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SANTA CRUZ — Local landscaping supply store Digger’s has a 35-year-old solution for gophers and other small pests destroying gardens and landscapes.

Digger’s Product Development LLC manufactures pre-made wire baskets and rolls to protect plants from animals. The company was founded in Santa Cruz in 1985 by Wayne Morgan, who came up with the idea for gopher protection products after growing up on a local family farm. Morgan, 71, used chicken wire and poultry netting to protect his garden from animals, but both types of netting turned out to be ineffective methods for protecting plants from gophers. In his own garage, Morgan and his dad Roy developed RootGuard gopher wire, a 3/4 inch steel wire mesh coated with zinc to reduce corrosion.

With RootGuard, Wayne Morgan started to construct pre-made gopher baskets, selling them to garden centers throughout the state out of Wayne Morgan’s pickup truck. Since then, the company has transformed to sell in-house and online nationwide. In 2011, Digger’s moved to its warehouse on Mattison Lane in Santa Cruz to accommodate the expanding business.

Digger’s has four employees including Morgan and his son Cedar Morgan. The company’s products are manufactured by contractors in China and are distributed at Digger’s warehouse.

The company’s success is a result of a few factors, according to Wayne Morgan. RootGuard works and sells and consumers are confident in using it, he said, adding that customers generally discover the business through word-of-mouth.

Digger’s has developed four products, all of which Wayne Morgan calls a “defensive method” against gophers. The gopher wire is the “optimal size” for keeping gophers out, he said, because it isn’t big enough for their heads to get through to the plants. Other companies, he said, will use “offensive methods” such as sprays, poison or traps to ward off the pests.

RootGuard is used in Digger’s gopher wire baskets, which was the company’s original product. It protects plant roots and ranges in size from one quart to 15 gallons. Prices range from $7.44 per six-pack of quart-sized baskets to $8.08 for a 15-gallons-sized basket. These reusable baskets typically last six to 10 years, according to Cedar Morgan.

RootGuard is also used in Digger’s gopher wire rolls, which can be installed under lawns and artificial turf, raised beds and gravel or stone pathways. The rolls are made of either galvanized steel or stainless steel.

Digger’s latest product, designed by Cedar Morgan, is the Speed Basket, a circular basket made with knitted stainless steel mesh that can be rolled up around a plant’s root system. The Speed Basket can only be used once, but protects against moles and voles, as well as gophers.

In 2018, Digger’s developed the Speed Pin Landscape Stapling System and Carry Can, a staple/tool system with a holster for storing and installing staples for landscaping.

Digger’s sales coincide with planting seasons in the early spring, late summer and before the rains hit toward the end of November, Cedar Morgan said. Of Digger’s nationwide customers, 60% are in Santa Cruz County and 90% come from California, according to employee Trevor Parker. Digger’s sells to local contractors and multiple gardens/landscaping supply centers in the county, including Central Home Supply, Aptos Landscape Supply and Scarborough Gardens. San Lorenzo Garden Center was Digger’s first customer, Wayne Morgan said.

While Digger’s sells to many local supply centers, it recently had to raise its prices to accommodate tariff increases on goods from China. Digger’s had to “jump through some hoops” when the Trump administration increased tariffs on Chinese imports, according to Wayne Morgan. With the first tax increase to an additional 10%, Digger’s used its own profits to pay for the added expenses. But when the tariff jumped even higher, the company needed to make some price adjustments to its products, Morgan said.

For 2020, Digger’s hopes to do more marketing and expand its regional sales, according to Parker.

Products are sold in bulk with varied pricing. For information: visit gopherbasket.com or email info@gopherbasket.com.

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