AROUND HOME : Avocado Health

Q: Despite careful watering and well-drained soil, my trees are not doing well. What do you suggest?

--S.T., Burbank

A: The ubiquitous gopher is one of our most underestimated garden pests. In the case of the avocado--with its feeder roots so close to the soil surface--a single gopher can spell disaster. According to expert gopher catchers, a wooden gopher trap placed at the top of a lateral tunnel just below a fresh mound--rather than in the main runway--will result in a catch. Another gopher-trapping secret is to set the wooden box trap squarely against the opening of a lateral tunnel that has been exposed and then covering the end of the trap with loose soil (not grass or weeds). If the trap is not sprung the first night, it was probably improperly set or placed in an unused lateral. Move it to a new location.