One main reason that people get artificial grass is to avoid the damage that animals like gophers and moles inflict on natural grass. One gopher can wreck havoc on a regular lawn. But unless it’s properly installed, burrowing animals can wreck havoc on artificial grass as well.

In the case of artificial grass and gopher infestations, the gophers don’t dig and claw through the turf creating enormous, irreparable holes in the turf. Instead, the little critters will burrow from one end to the other if anything. This long run of gopher tunneling can result in sinkholes in the turf. But there is a way to avoid this problem entirely if done right the first time without going on an all-out gopher offensive.

At your local big box home improvement retailer you will be able to find a product we call gopher wire. Most of the big box retailers will refer to it as hardware cloth. Hardware cloth is a thicker gauge wire mesh material akin to chicken wire. We suggest using a galvanized product only to avoid corrosion. The way the this product works is quite simple really. When laid underneath the base material prior to installing the turf, the gopher wire distributes the weight of the base material evenly in the event that gophers burrow underneath it. This avoids the dreaded “gopher sinkholes” that would cause your average groundskeeper’s heart to skip a beat.

So remember, if you have gophers, moles or other burrowing varmints, always use gopher wire, also known as hardware cloth. You will avoid the pesky varmint problems and enjoy your artificial grass for years to come.