to remove the dead weeds and plants. You really need to get the seeds in contact with the soil. If the dead weeds aren't too thick, you could put a soil on top of the weeds and then seed on that. I've been successful with that as long as the spots aren't too big. Scotts TurfBuilder Lawn Soil works for this. Lisa Scotts Miracle Grow Customer Service

Pocket gophers are called vermin for a reason: they are NOT harmless. Those who do not garden within the range of the Pocket Gopher need not worry themselves about the survival of these vermin. I personally supply them with 15 acres of prime habitat. They can leave three quarters of an acre to my garden. They ruin lawns, they eat roots of many plants, not just ornamentals, they chew and girdle trees and shrubs, they chew holes in irrigation pipe, their tunnel systems destabilize hillsides, dams and dikes, their burrows can lame or cause fatal injuries to horses, they destroy young trees planted for reforestation of areas destroyed by wildfire, and they harbor ticks that carry Lyme Disease. They have their place, as they process enormous quantities of soil when they tunnel and they feed raptors and predators. Too bad they don't tunnel in rocky soil. They show up after the soil has been improved. One of the serious problem they cause is secondary poisoning. Gardeners and farmers suffering losses from pocket gophers often turn to poisons that, if the dead gopher is ingested by domestic pets or wild raptors, cause death. The predation of my dogs on pocket gophers is a substitute for the predation of native predators excluded by my fencing. Long live the ratter.

Oh man, this is SO old. Get a shovel. Probably wasn't even a hosta, WAY BACK WHEN the original pster was unhappy. Anybody who has a garden of any sort, knows that you just get a shovel and did it up whatever IT is if you don't want it. -Babka

I'm in zone 6 for those who wondered... I'd never had issues with my potted maples before...and this was my first year that I even wrapped the pot with leaves, bubble wrap and burlap for the winter months. Guess that may not have been enough with this prolonged winter.... ;-( Also my plant is on an (elevated) balcony which only exacerbates any cold conditions... There's no last ditch effort I could try...maybe like 'pruning' all the branches just above a 'knob', to see if it stimulates some new growth? I suppose I could also try to scrape the bark a bit and see if I see any green underneath? And if I WERE to see green underneath, but yet still no new buds, then would conclusion could be made then? Tx!!