Don’t Use Plain Chicken Wire For Raised Beds, Use Gopher Wire

Last Modified on January 22, 2024 by Zachary Smith

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Chicken wire can rust away in less then 3 years leaving you unprotected. Gophers will get into your raised beds as soon as they find the chicken wire has rusted away. Use stainless steel or double galvanized “gopher wire” which is made specifically to last in underground applications like lining raised beds, making gopher baskets, etc.

I saw this article on the web today about lining your raised beds with chicken wire. I wanted to let our readers know of the shortcoming of chicken wire or sometimes called aviary wire. It does not have thick enough galvanization to protect it from the oxidative effects of being in moist soil. It can rust away in 2-4 years.

There are wire mesh made especially for burial under raised beds to exclude gophers. We at Smith’s Pest Management feel lining your beds is an important step to take in the garden.If you search for “gopher wire” you will find suppliers of stainless steel wire and double-galvanized wire. In the Bay Area some landscaping suppliers carry gopher wire in stock. I know Ewing Irrigation typically does. Maybe Horizon and John Deere do as well.  For the sake of simplicity I’ve linked to their websites but please note, I do not have any affiliation with these companies and I apologize if I am leaving out any smaller locally owned companies that stock gopher wire in the Bay Area.If you have a gopher trapping program in place,  and you have gopher wire under your raised beds, you are probably in the best place as a gardener.If you are experiencing a gopher problem in your yard, please contact Smith’s Pest Management. With more than 15 years of gopher trapping experience, we help property owners and managers in the Greater Bay Area resolve gopher infestations.

Originally published June 1, 2014. Content has been updated to include up to date information.

Author Bio: Zach Smith

Landscape Pro Turned Gopher Pro: Owner, Zach Smith, graduate of Cal Poly’s Horticulture program worked nine years as a landscape professional- dealing with gophers, moles, and ground squirrels and was quickly recruited by other local gardeners. Fast forward to the past 15+ years, where Zach and his team trap and remove burrowing pests from residential, municipal and commercial properties throughout the San Francisco Bay area, from Marin to Monterey.