How To Gopher Protect Your New Tree Collard Plant

Sequoiah ‪@projecttreecollard‬ shows you step by step everything you need to do to protect your new tree collard plant from gophers. The tools needed to make a gopher cage are gloves, tin snips or other wire cutters, a tape measure, and 3 foot tall chicken wire. In the video she explains how the gopher cage prevents a gopher from eating your tree collard plant even as it matures. ‪@projecttreecollard‬ makes a demo gopher cage, digs a planting hole, installs the gopher cage, and plants the tree collard inside. This technique is suitable for any perennial flowering plant, herb, berry bush, or vegetable plant. For fruit trees one can also do the same, but make a wire basket of larger dimensions.
Factory made gopher cages are also going to cost 3-4 times the amount per cage. If you have gophers in your garden, homemade gopher cages are the best economic choice to protect your plants with a physical barrier.
Tree collards (Brassica oleracea var. acephala) are members of the brassica family. They are also known as Tree Kale or Tree Cabbage. Their relatives include traditional collards, kale, broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, and cauliflower. However, unlike most of its relatives, tree collards are perennial. This means that, like a fruit tree or rose bush, they will continue to grow and produce year after year and without the need for planting new seeds or seedlings every year like traditional collards and kale. Tree collards are hardy to about 20° F (-7° c) and in mild climates have been known to live for up to twenty years! They are closely related to other perennial collard varieties grown in Mediterranean, Africa, the Americas, and other countries.
Tree collards are one of the easiest vegetables to grow in a home garden. For very little input they can provide an abundance of greens all year round. A fast growing relative of collards and kale, some varieties can grow up to eight feet in height in a few years.
You can find Project Tree Collard at: www.projecttreecollard.org
Instagram at: / projecttreecollard
Facebook at: / projecttreecollard
To purchase tree collard cuttings, plants, and seeds go to: www.projecttre...

[@jillplamann6616]

Thank you VERY much!!!! I was searching so long until I came across this video.

[@projecttreecollard]

glad it helped you!!!!

[@Maggie_R]

Exactly what I was wondering. Thank you so much for this video!

[@projecttreecollard]

wonderful! the smaller diameter holes the better. Not all chickenwire is the same....3/4 inch holes or smaller is best

[@Maggie_R]

@@projecttreecollard Perfect, thank you! I’ll prep them today in preparation for my rooted friends that are coming tomorrow. 🤗

[@TheGraLinda]

Hi Sequoia! Aren’t the gophers small enough to squeeze through the holes in the chicken wire? (I have pocket gophers…)

[@projecttreecollard]

i'm not sure what kind of gophers I have but there are different sized holes for the chicken wire. I bought 3/4 inch. Maybe it would not work for you, but it seems to be working here. Haven't lost a tree collard yet

[@karencooper6634]

chicken wire seems very flimsy compared to gopher teeth, I would use something like hardware cloth....

[@projecttreecollard]

I hear you. In my experience chicken wire baskets last about 5 yrs, which is about how long I will have those tree collards planted there (I usually remove them every 3-4 years and start over in a different location) Also, handware cloth cages are MUCH harder to make solidly and cost way more. May take an hour to make one and I can probably make 8-10 of these in an hour.

[@12sider]

I have a tree collard planted and it is growing decently. However, some underground creature is starting to take my plants out and i notice there is a hole by the tree collard. Do you think it would could survive me digging it up with the rootball intact so i can replant it within a gopher basket? The plant is probably 3.5 feet tall. I have already taken three cuttings to propagate just in case they are killed. Cool channel thanks for all the info.

[@projecttreecollard]

sorry to hear this. Smart to take cuttings! The survival rate for transplanting has most to do with your climatic conditions at this time of year. If it is hot and sunny, there will be a much reduced chance of survival. Ideal temps would be below 70 degrees with some shade/cloud cover

[@wandasinger7713]

Thank you another great video. My tree collards are doing very well. Blessings to you and your family 🙏🏾

[@projecttreecollard]

Thanks Wanda!