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Gopher Wire Roll - 4' x 100' - Stainless Steel

SKU x4100-S
Original price $459.80 - Original price $459.80
Original price
$459.80
$459.80 - $459.80
Current price $459.80
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Gopher Wire · Stainless steel · 4' x 100'

A 4' x 100' roll of T304 18-8 stainless steel gopher wire — 400 square feet of 3/4" hexagonal mesh, woven from 20 gauge wire, designed to sit under a lawn or line a planter and stop pocket gophers coming up into it. Stainless is the long-life option.

Roll Size
4' x 100'400 sq ft coverage
Mesh Opening
3/4"Hexagonal, 20 gauge
Material
StainlessStainless steel — T304, 18-8
In-Ground Life
25+ yrEstimated material lifespan
  • Blocks young & mature gophers
  • Roots grow through freely
  • Research-backed 3/4" mesh
  • 100 ground staples per roll
  • Free shipping on all orders

Free Shipping - Please submit a Quote Request for quantities larger than listed below.

Quantity Price Per Unit
(Free Shipping)
1 $459.80
2+ $436.81
3+ $413.82
10+ $390.83

01 Stainless steel gopher wire

Stainless Steel Gopher Wire Roll — 4' x 100'

A 4' x 100' roll covering 400 square feet, woven from 20 gauge T304 18-8 stainless steel in a 3/4" hexagonal mesh. It is installed below grade — under a new lawn, a planting bed, a raised planter or a play area — where it forms a continuous barrier that pocket gophers cannot pass through from beneath.

Stainless is the longest-lasting material in the range, and the reason has to do with where the wire ends up. Buried mesh sits in soil that stays damp more or less permanently, and that is the condition that eventually finishes a coated steel product once the coating is breached. T304 18-8 is corrosion-resistant throughout rather than at the surface, which is what supports an estimated material lifespan of 25+ years.

That distinction matters most when the barrier sits under something you would rather not disturb again. Once sod has knitted in, replacing the wire underneath means lifting the lawn and starting over, so the difference in material cost at the outset is small measured against the cost of doing the work twice.

Close-up of stainless steel gopher wire hexagonal mesh
T304 stainless, 20 gauge, 3/4" hexagonal mesh.

25+years in-ground material lifespan

T304 18-8 stainless gives an extreme level of in-ground rot resistance, even installed below a lawn where the mesh stays permanently damp.

02 Why it works

Purpose-Built For Gopher Exclusion

The whole product is one number: a 3/4" hexagonal opening. Wide enough that grass and plant roots grow through unencumbered, tight enough that neither a mature gopher nor a young one can get a head through. Woven from 20 gauge stainless steel, so they cannot chew it either. That combination is what separates purpose-built gopher wire from general-purpose mesh.

Lawn & Turf Installation Guide

03 Product data

Specifications

Product codex4100-S
Roll size4' x 100'
Coverage per roll400 square feet
MaterialStainless steel — T304, 18-8
Estimated material lifespan25+ years
Mesh typeWoven
Wire gauge20
Mesh opening3/4" hexagonal
Ground staples required100 per roll — sold separately
ShippingFree — California deliveries typically arrive in two business days
Each roll needs 100 ground staples for a proper installation, and they are sold separately. We recommend ordering them together with the wire; they are listed under accessories below.

04 Where it goes

What Gopher Wire Can Protect

Engineered for both residential and commercial work. Anywhere a gopher can tunnel up into, wire underneath will stop it.

Sod areas Seeded grass areas Putting greens Artificial grass & turf Garden beds (in-ground) Raised garden beds Planter boxes Paver patios Child play areas Pathways Sports fields Gravel driveways Golf courses

05 The 3/4" question

Research-Backed Mesh Size

For decades, both galvanized and stainless steel mesh with a 3/4" opening has been used to protect landscape areas from gopher intrusion. A study from the University of California, Davis, conducted in 2009, reiterated the point.

University of California, Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program, Publication 7433, September 2009 (revised July 2019).

Is smaller mesh better?

No. Mesh size can fail in either direction. Too large an opening lets young, smaller gophers straight through. Too tight a mesh chokes the roots of nearby trees and plantings. At 3/4" you stop both young and mature gophers while leaving enough room for everything you actually want growing to come through unencumbered.

06 Built for the job

Features

Strong

Constructed from heavy-duty stainless steel.

Permeable

Water passes straight through to grass and plant roots.

Blocks mature gophers

Stops fully grown gophers passing through.

Blocks young gophers

Stops young and developing gophers, the point at which larger mesh fails.

Rot resistant

Stainless mesh gives ultra-high resistance to underground rotting.

Allows plant growth

The 3/4" opening will not choke roots.

Allows lawn root growth

Healthy lawn growth is unaffected at this mesh size.

Purpose designed

Manufactured specifically for gopher protection rather than adapted from general-purpose netting.

07 Installation

Simple, Straightforward Installation

The video below covers installation in a lawn area. It can be installed under a wide range of surfaces, and the job is well within reach of a homeowner as well as a landscape contractor.

Printable Lawn & Turf Guide

Cross-section diagram showing gopher wire installed beneath a layer of topsoil with sod above
Under-sod installation, in section.

The Soil Layer Above The Wire

The detail that catches people out is what sits between the wire and the sod. Gopher wire is not laid directly under turf — it goes down first, and then a layer of soil goes over it before the sod does.

  • Cover the wire with 1 to 1½ inches of soil, spread to a uniform depth and rolled smooth.
  • That layer keeps a gopher's snout away from the root crown of the grass plant, which is what the barrier is ultimately protecting.
  • Sod laid straight onto the mesh leaves the crowns within reach and makes the finished lawn harder to keep level.

The full sequence — preparing and rolling the area, overlapping courses by 3 inches, stapling every 18 inches, then soil and sod — is set out step by step in the printable guide above.

08 In the ground

Customer Installations

Gopher wire goes in under a wide variety of surfaces. These are real installations by customers.

09 From a customer

What Installers Tell Us

"After tilling and clearing the loam from our yard, I installed the gopher wire roll. I then applied another 6 inches of topsoil/compost and then laid 1,800 square feet of zeon zoysia sod. The gopher wire roll is an incredible product and in my mind worth every penny. I have already seen the results."

"There is an adjacent section where our yard meets the neighbors yard. Given the frequent watering/worms, etc. our yard has become an attractive site for moles. Well, our yard has been perfectly protected from the moles, and our neighbors yard is full of new holes and tunnels. They just cannot seem to penetrate the wire roll. The quality is also impressive. Does not even compare to the junk available at 'unnamed big box' hardware store (trust me, I looked!)"

Colin R. — Austin, TX

10 A common question

What About Moles?

Gopher wire is not designed to prevent mole intrusion. That said, a number of customers have installed it for that purpose, and it has proved effective at deterring moles from tunnelling into landscape and lawn areas.

The two are straightforward to tell apart when diagnosing damage: a gopher mound is a crescent or fan shape with the plug set off to one side, while a mole mound is a symmetrical cone with the plug at the center.

11 Free shipping, every order

Shipping Time

Free shipping on every order. Gopher wire ships from Northern California and typically leaves the same day if the order is placed before noon Pacific Time.

Smaller orders ship UPS or FedEx. Larger orders — typically five rolls or more — ship LTL freight, and the carrier will schedule a delivery appointment with you before delivery. Orders shipping to California usually arrive within two business days.

Transit times on the map are shown in business days, are approximate, and exclude weekends and holidays.

Map of United States ground transit times in business days for gopher wire orders
Click to enlarge.

12 Background

Understanding Pocket Gophers

The animal most of this is aimed at in the western United States is the Botta's pocket gopher — often called the valley pocket gopher in California. It is a medium-sized burrowing rodent in the Geomyidae family, named for the fur-lined pouches on either side of its face that it uses to carry food. Unlike most pouched animals, it can turn those pockets inside out to empty them.

Understanding the behaviour explains why a physical barrier is the only reliable answer. A single gopher can throw up several mounds in a day, and a burrow system can run to 200 yards. They are territorial and solitary outside the breeding season, defending an area larger than their own burrow, and they plug every opening within a day — which is exactly why fumigation and gas cartridges fail. They locate food by smell, they never need to drink because they get moisture from what they eat, and they eat a great deal for their size because digging burns so much energy.

Their activity is not wholly negative. Continual digging loosens and oxygenates soil, buries vegetation that enriches it, and gopher holes capture runoff that would otherwise sheet away. A single gopher can move a ton of soil in a year. In a lawn, an orchard or a bed of expensive plantings, though, that same activity is destructive — and the mounds are only the visible part of it.

Telling gophers from moles. Both live underground and are rarely seen. A gopher mound is a crescent or fan with the plug off to one side; a mole mound is a symmetrical cone with the plug in the middle. Moles are insectivores rather than rodents, and prefer moist ground where they can find earthworms and grubs. Squirrels, chipmunks and prairie dogs are often called gophers, but none is closely related to one.

13 Buying from us

Why Buy Gopher Wire From Landscape Discount

Authentic, professional-grade wire

Purpose-made stainless steel gopher wire, engineered for in-ground service. Not general-purpose netting sold under a landscaping label.

No "no-name" or off-brand wire

We do not stock it, so you cannot accidentally buy it here. What arrives is what the specification above says.

Labour is the expensive part

On a gopher wire installation the excavation and the sod cost considerably more than the wire itself. Installing low-grade mesh and having to lift the lawn to replace it is the expensive outcome — do it once, do it right.

We answer the phone

When you call you quickly reach a helpful, live person happy to answer your product and order questions. (M-F 5:00 am - 3:00 pm Pacific Time)

14 You will also need

Accessories And The Other Roll

Carton of 240 ground staples for gopher wire

Ground staples — 240 carton

Required for installation. Each roll of gopher wire needs 100 staples to secure it correctly.

Speed pin ground staple driver for gopher wire

Speed pin staples

Faster fixing on large areas. Recommended where more than one or two rolls are being installed.

Roll of galvanized steel gopher wire

Galvanized steel — 5' x 100'

Wider roll at 500 sq ft, double-galvanized, 6–10+ years in ground. Costs less per square foot.

15 Common questions

Gopher Wire FAQs

How much wire do I need?
Measure the area you want protected in square feet. This roll covers 400 square feet at 4' x 100'. Allow a little extra for overlapping adjacent runs — you want continuous coverage with no gaps for a gopher to find.
Stainless steel or galvanized?
Both use the same 3/4" hexagonal mesh at 20 gauge, so they stop gophers identically. The difference is how long they last buried. Galvanized gives 6–10+ years; stainless gives 25+ years. Under a lawn, or anywhere that lifting the finished surface to redo the work would be costly, the stainless is generally worth the difference.
Why 3/4" mesh and not something tighter?
Because tighter mesh chokes the roots of nearby trees and plantings. Too large lets young gophers through. 3/4" is the size that stops both young and mature gophers while letting everything you want to grow come through. UC Davis research supports it.
Will grass roots grow through it?
Yes. The 3/4" opening is deliberately sized so lawn and plant roots pass through unencumbered. Water drains straight through as well.
How deep do I install it?
Under a lawn, the wire goes below your topsoil layer — commonly around 6 inches of topsoil or compost over the top before sod. In a planter box, it lines the base. The printable guide above covers lawn and turf installation.
Do I need staples?
Yes. Each roll needs 100 ground staples to hold the wire flat and in position while you backfill. They are sold separately.
Will it stop moles?
It is not designed for moles. Customers who have installed it for that purpose do report that it deters them from tunnelling into the protected area, but we do not sell it as a mole barrier.
Can I use chicken wire or hardware cloth instead?
Chicken wire is the wrong gauge and the wrong opening, and it corrodes quickly underground. Hardware cloth is generally too tight and will restrict root growth. Gopher wire is manufactured to these dimensions for a reason, and the cost of the wire is small relative to the cost of lifting an established lawn to replace it.
Does it rust?
Not to any meaningful degree. T304 18-8 stainless is the most corrosion-resistant option we stock, which is where the 25+ year in-ground figure comes from. It is the appropriate choice under a lawn, where the mesh remains permanently damp and the turf would have to be lifted to replace it.
Can I cut it to fit?
Yes, with tin snips or wire cutters. Wear gloves — cut ends on woven mesh are sharp.
How fast does it ship?
Same day if you order before noon Pacific Time, Monday to Friday. Smaller orders go UPS or FedEx; five rolls or more typically ships LTL freight with a scheduled delivery appointment. Shipping is free either way.