The Great Gopher Spurge Scam

The Great Pretender: Euphorbia lathyrus looks cool, but don’t let those geometric leaves fool you—it’s not the gopher-guard it claims to be

You walk out with your morning coffee, ready to admire a fresh row of young vegetables or see how your succulents are doing, only to find a fresh mound (or worse, mounds) of dirt where a plant used to be. It’s enough to make a mild-mannered gardener such as myself contemplate going all War Games on those underground rodents.

Years ago, I thought I’d found the ultimate “green” peace treaty. While searching the internet for organic ways to protect my beans and cabbage, I kept running into a recurring piece of advice: Plant Gopher Spurge (Euphorbia lathyrus)!

The pitch was perfect. “Experts” claimed this European native (and, admittedly, interesting plant) was a natural deterrent. The theory being, as a spurge, the sap is toxic, gophers would nibble it, meet their maker, and the rest of the colony would take the hint and move to the neighbor’s yard.

Well, I tried it. And today, I’m here to tell you: Don’t believe everything you read on the internet.

The Myth vs. The (Very Messy) Reality

I planted gopher spurge with high hopes. I imagined a leafy, sap-filled fortress protecting my precious vegetables. I even thought it might save my aloes and bananas, because yes, gophers eat those too.

Instead of a pest-free garden paradise, here’s what actually happened:

1. I learned gophers are smart miners. Turns out, gophers can burrow up to five feet deep. They didn’t look at my spurge and turn back; they simply tunneled under it. It was like building a picket fence to stop a subway train.

2. They developed a taste for it. I have the photos to prove it: some of my local Botta’s pocket gophers actually adapted to eat the “poisonous” plant. Apparently, my gophers didn’t read the manual on what’s supposed to kill them.

Exhibit A: So much for the “natural repellent” theory. This guy even left a mound net to the plant to gloat

3. The “Cure” became the Disease. Euphorbia lathyrus is a non-native, opportunistic grower. Within a couple of seasons, it stopped being a “deterrent” and started being an invasive weed. It began taking over segments of my yard, self-seeding with reckless abandon, and even giving my annual nemeses, horehound and mallow, a run for their money.

So, I didn’t solve my gopher problem. I just added a “weed-with-poisonous-sap” problem to my weekend to-do list.

The aftermath: Once gopher spurge goes to seed, it’s a permanent resident. I traded one gopher problem for a thousand weed problems

What Actually Works (The Ground Truth)

After years of trial, error, and many lost onions (onions!), I’ve realized that nature’s solutions are rarely as simple as planting one “magic” flower. If you want to keep your crops, you have to get real.

1. “Team Nature” (Predators)

If you want a truly organic solution, look to the sky and the grass. Hawks and owls are fantastic allies, though they’re a bit unreliable as a 24/7 security service.

Gopher snakes are the real MVPs. I know, I know—not everyone wants a slithering neighbor. But a gopher snake is a non-venomous, silent hunter that goes exactly where the gophers are.

Just a heads up: if you encourage both, be aware that the hawks will occasionally snack on your snakes. It’s a circle-of-life thing.

(Side note: My wife has dachshunds who also love to hunt gophers, but they’re more like using a bulldozer where a hand trowel will do.)

2. Physical Barriers

If you’re planting something high-value, like a fruit tree or a prize succulent, wire root cages are your only true insurance policy. Stainless steel or galvanized mesh prevents the gopher from reaching the root ball in the first place. It’s a bit of extra work at planting time, but it’s a lot less work than replacing a dead tree.

3. The Old Reliable: Traps

When the predators aren’t keeping up and the barriers aren’t enough, I’ve found that high-quality gopher traps are the most effective, poison-free way to manage a population. It’s not the most glamorous part of gardening, but it’s honest work that actually yields results. I prefer the “Black Hole”-style gopher trap, but “in-hole” style traps work too.

A Final Note to the Spurge Lovers

Now, if you genuinely like the way Gopher Spurge looks, by all means, plant it as a specimen!

It has a unique, geometric structure that looks great in a Mediterranean or xeric landscape. But treat it like a temperamental guest: keep an eye on it. If you let it go to seed, be prepared to spend the next three years pulling up its offspring.

In the end, gardening in the Southwest is a lesson in humility. The gophers were here first, and they’re very good at what they do. But take it from me: save your money on the “magic” plants and invest in a good pair of gloves and some sturdy wire mesh. Your plants will thank you.